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The lengthy career of Japanese actress Hideko Takamine was divided into three distinct parts. She began her career at age five and was once her country's most beloved child star. She played both girls and boys in over 100 films and also appeared in many advertisements. During WWII, Takimine became an adolescent and entered the next phase of her career playing ingénues and posing as a pinup girl for soldiers. Popular films from that era include Composition Class (1938) and the patriotic docudrama Horse (1941). As a young adult, Takamine performed as a night club singer. Following the war, she returned to the screen as a mature actress and once again became one of Japan's biggest stars. Over the '50s, she worked with many directors, but she is most noted for working with Naruse and Kinoshita. She retired in the early '70s, but returned to the screen one final time in 1979 to appear in Kinoshita's Oh My Son! Takamine has published several books including a two-volume autobiography, My Professional Diary (1976), a cookbook, and a travel book.