Yūko Takeuchi (竹内 結子, Takeuchi Yūko, April 1, 1980 – September 27, 2020) was a Japanese actress.

She is known for her roles in television series Asuka (1999), Pride (2004), FlashForward (2009) and Miss Sherlock (2018) as well as films such as Ring (1998), Yomigaeri (2003) and Dog in a Sidecar (2007).

Life and career

Takeuchi was in Japanese television dramas as NHK's Asadora television series Asuka, Mukodono (My Husband), Lunch no Joō (The Queen of Lunch), Egao No Hōsoku, and Pride. In Mukodono, she comically plays a newly-wed with popular band TOKIO's lead singer, Nagase Tomoya, and, in Lunch no Joō, she plays a girl with a mysterious past. Egao No Hōsoku shows her experience meeting new people while supporting a manga writer, and, in Pride, she is a symbol of the good old days to the main character, played by Takuya Kimura.

Films she starred in include Hoshi Ni Negaiwo, Yomigaeri and Be with You (Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu). Her performances in Yomigaeri (2003), Be With You (2004) and Spring Snow (2005) were recognized by the Japanese Academy Awards. She also won the Best Supporting Actress Award at the Japanese Academy Awards for her role in the 2014 film Cape Nostalgia.

In 2018, Takeuchi portrayed the titular character in Hulu/HBO Asia series Miss Sherlock, an adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes detective stories.

In November 2019, she announced that she was pregnant. She gave birth to a boy, her second child, in January 2020.

Death

On September 27, 2020, at 2 am (JST), Takeuchi was found hanged at her home in Shibuya, Tokyo. Her cause of death has been unclear, but it is suspected to be suicide. No suicide note has been found. She was 40 years old.

Filmography

• Cyborg (1996 Fuji TV)
• Nice Guy (1997 Fuji TV)
• Shin-D (1997 NTV)
• Frozen Summer (1998 NTV) as Junko Moriguchi
• Setsunai (1998 TV Asahi)
• Dangerous Police Forever (1998 NTV) as Asuka Fubuki
• Kantaro Terauchi's Family in autumn 1998 (1998 TBS) as Misuzu Kawachi
• Nanisama (1998 TBS) as Yuri Kimura
• Romance (1999 NTV) as Kotoe Kurasawa
• Asuka (1999 NHK Asadora) as Asuka Miyamoto
• Friends (2000 TBS) as Miyuki Matsuno
• Stories of 100 Years in episode 2 (2000 TBS) as Toshiko Nagai
• Style! (2000 TV Asahi) as Shiori Sakakibara
• A White Shadow (2001 TBS) as Noriko Shimura
• Mukodono! (2001 Fuji TV) as Sakura Arai
• School Teacher (2001 TBS) as Motoko Asakura
• Lunch no Joō (2002 Fuji TV) as Natsumi Mugita
• The Law of the Smile (2003 TBS) as Yumi Kurasawa
• Autumn in Warsaw (2003 YTV) as Yoko Aoki
• Pride (2004 Fuji TV) as Aki Murase
• New York Love Story (2004 Fuji TV) as Eiko Fujikura
• Fukigen na Jiin (Bad Mood Jean) (2005) as Yoshiko Aoi
• Bara no nai Hanaya (2008) as Miou Shirato
• FlashForward (2009 ABC) as Keiko Arahida
• Natsu no Koi wa Nijiiro ni Kagayaku (2010) as Shiori Kitamura
• Strawberry Night (2012) as Reiko Himekawa
• cheap flight (2013)
• Sanada Maru (2016 NHK) as Yodo-dono
• Kamoshirenai Joyū tachi (2016 Fuji TV) as herself
• A Life (2017 TBS) as Mifuyu Danjō
• Miss Sherlock (2018 Hulu, HBO) as Sara “Sherlock” Futaba (Sherlock Holmes)
• Innocent Days (2018 Wowow) as Yukino Tanaka
• Queen (2019 Fuji TV)

Film

• Innocent World (1998) – Ami
• Ring (1998) – Tomoko Oishi
• Big Show! Sing in Hawaii (1999) – Satomi Takahashi
• Night of the Shooting Star (2003) – Kana Aoshima
• Yomigaeri (2003) – Aoi Tachibana
• Heaven's Bookstore - The Light of Love (2004) – Shoko Hiyama / Kanako Nagase
• Be with You (2004) – Mio Aio
• Spring Snow (2005) – Satoko Ayakura
• A Dog on Sidecar (2007) – Yōko
• The World According to Chocolat (2007) – Chocolat
• Closed Note (2007) – Ibuki Mano
• Midnight Eagle (2007) – Keiko Arisawa
• The Glory of Team Batista (2008) – Kimiko Taguchi
• The Triumphant of General Rouge (2009) – Kimiko Taguchi
• No more cry (2009) – Tetsuko Yamagishi
• Golden Slumbers (2010) – Haruko Higuchi
• Flowers (2010) – Kaoru
• 1,778 Stories of Me and My Wife (2011) – Setsuko
• A Ghost of a Chance (2011)
• Hayabusa (2011, 20th Century Fox) – Megumi
• Cape Nostalgia (2014)
• Creepy (2016) – Yasuko Takakura
• The Magnificent Nine (2016) – Toki
• The Inerasable (2016) – I
• The Travelling Cat Chronicles (2018)
• The Confidence Man JP: The Movie (2019)
• A Long Goodbye (2019)
• The 47 Ronin in Debt (2019) – Riku
• The Confidence Man JP: Episode of the Princess (2020)

Other

• Wonderful Spaceship Earth (2002 TV Asahi)
• If the World is 100 Villages 6 (2009 TV Fuji)
• The Nonfiction (2010 TV Fuji)
• Eko's manners (2011 BS Asahi)

Dubbing roles

• Inside Out - Joy
• Titanic (2001 Fuji TV edition) - Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet)

Works

Essay

• Nioi Fechi (2004 Pia)
• Nioi Fechi 2 calorie off (2006 Pia)

Photo Essay

• Tabibon (travel diary of Tahiti) (2007 SDP)

Supplies-of-provisions catalog

• Takeuchi Marche

Awards and nominations

• 2001: 9th Hashida Best Newcomer Award
• 2001: 31st the Television Drama Academy Award: Best Supporting Actress for Gakkou no Sensei
• 2002: 34th the Television Drama Academy Award: Best Actress for Lunch no Joou
• 2002: 26th Élan d'or Award: Newcomer of the Year
• 2002-2003: 6th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix: Best Actress for Lunch no Joou
• 2004: 13th Japan Movie Critics Award: Best Actress for Yomigaeri
• 2005: 22nd Wakayama Citizen Movie festival: Best Actress for Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu
• 2005: 9th NIFTY Film Award: Best Actress for Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu
• 2005: Movie Walker Cinema Award: Best Actress for Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu
• 2003-2004: 7th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix: Best Actress for Pride
• 2007: Osaka Movie Press Club Best Movie Award: Best Actress for Sidecar ni Inu
• 2007: 20th Nikkan Sports Film Award: Best Actress for Sidecar ni Inu
• 2007: 31st Fumiko Yamaji Award: Best Actress for Sidecar ni Inu
• 2008: 81st Kinema Junpo Award: Best Actress for Sidecar ni Inu, Closed Note, and Midnight Eagle
• 2008: 17th Japan Movie Critics Award: Best Actress for Sidecar ni Inu
• 2008: Yahoo! Japan Katteni Movie Award: Best Actress for Sidecar ni Inu and Closed Note
• 2008: 56th the Television Drama Academy Award: Best Supporting Actress for Bara no nai Hanaya
• 2010: 66th the Television Drama Academy Award: Best Supporting Actress for Natsu no Koi wa Nijiiro ni Kagayaku

Nominations

• 2003: 27th Japan Academy Prize: Best Actress for Yomigaeri
• 2003: 46th Blue Ribbon Awards: Best Actress for Yomigaeri,Hoshi ni Negai wo
• 2004: 28th Japan Academy Prize: Best Actress for Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu
• 2004: 47th Blue Ribbon Awards: Best Actress for Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu,Heaven's Bookstore
• 2004: 14th Tokyo Sports Film Award: Best Actress for Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu
• 2004-2005: 8th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix: Best Actress for Fukigen na Gene
• 2005: 29th Japan Academy Prize: Best Actress for Haru no Yuki
• 2007: 50th Blue Ribbon Awards: Best Actress for Sidecar ni Inu
• 2007: 17th Tokyo Sports Film Award: Best Actress for Sidecar ni Inu
• 2009: 34th Hochi Film Award: Best Actress for The Triumphant of General Rouge
• 2010: 35th Hochi Film Award: Best Supporting Actress for Golden Slumbers
• 2011: 36th Hochi Film Award: Best Actress for Hayabusa and 1,778 Stories of Me and My Wife