Oscar-winning costume designer Emi Wada passes away at 84

TOKYO: Japanese costume designer Emi Wada, who won an Oscar for her work on Akira Kurosawa's 1985 movie "Ran", has died aged 84, local media reported on Sunday, citing her family.

A native of the western Japanese city of Kyoto, Wada, whose real name was Emiko Wada, married the late Ben Wada, a then director at public broadcaster NHK, when she was a student at Kyoto City University of Arts.

She started a career by designing costumes for stages directed by her husband. She won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for her work on Akira Kurosawa's 1985 movie "Ran."

She also designed costumes for films such as Hiroshi Teshigahara's "Rikyu," Nagisa Oshima's "Gohatto," Peter Greenaway's "The Pillow Book" and Mabel Cheung's "The Soong Sisters."

In 1993, Wada received Emmy Awards' Outstanding Individual Achievement in Costume Design for a variety or music program for her work in the opera "Oedipus Rex."