Tokikoshi made her professional debut in at the age of 53 with the title OKD-29: First Time in Her 50s , released under the Ruby label. Despite her late start, she quickly became a prolific performer, amassing over 150 film credits throughout her career. Major Studios and Genres
Tokikoshi’s filmography as a production manager reads like a greatest-hits list of Japanese animation. While credit lists from this era can be inconsistent (many Ghibli staff were thanked in liner notes rather than opening crawls), her documented work includes: fumie tokikoshi
On a tense morning in the summer of 1943, a squad of Italian fascist police arrived at the gate of the Japanese embassy in Rome. They had a list of names—Jewish refugees hiding in a small building on the embassy grounds. The officer in charge demanded entry. A petite Japanese woman in her mid-thirties, dressed in a modest dress, stepped forward. She was not a diplomat, nor a spy, nor a soldier. Her name was Fumie Tokikoshi, and she was the embassy secretary. Without flinching, she informed the Italian police that they could not enter. The people inside, she declared, were not fugitives but personal guests of His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor Hirohito. The officers, baffled and unwilling to create an international incident with a major Axis power, withdrew. Tokikoshi made her professional debut in at the
Historians estimate that Tokikoshi and the embassy saved between 50 and 100 Jews, mostly from Eastern Europe and Italy. Among them was the family of the renowned writer and future senator, Giorgio Spini. While credit lists from this era can be