Teruko Nagaoka was a Japanese actress and voice actor born on January 5, 1908, in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture. She passed away on October 18, 2010, at the age of 102. Her career in the performing arts was extensive, beginning after she studied drama in Paris in her youth. Upon returning to Japan in 1930, she founded a small theatrical company and later joined the influential Bungakuza theatre group in 1937, becoming a pioneering female theatrical producer.

Nagaoka was widely known for her roles in live-action film, particularly her appearances in works by celebrated directors such as Yasujiro Ozu and Mikio Naruse. Her filmography includes classics like Ozu's Tokyo Story (1953) and Good Morning (1959), as well as Naruse's Repast (1951) and Sound of the Mountain (1954). Later in her career, she also contributed her voice to animated projects.

In the realm of voice acting, she is specifically recognized for two notable roles. She voiced the character Amababa in the film Aterui. Additionally, she provided the voice for the character Kuni Yashiro in the 1984 animated movie adaptation of the highly successful television drama series Oshin. Nagaoka had also appeared in the original 1983 television drama Oshin, playing the same role of Kuni in the live-action version.