Miki Odagiri, who played Toyo Odagiri (the girl in Watanabe’s office) in Ikiru is reported to have passed away on the 28th of November. She was 76 years of age, and Ikiru was her only role in an Akira Kurosawa movie.
Thanks to Hiko Ikeda for bringing this to my attention via the almost dead Akira Kurosawa mailing list at Yahoo! Groups.