Yanagi Sakuko was a Japanese actress born in Nicho-cho, Asakusa-ku, Tokyo. Her real name is Kuroyanagi Chiyoko. In the 1920s, she was the heroine of numerous Shochiku films. She lost her father shortly after birth, and her mother died when she was five years old. Yanagi, who became an orphan, was taken over by her aunt and her husband, who lived in Shibasaki-cho.

At the age of 10, she joined the troupe "Shojo Kabuki", which was based in the local theater "Owl Hall", to help her household. Around 1921, "Shojo Kabuki" was disbanded.

In January 1922, she joined the Matsutake Kamata studio as a large-room actress, and decided to really focus on her career as a movie actress. Immediately after joining the company, she was found by director Ikeda Yoshinobu, and was selected as the leading role in "Hototogisu" (1922).

In July 1923, she starred in "Onna to Kaizoku" and the movie became a hit, making Yanagi jump to the position of a big star.

In 1942, she left Shochiku due to a decrease in the number of production after the intensification of the Pacific War. After that, she formed the "New Popular Theater Company" with Kawanami Ryotaro, Fushimi Nobuko, Fukamizu Fujiko and others, and toured in various places.

After the war, she lost her health and the opportunity to return to the movie world, and got in financial distress. It is said that she was sick and had no relatives, but she was in a situation to receive welfare protection in her later years.

She died of pulmonary edema on March 20, 1963 at the of 60.