**Misa Uehara** (上原美佐) was a Japanese actress who was mainly active in the late 1950s. She is universally remembered for her debut role as Princess Yuki in Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece *The Hidden Fortress* (Kakushi toride no san akunin, 1958).

In this film, Uehara played a strong, determined female character with an indomitable, almost masculine spirit who defied convention. This role defined her cinematic image as an independent and courageous woman. Despite her very short career, she also appeared in other historical and adventure films such as Hiroshi Inagaki's *Nippon tanjo* (The Three Treasures, 1959). She retired from acting shortly afterwards, making her performance in Kurosawa's film an iconic and unique moment in Japanese cinema.