[citation needed] A skilled martial artist trained in Karate, Kenjitsu and Shorinji Kempo Etsuko was a member of Sonny Chiba's "Japan Action Club" (JAC) and appeared in several film and TV productions with Chiba, Hiroyuki Sanada, and other members of the JAC, including her big screen debut in Bodyguard Kiba 2 (1973), The Street Fighter (1974), Shorinji Kempo also known misleadingly as Killing Machine (1975), The Gorilla Seven TV series (1975), The Defensive Power of Aikido (1975), Shogun's Samurai (aka The Yagyu Clan Conspiracy) (1978), The Yagyu Conspiracy TV series (1978), Message from Space (1978), Shadow Warriors I-V TV series (1980–1985), Shogun's Ninja (1980), Roaring Fire (1982), and Legend of the Eight Samurai (1983).

Etsuko was also the lead in a number of films and TV series, starring in the Sister Street Fighter trilogy (1974–1975), The 13 Steps of Maki (1975), The Magnificent Chase (1975), Dragon Princess (1976), Lethal Woman: Fifth Level Fist (1976), the Yagyu Jubei Abaretabi TV series (1982–1983) where she reprised her role as Akane Yagyū alongside Sonny Chiba as Jūbei Yagyū from Shogun's Samurai (1978) and The Yagyu Conspiracy (1978), and The Second is a Christian (1985) an action comedy about a nun who becomes the successor to the head of a Yakuza group.

Along with her work in numerous contemporary martial arts and period samurai films and TV programs, Etsuko also appeared in tokusatsu superhero productions like Kikaider 01 (1973–1974) and Moonlight Mask (aka The Moon Mask Rider) (1981), investigative dramas such as Detective of Tomorrow (1977) and Detectives of Rumour: Tommy And Matsu (1979), fantasy films like Black Jack: The Visitor in the Eye (1977) and Exchange Students (1982), and mysteries like The Atami Murder Case (1986).

[citation needed] Etsuko met singer-actor Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi on the set of the Otoko wa Tsurai yo film Tora-san's Bluebird Fantasy (1986), when she was around 30 years old.

[citation needed] After her retirement, Etsuko stayed out of the limelight but returned to the public eye in 2011 with the release of her photography book Flower Arrangement INSPIRE and has been involved in charity work.