Japanese Actresses
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Yu Aoi was born as Yu Natsui on August 17, 1985 in Kasuga. She's a Japanese actress, voice actress, model & TV personality who has become a beloved tour de force in Japan. In 1999, she made her stage debut as Polly in the musical production of Annie, where she was picked from among hundreds of candidates at an audition. She began her silver screen career w/ the controversial All About Lily Chou-Chou before going on to lead roles in films like Letters From Kanai Nirai & One Million Yen Girl. She has participated in the live action series Mushishi & the short film collection Tokyo!. She was the voice of the imaginary companion Ikechan in Ikechan and Me. She has been awarded numerous prizes, including Best Supporting Actress for Hula Girls at the Japanese Academy Award, where she was competing against herself in 2007. She reprised the role of Noriko in Tokyo Family, a remake of the classic of cinema Tokyo Story, had another memorable role in the TV series Penance, released photo books, did modeling & commercial work. She also returned to the stage for the play Gakuya. She married Ryota Yamasato in 2019. Trademarks include her kind & innocent eyes, light make-up as well as slim build. She plays piano, listens to Chatmonchy & loves ballet, the latter of which comprised a pivotal scene in her memorable performance in Hana and Alice.She played the role of Polly in the musical "Annie" in 1999.
Two years afterward, she achieved the movie first performance with Director Shunji Iwai's "All About Lily Chou-Chou", and expressed the schoolgirl's youth.- With parents in the show business perhaps it is not surprising that Ando Sakura would become an actress and, moreover, also end up marrying an actor. She was born to actor/director Okuda Eiji and celebrity Kazu Ando on 18.02.1986. Her great grandfather was prime minister Tsuyoshi. Her older sister is director Ando Momoko. She saw her father on stage at age five and decided to become an actress while in second grade. She was often ill as a child. Her disease made her dizzy, lose her balance and more throughout her childhood. Her brain would shut down. She would opt for her mother's maiden surname for her professional career. Sono Sion picked her for his film Love Exposure and gave her a major start on the big screen. She won an award as the Best Supporting Actress for her work in it at the 31st Yokohama Film Festival. Earlier her father cast her in his film Kaze No Sotogawa ('Outside The Wind') alongside her mother and sister. She has since appeared in multiple movies and serials and won several more awards. She married actor Emoto Tasuku in 2012. She had met him on a train in 2008 and had obtained her father's permission to date and marry. She was a boxer in 100 Yen Love, which was fortunate since she had practiced boxing when she was fourteen-years-old. She gave birth to her first child, a girl, in 2017. She won the award for Best Actress at the 42nd Japan Academy Prize for her work on 2018's Shoplifters. By then she was considered one of several top young actresses in Japan next to Yu Aoi, Miyazaki Aoi and perhaps Aso Kumiko. Interestingly, she had earlier decided to retire and focus on raising her child. She is a graduate of Gakushuin Women's College.In 2010, she was chosen as the Best supporting actress with Japanese movie mag "Kinema Junpo's top ten". She is mainly playing an active part in the independent movie.
His father is actor Eiji Okuda. - Actress
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Ruriko Asaoka was born on 2 July 1940 in Changchun, Jilin, China. She is an actress, known for Tora-san's Rise and Fall (1975), Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro kurenai no hana (1995) and Incident at Blood Pass (1970). She was previously married to Koji Ishizaka.She was born in Manchuria, and her screen debut was in 1954. Since then, she has been recognized by people as "a fashionable actress", and is appearing on 150 movies by the present.
In 2011, She starred on the movie, called the action film "Dendera", describing old women's revenge thrown away into the snow-covered mountain by her family.- Actress
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Born Hiramaru Kumiko in Chiba Prefecture's Sanbu-gun (now separated into Sanmushi and rural Sanbu-gun), which is next door to Narita, Japan on the 17th of June 1978, Kumiko Aso began her film career with 1995's Bad Guy Beach despite a lack of interest in acting at the time. It was 1998's Dr. Akagi, which introduced her to a wide audience in Japan. She garnered Japan Academy Prize for Best Supporting Actress for this film. Ironically, her manager had sent her to this movie's auditions and Kumiko would claim later she was not even sure what she was auditioning for. Either way, this film would not be the last, which would accord her an award. She had initially aimed to become a pop star and had sent an application for an audition. She participated in a Japanese schoolgirl audition for the Young Jump weekly magazine, which she won in 1995. She has become a well-known actress, model and product representative in her native country. Aso has also starred in a couple of Kiyoshi Kurosawa films, had a cameo in the cult film Tenten and became a stalker in Moteki, by which time she had cut her hair for an older look. Earlier she had expanded her horizons and played a leading role as an Iranian-Japanese in the 2007 Iranian film Hafez. She had contemplated quitting acting in 2006, but persisted in the profession because she enjoyed her time in Jiko Keisatsu TV serial. She married stylist Daisuke Iga in late 2007 after dating for four years and gave birth to their daughter in 2012. She gave birth to a boy in 2016. She cites reading manga as a hobby. She is signed to the Breath talent agency.Born in Chiba. In 1998, She starred with the pure girl's role to "Kanzo Sensei" by Director Shohei Imamura, and won many movie prizes in Japan.
Now, she appears on both a movie and a teleplay and is doing natural comedy performance.- Haruka Ayase was born Aya Tademaru in Hiroshima on March 24, 1985. She's a former gravure idol who has gone on to become a mainstream model, singer & actress. She was athletic during her school days & participated in several sports. She began acting with an appearance in NTV TV's "The Files of the Young Kindaichi 3 (2001)" starring Jun Matsumoto in 2001, the short film Justice in 2002, the feature-length Jam Films of 2002 and finally Amemasu No Kawa in 2004. Her debut single, called Piriodo, was released in 2006, making the Japanese charts' top 10. She has subsequently appeared in diverse roles such as a teacher in Oppai Volleyball, as a cyborg in My Girlfriend Is A Cyborg, a blind masseuse in the historical action film Ichi and as a nurse in the Edo period drama, Jin.
Due to the roles as well as her physical appearance, she has become a popular figure in Japan, the subject of photo books, a corporate spokesperson & hostess of many TV shows. She has won several awards & has been nominated for more.
She's signed to the Horipro Talent Agency, where she got her start after competing in the 25th Horipro Talent Scout Caravan upon moving to Tokyo. She cites karaoke as one of her favorite pastimes.A young Japanese actress.
She stars on many movies and is popular at mainly fine comedy performance. She was also a singer. - Actress
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Chieko Baishô was born on 29 June 1941 in Tokyo, Japan. She is an actress, known for Howl's Moving Castle (2004), Tora-san's Tropical Fever (1980) and Tora-san's Runaway (1970). She has been married to Reijirô Koroku since 1993. She was previously married to Mamoru Komiya.She was born to Tokyo and emigrated to Ibaraki Prefecture in wartime.
She first appeared on the movie in 1961. Then, she appears on the movie of Director Yoji Yamada who makes a humane comedy frequently. she played the polite role of the eldest daughter on the series movie "Otoko wa Tsuraiyo", and acquired national popularity. (This series continued to 48 works, and she appeared on those all) In 2004, She performed heroine Sophy's voice by Director Hayao Miyazaki's animation "Howl's Moving Castle", and she all played voice from Sophy's girlhood to the old woman.- Actress
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Mitsuko Baisho was born in 1946 and after studying at the Shochiku School of Dance and Music, she started a remarkable film career. She has made over sixty films, has been in at least ten masterpieces, has worked for the greatest Japanese filmmakers (Kurosawa: 'Kagemusha', 'Dreams'; Imamura: 'Vengeance is Mine',Why Not?', 'Ballad of Narayama', 'Zegen', The Eel', 'Warm Water Under a Red Bridge'; Kaneto Shindô: 'The Life of Chikuzan', 'A Last Note', 'By Player'). It comes as no surprise that Mitsuko Baisho has received a score of awards, as of her first role in Hideo Gosha's 'Hitokiri' in 1969. She was hailed as most promising young actress first then best actress or best supporting actress. Difficult to do better.- Yûko Daike was born on 9 August 1971 in Kôchi, Japan. She is an actress, known for The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi (2003), Fireworks (1997) and Ju-on: The Curse 2 (2000).Her screen debut is Takeshi's "Kid's Return".
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Sumiko Fuji was born on 1 December 1945 in Gobo, Japan. She is an actress, known for The Geisha House (1998), Okoma: The Orphan Gambler (1971) and Hibotan bakuto: Oinochi itadaki masu (1971). She has been married to Kikugorô Onoe since 1972. They have two children.- Actress
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Ayako Fujitani was born on 7 December 1979 in Osaka, Japan. Ayako is an actor and writer, known for Tokyo! (2008), Mozart in the Jungle (2014) and The Last Ship (2014). Ayako has been married to Javier Gullón since 2016.- Naomi Fujiyama was born on 28 December 1958 in Osaka, Japan. She is an actress, known for Face (2000), The Projects (2016) and Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002).
- Fukatsu Eri was born in the southern prefecture of Oita. She participated in the Miss Harajuku Grand Prix held in Tokyo's Harajuku neighbourhood at age thirteen and, upon winning it, quickly moved into the world of entertainment releasing singles and albums, appearing on the small and big screen and doing commercials for the likes of train companies. She released a photo book in 1989. As early as 1990 Fukatsu was the winner of the Newcomer Of The Year at the 13th Japan Academy Prize for the horror film A Kiss To Moonlight in that year. Eri performed using the Mizuhara Rie and Takahara Rie pseudonyms before reverting back to her own name. She would win many more awards including Best Actress at the Japan Academy Awards for her work in Villain and A Ghost Of A Chance. She was also successful overseas with her being named Best Actress at the 34th Montreal World Film Festival in 2010. Her 2015 film Journey to The Shore would premiere at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival). She was part of the travelling troupe from Tokyo's Setogaya Theatre performing the play Shunkin. She has been seeing fashion designer Shirayama Haruhisa for years and dated Ozawa Kenji and Tsubaki Satoshi prior. Fukatsu is managed by the Amuse agency.
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Setsuko Hara became one of Japan's best-loved stars over her 30-year film career. Her signature character type, variations on a daughter devoted to her parents and home, inspired the nickname that stayed with her until retirement: the Eternal Virgin. To some extent, reality mirrored her roles in these films. In a society that considers marriage and parenting almost obligatory, she remained single and childless, something of a controversy in Japan in the 1950s. Fortunately she was popular enough to avoid criticism, but the 1950s were still a hard decade. She was plagued by ill health, missing out on several top roles as a result, and she witnessed the death of her camera-man brother in a freak train accident on set.
In 1963, shortly after the death of her mentor, director Yasujirô Ozu, she suddenly walked away from the film industry. At age 43, and at the height of her popularity, she bluntly refused to perform again, angering her fans, the industry, and the press. She implied acting had never been a pleasure and that she had only pursued a career in order to provide for her large family; this explanation is seen as the cause of her popularity backlash. She moved to a small house in picturesque Kamakura where she remained, living alone (though apparently sociable with friends), and refusing all roles offered.
She is undoubtedly known mostly for her work with Yasujiro Ozu, making six films with the great director, including the so-called Noriko trilogy, of which Tokyo Story (1953) is probably the best-known. She also worked with Akira Kurosawa, Mikio Naruse, Hiroshi Inagaki, and many others.- Kumamoto-native Hashimoto Ai debuted in 2008 via an audition at Sony's Newcome that her mother pushed her to attend. Her mother loves celebrities. She has two sisters with her being the middle one. Her mother believed she is the one daughter who could make it in the audition. Immediately after the audition Ai disbelieved she would win. She began modelling in Seventeen magazine in 2010 and also made her acting debut in that year in Give And Go where she was the main character. She continued with roles in Confessions and Sadako 3D. Ai was awarded the prize as Rookie of The Year at the 36th Japan Academy Program in 2013. She ceased modelling in 2014. Hashimoto likes manga, karaoke and bicycling. She states that while she memorizes her scripts she avoids trying to understand the character from the lines and instead understand the spirit and motivation. Hashimoto is obsessed with eating tomatoes and cites the number three as her favourite.
- Kanako Higuchi was born on 13 December 1958 in Niigata, Japan. She is an actress, known for Ronin Gai (1990), Casshern (2004) and Amida-do dayori (2002). She has been married to Shigesato Itoi since 1993.
- Rumi Hiiragi was born on 1 August 1987 in Tokyo, Japan. She is an actress, known for Spirited Away (2001), From Up on Poppy Hill (2011) and Ponyo (2008).
- Kochi on the island of Shikoku was bombed from the air and razed to the ground by the USA during 1945, but Kochi castle still stands as a historical point of interest. More recently the city has acted as the birth place of short-haired tomboyish singer and actress Hirosue Ryoko. She signed up for the corporate Clearasil/P&G cosmetics' model contest in 1994 when she was 14 and subsequently made her television debut the following year singing on the TK Music Camp program. She began acting for television. She had moved to Kanagawa as a teenager where she had an aunt. By 1997 she was nominated for and won the Best Supporting Actress prize at the 14th Television Drama Academy Awards. She would go on to garner multiple awards for her work on both the small and big screen in the next decade. She released multiple singles and full-length albums of pop music during this time. She enrolled in Waseda University in 1999, but did not graduate. She appeared in the Tokyo-shot French film Wasabi in 2001 where she recited her French lines without understanding them. Hirosue married model Okazawa Takahiro on January 17th, 2004 and gave birth to their son three months later. The marriage actually lasted four years. The relationship though had lasted two since the wedding. She became a single mother at the age of 27. She worked less during her marriage and pregnancy, but had the occasion to appear on screen with Yu Aoi in Hana & Alice in 2004. She had the occasion to work with Yu again in Flowers in 2010. She played alternately an understanding/betraying/compromising wife in Departures in 2008, which won the 81st Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film. She married Izutsu Jun, a candle artist and candle shop owner, in late 2010. She had previously dated Nagai Masaru rumours be believed. They had met in Haiti in March of 2010 participating in earthquake relief there. They have two children. Nonetheless she was caught visiting actor Takeru Sato overnight at his place. Reportedly, she was living alone as she had requested to do during her first marriage, which had lead to that divorce. She cites karaoke and watching movies as favourite pastimes. Like the usual array of celebrities Hirosue fronts for corporate and material goods like NTT, Shiseido and Coca Cola.
- Horikita Maki (born Marina Hara) was born in Tokyo the eldest of three sisters in 1988. She was a tomboy growing up and by the time of her retirement also had short hair as she was older. In-between she was an attractive actress, model and corporate product endorser with longer hair between 2003 and 2017. She was awarded the Newcomer Award at the Japan Academy Awards for her role as a student boarder in Always: Sunset On Third Street. She also won a Best Supporting Actress award for her role in Kurosagi. Hanazakari No Kimitachi E in contrast garnered her the Best Actress award. Horikita's management announced her marriage to actor Koji Yamamoto on the 22nd August, 2015. The actor and actress had become a couple while playing lovers in the stage production of Arashi Ga Oka (Wuthering Heights) in May of that year and officially begun dating in June. They were also in Atashinchi No Danshi. She announced her pregnancy in the middle of 2016 and gave birth to their child in December, 2016. She announced her retirement from the entertainment industry on February, 28 2017. She stated her desire to take care of her family and thanked her fans for a "wonderful fourteen years." She has photobooks, magazine covers and multiple corporate endorsements to her name.
- Etsuko Ichihara died in the early hours of 13.01.2019 at age 82 in Tokyo, Japan due to heart failure. She had outlived her husband and had no children. She had been ill and hospitalized, but discharged on the 30th of December allowing her to spend New Year's at home. She returned to another hospital on the fifth of January complaining of pain. She was able to speak until the seventh on which day her speech and consciousness began to slip. Previous to that she had been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease in 2016 and hospitalized. She was born in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, which is next door to Tokyo on 24.01.1936. She attended Tokyo's Waseda University and studied literature. She would enter the entertainment industry in 1957 and had over one hundred credits to her name by the time of her demise. Ichihara joined the Tokyo-based Haiyuza theatre troupe - from which she only resigned in 1971 - and made her debut in Yukiguni in 1957. Her voice was heard in the well-known comic book-based animated serial Manga Nihon Mukashi Banashi beginning in the 1970s. Over the years, she became a household name for her appearance in successive Kaseifu Wa Mita ('The Housemaid Witnessed It') series. She appeared in the bleak Black Rain in 1989 whose story revolved around the American war crime of bombing the civilians of Hiroshima. She won the Japan Academy Prize for Best Supporting Actress for this role. Her biggest film, however, was the pan-Asian hit Kimi No Na Wa to which she lent her voice in 2016. Her final film was the endearing and redemptive Shabondama. Her husband, director Shiomi, was also in the entertainment business and had died of pneumonia.
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Chizuru Ikewaki was born on 21 November 1981 in Kagoshima, Japan. She is an actress, known for Shoplifters (2018), The Cat Returns (2002) and Ôsaka monogatari (1999).- Actress
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Ayumi Ishida was born on 26 March 1948 in Osaka, Japan. She is an actress, known for Tokei - Adieu l'hiver (1986), Kataku no hito (1986) and Yaju-deka (1982).- Shima Iwashita was born on 3 January 1941 in Tokyo, Japan. She is an actress, known for Harakiri (1962), Ballad of Orin (1977) and Clouds at Sunset (1967). She has been married to Masahiro Shinoda since 1967.
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Born in Namegata, Ibaraki Prefecture in 1931, Kagawa Kyoko (also Makino Kyoko) has endured through the golden age of Japanese cinema, into the end of the century and onto the new to act in many of the more important films from her native country. Growing up she had aspired to learn English and then to become a ballerina after watching Swan Lake, but fate and a beauty contest sponsored by The Tokyo Shimbun newspaper intervened and cast her into the role of an actress. She began her career at the defunct Shintoho Studio in 1949. Films like Tokyo Story, Sansho The Bailiff and High And Low directed respectively by Ozu, Yasujiro, Mizoguchi, Kenji and Kurosawa, Akira have captured and immortalized her. She married and moved to New York City, USA with her husband, a reporter, and child for three years in 1965. She went through a couple of dry spells mid-career when roles had vanished, one of which lasted three years and was broken when a call came from Kurosawa to work on Maadadayo. It was the first time the actress and director worked together in 28 years. Kagawa won a Japanese Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the film. She was awarded a Japanese Medal With Purple Ribbon in 1998 for her contribution to Japanese life and arts. She was the subject of a film perspective at the Tokyo International Film Festival and Japan's National Film Centre in 2011. She also received an award in the same year from The International Federation Of Film Archives for her movie preservation effort. She was the first Japanese actor to receive this prize. She has done commercial work in the '70s and '80s (House Foods) and more recently for Lawson stores and Kirin Brewery. Overall she has a dozen awards, a couple of books and even a music single to her credit.- It was not long after Tokyo-born Kanjiya Shihori's start in the acting profession that she found herself in popular films like Survive Style 5+ and Swing Girls. After several lead roles in TV serials she won both the Rookie Of The Year Elan D'or Award in 2008 and the Best Supporting Actress nomination at the 13th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix for her role in Fuji TV's Buzzer Beat the year after. The 156 cm high actress won the 56th Blue Ribbon Award Best Actress Award in 2014. She cites fantasy as her favourite hobby, volleyball as her favourite sport and wearing a kimono in five minutes flat as a skill.
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Saitama Prefecture is next door to Tokyo and also is where Kanno Miho was born. The actress attended Shukutoku Daigaku and studied Communications, but did not graduate. When at junior High school in 1992 she auditioned for an idol group on TV, which was her foray to becoming famous. She began acting in 1993 and became a supporting actress by 1995. The year after gave her first main actress role. Kanno won praise for her portrayal of a deaf and mute person in Kimi No Te Ga Sasayaite Iru and solidified her reputation. More popularity came her way when, again in 1997, she posed for a naked pictorial book of herself. Soon she was also trying her hand at singing and had a hit with the song Zoo. She cites travelling and shopping as favourite pastimes.- Actress
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She began acting after high school as part of a theatre troupe. Her stage name was Yuuki Chiho. Years later she would relay that she only started acting for the money. Her father had wanted her to become a pharmacologist, but she missed her examination due to a fractured foot. She changed her alias to Kirin Kiki after being asked to auction something on a television show claiming she possessed nothing else she could offer. Her marriage to fellow trouper Kishida Shin came to an end after four years in 1968. She married pop musician Uchida Yuya in 1973. The couple quickly raised eyebrows by opting to live under separate roofs. They had a daughter. They are separated today. Her daughter, Uchida Yayako, portrayed the younger character of Kiki's in Tokyo Tower: Mom And Me, And Sometimes Dad. Uchida Yayako is married to the actor Motoki Masahiro of Departures fame. Kirin's granddaughter acted alongside her in Red Bean. Uchida Yayako lives in Great Britain. Kirin appeared in many television serials, feature films and inevitably commercials like the Tora-San series, the offbeat Pistol Opera, Tokyo Tower: Mom And Me, And Sometimes Dad and the dismal Red Beans by which time she was very well-known. She has focused on the big screen, instead of television, in recent years. Heartache struck successively in 2003 and 2004 when she had to contend with a detached retina in her left eye, which made her believe she would go blind, and breast cancer which later - as of 2017 - would be announced incurable and terminal. She wanted people to know she undergone a mastec-tomy following her breast cancer diagnosis. Kirin won the Best Supporting Actress award at the Yokohama Film Festival for her work in the comedy Kamikaze Girls and Half A Confession in 2004 and the Japan Academy Prize for Mom And Me, And Sometimes Dad for Best Actress in 2008. She reports that she is a preferred recluse who does not like children and preferably does not interact with her own child or grandchild. She has managed herself through a fax machine since the death of her manager circa 2008.- Actress
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Rinko was born Kikuchi Yuriko in Hadano just south of Tokyo. The town is known mainly for its green tea and public baths. She is the youngest of three siblings. After being scouted on the street, she began modeling in her hometown and subsequently began acting under her birth name before switching to Rinko. She appeared in the cult film The Taste Of Tea, but came to mainstream audiences' attention for her role in Babel, for which she had learned sign language. She played a deaf-mute. She was the first Japanese actress to be nominated for the Oscars in 50 years, since Miyoshi Umeki. Other than that she had appeared in commercials, including ads for Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent, as well as Japanese soap operas. As a result, her popularity rose outside her native country. She moved to New York City and lived for a time with director Spike Jonze, whom she had met in Tokyo at a film festival in 2009. That's when she began taking English lessons. While she had appeared in the acclaimed film version of Norwegian Wood, her later American were mostly popcorn flicks like 47 Ronin and Pacific Rim. Her success and foray into American entertainment continued with her castings in Kumiko, and Westworld. Rinko married Japanese actor Sometani Shota in 2014 and gave birth to a son in October 2016. She is a capable rider of horses and motorcycles and grew up watching samurai films.- Tae Kimura was born in Tokyo. She was a member of the drama club at her middle school but enjoyed being a spectator more than being on stage. When in high school, she saw actress Kirin Kiki on TV in Daidoroko No Sejo & was inspired to become an actress. She has been active in the entertainment industry since 1990 w/ roles in theater. 2 years later, her father died so she took up many part-time jobs such as working in cafes, hotels & restaurants. While at university, she had a role in Sailor Moon on stage. Her acting career continued & picked up w/ roles including Hana and Alice w/ Yû Aoi in 2004 & Hotaru No Hikari w/ Haruka Ayase in 2010. Her first major roles however, were in the horror serials Ringu & Rasen, where she played Sadako. She married in 2005. Her husband's a Dentsu advertisement agency employee. Upon being asked out she had meant to reject the advance when she mistakenly blurted out the question asking whether he'd be okay w/ her. They had met when she was working for a commercial. She announced she was pregnant in August 2007 & gave birth on February 23, 2008. She won the award for Best Actress at the 32nd Japan Academy Prize for Gururi No Koto in 2009. This was her 1st appearance & return following her pregnancy.
Her hobbies include ballet, jazz & traditional dancing. She's also a vegetable sommelier. Her agency's Yougo Office. - Yoshino Kimura was born on 10 April 1976 in London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Confessions (2010), Blindness (2008) and Lost Paradise (1997). She has been married to Noriyuki Higashiyama since 23 October 2010.
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Keiko Kishi was born on 11 August 1932 in Yokohama, Japan. She is an actress, known for The Twilight Samurai (2002), Kah-chan (2001) and Brother (1960). She was previously married to Yves Ciampi.- Satomi Kobayashi was born on 24 May 1965 in Kyoto, Japan. She is an actress, known for I Are You, You Am Me (1982), Pale Moon (2014) and Riyû (2004). She was previously married to Kôki Mitani.
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Eiko Koike is a Japanese actress and former gravure idol. Her marriage's name is Eiko Sakata and her maiden name is Eiko Koike. She was born in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo. Her husband is Wataru Sakata, a professional wrestler. When Koike was a child, her parents ran a pachinko parlor founded by her grandfather. She graduated from Yosawa Elementary School in Setagaya Ward and Kudan Japanese and Western Girls High School. The reason she switched to Japanese and Western girls in 9-dan is that she was fascinated by the creative dance club's demonstration at the school's information sessions before taking the high school exam. Koike actually belonged to the same club from the first grade of junior high school to the third grade of high school and devoted herself to her club activities, and she still dances, as it is one of her special skills. She demonstrated her dancing ability in the "Utchan Nanchan no Urinari!" project, "Celebrity Social Dance Club" project, and won the first grade in combination with Golgo Matsumoto, as well as a national title. She also achieved the feat of participating in the Blackpool Dance Festival in the UK in 2005.
At first, she wanted to be a kindergarten teacher, but she was scouted by Yoshiharu Noda, president of Yellow Cab, and entered the entertainment world. At first she entered with the goal of becoming an actress, but at an audition after her first drama, she didn't like how she looked on screen. She says that "because if it's a photo, you can be fooled by the angle," and so she went to work as a gravure idol. She started in gravure reluctantly, thinking, "I entered show business on the condition that I wouldn't wear a bathing suit when I was scouting (I wasn't confident in my style)...", but changed her mind, "It's a common complex in young girls who have a lot of breasts, but I think it's okay to sell it", and after that, she started actively working in gravure .
She continued to gravure for a long time after the break, and she always said that did not dislike the work of gravure and "want to continue as long as required", but with the division of her agency, she virtually retired from gravure and focused on actress activities.
It was published in a magazine saying "I may have had chest surgery", and Koike was angry at this, and she was brought to court (after that, because many testimonies against the publisher were obtained, just before the district court decision. The publisher apologized and settled). During this time, she said that she should manage the portrait rights of women who appear on TV, and cooperated fully with the establishment of the "Portrait Rights Protection Association" in 2004, and Morning Musume in commercials and posters. Co-starred with them. Yoshiharu Noda, who was the president of the agency at that time, said, "I want to clear the suspicion of fake breasts even if I take an X-ray picture," and actually took an X-ray picture in "Akko entrusts me! " I have had it. The results proved that he was not breast augmented (at least not by inserting a silicone back). However, she was shocked to find that her breasts were dripping below the average.
After five years of dating with professional wrestler Wataru Sakata, she submitted a marriage registration on August 29, 2007. Immediately after this, she made a guest appearance on Fuji TV's "MentoreG", and in the form of a project brought in by Koike herself, a program recording (aired on September 2, 2007) that introduces dating episodes leading up to marriage etc. She had a wedding reception on July 24, 2008.
Since 2002, she has been the main caster of Fuji TV's terrestrial broadcasting at the mixed martial arts event "PRIDE". Guest appearance at the Hustle of Yokohama Arena on November 25, 2007. She participates in the war with her husband against the worst warrior, The Esperancer, who is said to be the incarnation of President Takada. In the crisis of her husband, she appeared as "Angel like Eiko Koike" and played an active part such as repelling the destruction beam of Esperancer. Assisted her husband's victory.
She starred in Kunitoshi Manda's Seppun (2007). She co-starred in Junji Sakamoto's A Chorus of Angels (2012) with Sayuri Yoshinaga. She also co-starred in Masanori Tominaga's Vengeance Can Wait (2010) with Takayuki Yamada and Minami. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at Japan Academy Prize for her outstanding performance in the film Rebirth (2011).- Actress
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One goes to Atsugi to see the American war machine at work or see where one of Japan's leading pop singers was born. Born in Kanagawa just south of Tokyo in 1966, Koizumi Kyoko participated in and won the Staa Tanjo! ('A Star Is Born') television talent program in 1981 and subsequently released her first single in March of 1982. She shaved her hair at age 17 in 1984 in order to portray a different image than the other pop idols and defy her agent at Burning Production. She landed a number 1 hit in the Japanese charts in 1984 and quickly became a Japanese idol at age eighteen. She appeared on the annual New Year's Eve variety show Kohaku Uta Gassen in 1984. She ruled the Japanese charts for the next ten years. She introduced the JD Salinger novel Catcher In The Rye on the radio, which made the novel better-known in Japan. Ironically, she later admitted to having not read the book at the time. She also had her own radio show. She married character actor Nagase Masatoshi in 1995 and divorced in 2004. They had met at the magazine AnAn where she was a staff photographer. Kyoko shifted her focus to acting and was in films like Onmyoji in 2001, Tokyo Tower and the superlative Tenten both in 2007 and Tokyo Sonata in 2008 among others. She returned to the small screen to work with Kurosawa Kiyoshi of Tokyo Sonata on the Penance serial in 2012. She participated in the Yell From Nippon charity group to buy soccer balls for Eritrean children in 2006. She was romantically connected to Kazuya Kamenashi of the group KAT-TUN, who was half her age, in 2006. Koizumi and her two-decade long friends of Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra performed a cover version of Makana Tayou ('Red Sun') by Misora Hibari in 2011. She won the award for Best Actress at the 66th Mainichi Film Awards for Mainichi Kaasan. She was back in the top ten of the Japanese charts when Shiosai No Memori ('Memories By The Waterside') from the NHK serial Amachan, in which she also acted, in 2013. She was dating actor Toyohara Kosuke, who was still married but separated, as of 2015. Like all celebrities she has pushed products like Shiseido, Lotte, JR, Suzuki and Kirin beer. She is self-managed.- Actress
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She rose to fame in the drama Kimi wa petto (2003) with Jun Matsumoto and gained huge popularity.
Her first international film was The Last Samurai (2003) where she played Taka, wife of a Samurai slain by the character Nathan Algren, portrayed by Tom Cruise, Koyuki was well-known in Japan for years before that. She first caught the attention of the public in 1997 by winning an exclusive modelling contract with the magazine Non-no, but quickly grew beyond modelling and has earned acclaim as an actress through her many roles on Japanese television and in several Japanese films.
She has been appeared in many commercials, including Coca-Cola Japan's Sokenbicha, P&G Max Factor SK-II, and Suntory Kakubin.- Actress
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Kudoh Yuki is an accomplished Japanese singer, former teen idol and actress whose resume includes more than half a dozen records, starring roles in Japanese, Japan-Iran and Japan-Canada films, stage and anime productions. She was only seventeen when she was working overseas, in the USA, filming a movie called Mystery Train, a film she has cited as her favourite role. Born on January 17th, 1971, Kudoh won acclaim as early as 1984 as the Best Newcomer at the sixth Yokohama Film Festival for her first feature length appearance, which was for the film The Crazy Family. Kudoh has spoken both about feminism and breaking free from Japan's male-dominated culture and simultaneously pleaded in favour of distinct Japanese values and aesthetics in film and culture.- Komaki Kurihara was born on 14 March 1945 in Tokyo, Japan. She is an actress, known for The Long Darkness (1972), Ekipazh (1980) and Moscow, My Love (1974).
- Mitsuko Kusabue was born on 22 October 1933 in Yokohama, Japan. She is an actress, known for Samurai Pirate (1963), Miyamoto Musashi (1984) and I Don't Have Any Money Left in My Retirement Account (2021).
- Shioli Kutsuna was born in Australia, but moved to Japan at age 14 in order to pursue a career in acting.
Shioli won the 11th Japan Bishojo Contest in 2006. This award honors the most beautiful young girl in Japan. Her first role came the following year when she was a member of the cast of 3 Nen B Gumi Kinpachi Sensei 8, which was a TBD TV school drama. Two years later she achieved a main character role for the serial Tsugumi Nitobe in 7 Mannin Tantei Nitobe. In that year she also appeared in her first movie, Guardian Angel. Her appearance in Back Pages garnered her the 85th Kinema Junpo Award for Best Actress in 2010.
Shioli graduated from Horikoshi High School in Tokyo in 2011, but dropped out of Asia University, where she was starting Arts, in 2013 in advance of her third year due to the pressures of acting, thus breaking an earlier vow to persist no matter what.
She has won several other awards since her earlier ones including 9th Clarino Beautiful Legs Award in the teen category in 2011 and Newcomer Of The Year, which came in 2014, some five years after she began her career, at the 37th Japan Academy Prize. She was one of four girls on the road in Petaru Dansu and was cast in the Hollywood production for a Deadpool sequel, scheduled for release in 2018.
It was reported that she was dating actor Shôta Matsuda in 2013. Shioli has done quite a bit of corporate advertising for companies such as Epson, MOS Burger and Pocky and others. She suffered some blow-back for the Pocky work due to the popularity of her predecessor, Yui Aragaki. She is represented by Oscar Promotion. - Actress
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Atsuko was born on July 10, 1991 in Ichikawa. She rapidly shot to stardom at age 14 as a member of the hugely successful J-Pop girl band AKB48 (named after the Akihabara district of Tokyo where the group has its own theater). After 7 years, she launched her solo music career, then did acting for film & television w/ respected directors, often playing characters quite different from her fan image. She appeared most famously as Tamako, a university graduate unable to get a job who stays at home eating & sleeping, in a TV series that ran several years.- Actress
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Kaho Minami was born in Hyogo, Japan and is of third-generation Korean descent. She graduated from Toho Gakuen College of Drama & Music in Tokyo, Japan.
While attending college, Minami auditioned for the first time and got the main role in her debut film, Kohei Oguri's "For Kanako" (1984). Soon after, Minami played the main role on TBS television's drama series in 1985. Her stage play debut was as Juliet in "Romeo & Juliet" directed by Tamasaburo Bando, the legendary Kabuki actor. In the many decades following, she has appeared in numerous projects that span across the theater, movies, television dramas, in both main and supporting roles. She starred in many films by various filmmakers including Gakuryu Ishii's "Angel Dust" (1994), Masayuki Ochiai's Horror film "Infection" (2004), Tian Zhuangzhuang's "The Go Master" (2006), and Kazuyoshi Kumakiri's "Sketches of Kaitan City" (2010) .
In private, Minami had married actor Ken Watanabe from 2005 until 2018. She focuses on various volunteer projects including the enlightenment activities of sharing her own experience as a breast cancer survivor. She is regarded as one of the most powerful players who influence many Japanese females.
Other notable appearances internationally are "Oh, Lucy!" (2018) with actor Josh Hartnett, "Gensan Punch" (2022) by Philippines' master, Brillante Mendoza and "Pachinko" (2022, Apple TV+drama) based on Min Jin Lee's original book.- The short-haired Mitsushima Hikari was born in Okinawa, which is Japan's southernmost prefecture and mostly occupied by the American military since World War II. Mitsushima's grandmother was French-American. Her siblings are a model, a basketball player and an actor. Hikari began her entertainment career in the band Folder and all-girl Folder 5 between 1997 and 2003. before beginning acting intermittently. She did some gravure modelling. She began taking on consistent acting roles in 2009 with Pride and Sion Sono's exotic Love Exposure. Her performance in Love Exposure won her accolades. Hikari starred in the comedy Sawako Decides (2010), which was written and directed by Yuya Ishii, whom she subsequently married in late 2010. They divorced less than six years later. Hikari won the award for Best Actress at the Fantasia Film Festival. The film itself won the award for Best Feature.
- Nobuko Miyamoto was born on 27 March 1945 in Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan. She is an actress, known for A Taxing Woman (1987), Tampopo (1985) and A Taxing Woman's Return (1988). She was previously married to Jûzô Itami.
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Aoi Miyazaki's a former child actor whose professional career started at 4 in ads, commercials & as an extra. She was born in Tokyo in 1985. Her TV show & film debut came in 1999. She starred in the film debut Ano Natsu No Hi & the show Genroku Ryoran. She began winning prizes 2 years later w/ a Best Actress award for Harmful Insect, a film which also featured a young Yu Aoi. Her biggest role came in the manga adaptation Nana in 2005, which she hadn't read prior to obtaining the role. Nonetheless, she refrained from participating in the sequel, reportedly because of a mild sex scene. Yui Ichikawa replaced her. Her older brother Masaru's also an actor & appeared w/ her in the 2006 film Hatsukoi, which depicted a 1960s heist. She married long-time boyfriend Sosuke Takaoka the following year. This marriage lasted until 2011 , which was adversely affected by Takaoka's statement that he was weary of all the Korean content on Japan's Fuji TV & claiming she supported his views. Both statements would be walked back following a public backlash. He also claimed she was unfaithful & had been w/ boy band member Junichi Okada as well as others. She & her brother traveled to India to highlight poverty& Scandinavia to educate themselves on climate chaos. They also did charity work in Japan. She waited until December of 2017 to remarry. Her new husband was Junichi Okada, another actor and boy band dancer. They first co-starred in the 2008 movie Kagehinataa Ni Saku, subsequently playing husband & wife in Tenchi Meisatsu in 2012. Reports of them dating had surfaced in 2015, by which time she had grown her hair. However, the 2 were reported to have had an affair as early as 2011. Like many, Japanese celebrities, she has done vocals for songs. She has also represented corporate products like shampoos & phone companies.
She cites photography as a favorite pastime. Like her brother, she's represented by Hirata Office.- She started her career playing innocent girl-next door types in movies and TV dramas, but shocked the Japanese public in the early 90s by starring in the movie Erotic Liaisons, and then by appearing nude in a photo book titled, "Santa Fe". As a result, the conservative NHK network dropped her from one of its programs. Though NHK and some of the public expressed outrage at the time, it wasn't enough to prevent nearly two million copies of the book from being sold.
The new-found fame was responsible for her relationship with the sumo star, but it also caused the break-up as being a "sumo wife" would have likely turned her into nothing more than a famous housewife.
After the break-up things got very grim. Rie allegedly attempted suicide by cutting her wrists, and then struggled with alcoholism and anorexia. In 1996 she checked into a clinic in LA to combat her eating disorder.
Since then she has eased back into dramas and motion pictures, and is one now looked up to by many young Japanese women for her ability to overcome her struggles in life. - Actress
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This unique actress was born in 1952 in Tokyo. She is the daughter of a professor of international politics and a jewel designer. She began studying ballet at young age and attended the British Royal Academy of Dance for 3 years from the age of 12. Since her movie debut in 1971, she has won many awards, becoming one of the leading actresses in Japan. She is also a singer and has released 15 albums. In the past she hosted jazz dinner shows with famous Japanese jazz musicians such as Hino Terumasa. She continues to be active on TV and stage. At the time of this writing, she is producing a brand of jewelery called "Momoi in Maki".- Born in Shibuya, Tokyo. A Japanese actress joined in Shasha Co.. Started acting in around 1972, created an acting band called Gekidan Sanjyumaru with Eri Watanabe in 1979. At the time she was directing, yet she began to act later on. In 1984, she played a role of a teacher in a TV drama called "Takeshi's Gakumon no Susume". In 1985, she started appearing in many TV dramas and shows such as "OH! Takeshi" and "Haru no Hato" etc.
- Nae was born on 12 May 1970 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. She is an actress, known for Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), Inland Empire (2006) and A Class to Remember (1993).
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Hiromi Nagasaku was born on 14 October 1970 in Ibaraki, Japan. She is an actress, known for Funuke: Show Some Love, You Losers! (2007), Rebirth (2011) and True Mothers (2020). She has been married to Maro Naitô since 27 April 2009. They have one child.- She was born in Iwata, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan on June 3, 1987. Her father Nagasawa Kazuaki was a professional football player and on Japan's national team who later became a coach for Jubilo Iwata. She won the Toho Cinderella contest in 1999 and joined the entertainment business in 2000 with the film Crossfire. At twelve she was the youngest winner of the contest ever. She attended the celebrity mill Horikoshi High School of Tokyo. As with most Japanese celebrities the shorthaired Nagasawa has acted in a mixture of feature-length films and television serial, done adult gravure modelling and released the obligatory single, in this case Sailor Suit And Machine Gun in which she also acted in 2006. She had also immediately jumped into the product promotion game and promoted hot sauce among other products. She won the Best Supporting Actress Prize (again the youngest ever) at the 28th Japanese Academy Awards for Crying Out Love, In the Centre Of The World in 2005. Her role in the 2011 film Moteki heralded her arrival as an adult. She was connected to Arashi's Ninomiya Kazunari for several years. She was next romantically linked with Iseya Yusuke. They had met on the set of Onna Nobunaga in 2012. She went through an inexplicable slump around 2013, but made a comeback as a voice actress in the role of the sexy Miki in the pan-Asian hit Kimi No Na Wa. She became a spokeswoman for Taiwan Tourism in Japan for 2017 and 2018. Masami collects stickers.
- Riisa Naka was born on 18 October 1989 in Higashisonogi, Nagasaki, Japan. She is an actress, known for The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006), Summer Wars (2009) and Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City (2010). She has been married to Akiyoshi Nakao since 18 April 2013. They have one child.
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Miki Nakatani was born on 12 January 1976 in Tokyo, Japan. She is an actress, known for Kiraware Matsuko no isshô (2006), Ring 2 (1999) and Ringu (1998).- Actress
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Nikaido Fumi has been active in the movie industry a dozen years and already has as many nominations and wins to her name. She was born in American outpost Okinawa in 1994 and first appeared on screen in 2009. She had won an award celebrating young actresses for the film Himizu at the Venice Film Festival by 2011. She was also newcomer of the year at the 36th Japan Academy in the same year. Nikaido was scouted by Sony Music Artists at age twelve after her photograph appeared in the Okinawan edition of Picture Book Of Beautiful Girls, which is a free publication that features local amateurs as models. Coincidentally, she had dreamt of being an actress. This afforded her the opportunity to pitch products in advertisements as early as 2007. She also took advantage of her physique to do modelling for Nicola magazine. She commuted between Okinawa and Tokyo for work until moving to Tokyo for high school. More recently she has expressed a dislike for acting in serials and stated that she wants to act in movies only. Nikaido enrolled in Keio university of Tokyo, where she resides, and studied management and English. Her father is a Tokyo native cook and her mother is an Okinawan who took her to the cinema often. Her favourite foods are turnip and steak. No word on whether she likes them together or if she prefers to consume these separately.- Suzuka Ohgo was born on 5 August 1993 in Yokohama, Japan. She is an actress, known for Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), Gokusen (2002) and Kamen Rider Zero-One (2019).
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Shinobu Ôtake was born on 17 July 1957 in Tokyo, Japan. She is an actress, known for The Gate of Youth (1975), The Incident (1978) and Railroad Man (1999). She was previously married to Sanma Akashiya and Seiji Hattori.- Nene Ôtsuka was born on 14 June 1968 in Tokyo, Japan. She is an actress, known for Utsutsu (2002), The Laughing Frog (2002) and Aruku, hito (2001). She has been married to Seiichi Tanabe since 2002. She was previously married to Sandaime Uotake Shigeo Hamada.
- The Nara-born actress got an early start in the much praised and oft discussed The Taste Of Tea before staying with the profession and graduating to adult roles. Before that, however, the youngest of four sisters had debuted in Suzaku after, legend has it, director Naomi Kawase spotted her cleaning shoe boxes at her junior high school. She has won several awards since.
- Maki Sakai was born on 17 May 1970 in Tokyo, Japan. She is an actress, known for Gozonji! Fundoshi zukin (1997), Biru to doubutsuen (2008) and United Red Army (2007).
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Eriko Satô was born on 19 December 1981 in Tokyo, Japan. She is an actress, known for Funuke: Show Some Love, You Losers! (2007), Cutie Honey (2004) and Doomsday: The Sinking of Japan (2006).- Born to a Japanese father and an Algerian mother in Tokyo Erika had a well-off upbringing and engaged in dancing, playing piano and horseback riding. Her father owned several race tracks, which ensured her access to horses. However, her father died due to cancer while she was in junior high school, which only preceded the death of her older brother due to a car accident. Her father had abandoned the family for several years and had returned the year prior to his death. Nonetheless Erika debuted as a model while in grade six for the girls' manga magazine Ribbon She joined the ranks of Japanese 'idols' Angel Eyes in 2002 and appeared in her first TV serial, namely Hotman, in 2003. Apparently she had gotten into show business and auditioned in order to meet her idol, singer and actress Amuro Namie. By now she was also a racy gravure idol. Erika was cast in her first movie Mondai No Nai Watshitachi ('We Don't Have A Problem') in 2004 in which she was a supporting actress. A film called Pacchigi (Korean for 'Breakthrough') made her famous in 2004 and she was accorded Best Newcomer and Most Popular Actor awards at the Japan Academy ceremony. She was also the main character in the serial Ichi Litre No Namida ('One Litre Of Tears') in 2005. At this point she appeared in Taiyou No Uta ('Song Of Sun') where her character's name was Kaoru Amane, a name she made her own and used for the release of her 2006 album. She was the vocalist. In that year she was in no less than five movies. However, success proved fleeting. When on stage in theatre to promote Closed Note in 2007 she exercised her right to act according to her mood and gave curt answers to multiple questions thus earning the condemnation of the press and fans. The adoration of the masses turned into hatred. Stardust Promotion and her parted ways in 2009. She apologized one week later, but when interviewed for a TV program in 2010 claimed that it was imposed upon her by management and was insincere. She recanted. In the meantime, she had lost her planned role in the film, Space Battleship Yamato. More importantly she married producer Tsuyoshi Takashiro, 22 years her senior, in 2009, which lasted four years. Thus she ended up essentially blackballed and not having worked for 3 years. Despite that a Japanese beauty salon, called Taka No Yuri, used her in a commercial in 2010 and the seeds of a commercially beneficial redemption comeback was planted. Simultaneously Erika founded her own talent agency in Spain in 2010. She was back acting by 2012, which predictably was a success. The film was called Helter Skelter. Audiences claimed Erika was as beautiful as ever. Further on she was in a historical serial - a first for her - in 2016. In a 2017 interview she claimed she has not watched TV since 2006. Erika's oldest brother was also an actor. Sawajiri was taken into custody by Tokyo Police on 16.11.2019 for possession of the drug MMDA. She admitted to possession and chronic usage. NHK, which had contracted her for her next role, announced it would reassess her participation in the project.
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Ko Shibasaki was born on August 5, 1981 in Tokyo. Her real name is Yukie Yamamura (Ko Shibasaki is a main character of her favorite manga). She started her career at 14 when her talent was discovered by a star agent. She has worked in many TV shows and commercials, starting to become more famous thanks to her excellent performance in the movie Battle Royale (2000) as Mitsuko Soma. She has reached a star status not only in Japan, but all over East Asia. She has also been singing since 2002, releasing her first single, "Trust My Feelings". However, her singing skills were only recognized with her second single, "Tsuki no Shizuku", a song used for the movie Yomigaeri (2002) that was one of the best J-Pop hits of 2003. She is considered one of the glamorous queen of drama, earning millions of yens and going out with bad boys.- Actress
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Misa Shimizu was born on 25 September 1970 in Tokyo, Japan. She is an actress, known for Okoge (1992), Mirai no omoide: Last Christmas (1992) and Sumo Do, Sumo Don't (1992). She has been married to Charles Bulkley since 26 November 1998. They have two children.- Sugai Kin was born Susai Kimiko in Tokyo in 1926. She died in August 2018. Upon graduation from high school she worked in the public sector as an office worker around the end of World War II. However, she always wanted to become an actress and did not want to give up on her dream despite the steady and stable work. She joined the Haiyuza Theatre company despite her father's objection. He explained that actresses are beautiful women, which precludes her. She picked Sugai Kin as her alias as it bore a similarity to her birth name in Japanese. Her father died in 1971 and never saw her act. She began acting in 1947 and her film debut came in January 1951 when she appeared in Kaze Ni Soyogu Ashi ('Reeds That Rustle in the Wind'). In just the next decade she appeared in masterpieces of cinema like The Bad Sleep Well, Ikiru and The Human Condition. She went on to appear in over one hundred and fifty films, as well as on stage in the theatre. Her cross mother-in-law character in the 1973 TV serial Hissatsu Shiokinin ('Person Who Wants To Get Revenge') became so well-known that she wanted to quit the role fearing that, based on her image, her daughter in real life would not find a husband. She went on to accumulate multiple maternal roles. Sugai won the 1985 Japan Academy Prize for Best Supporting Actress for her role in 1984's The Funeral, which was directed by Juzo Itami. Sugai was awarded the Purple Ribbon Medal by the Japanese government in 1990. She was in big and small screen films in 2010, but fell and broke her leg in that year and finding it difficult to walk, despite rehabilitation, decided to retire. She had married Sugai Kin and remained with him until his death in 1996. Sugai obtained a spot in the Guinness Book Of Records as the oldest actress in a main role for her participation in the film My Grandma in 2008. She was eighty-two years old at the time. She liked to play the shamisen. She was never a good cook. Sugai spent the last five years of her life in an old people's home.
- Tokyo-born Suzuki An is a Japanese actress who was a former child-actress that nonetheless was in the successful Hana And Alice playing the role of a schoolgirl next to Aoi Yu. She would return to this role in 2015. She attended the expensive 'celebrity mill' Horikoshi High School, which Aoi Yu also attended. She subsequently attended Wako University. She had a role in the American film Snow Falling On Cedars in 1999. She was declared Best Newcomer at the 26th Japanese Academy Awards for her role in Returner (2002). There were reports that Suzuki has become less popular and in-demand following her weight gains later in her career. She cites badminton, music and piano as favourite pastimes. Ann has a younger sister. She was under contract to Foster Management.
- Kyôka Suzuki was born on 31 May 1968 in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. She is an actress, known for Sukedachi-ya Sukeroku (2001), The Kiyosu Conference (2013) and Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989).
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Yûko Tanaka was born on 29 April 1955 in Osaka, Japan. She is an actress, known for Monster (2023), Amagi Pass (1983) and Hibi (2005). She has been married to Kenji Sawada since 1989.- Actress
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Keiko Toda was born on 12 September 1957 in Nagoya, Japan. She is an actress, known for Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001), Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) and Shomuni (1998).- Tomochika was born on 2 August 1973 in Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan. She is an actress, known for Here Comes the Morning (2015), Meet Me After School (2018) and Why Don't You Play in Hell? (2013).
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Yôko Tsukasa was born on 20 August 1934 in Sakai-minato, Japan. She is an actress, known for Yojimbo (1961), The Kii River (1966) and Moment of Terror (1966). She has been married to Hideyuki Aizawa since 1969.- Kazue Tsunogae was born on 21 October 1954 in Shizuoka, Japan. She was an actress, known for Kamen Rider Ryuki (2002), Kamen Rider 555: Paradise Lost (2003) and Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion (1995). She was married to Akira Emoto. She died on 27 October 2018 in Tokyo, Japan.
- Kaoru Yachigusa was born on 6 January 1931 in Osaka, Japan. She was an actress, known for Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto (1954), Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island (1956) and With Beauty and Sorrow (1965). She was married to Senkichi Taniguchi. She died on 24 October 2019 in Tokyo, Japan.
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Hiroko Yakushimaru was born on 9 June 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. She is an actress, known for Always: Sunset on Third Street (2005), Operetta tanuki goten (2005) and W no higeki (1984). She was previously married to Kôji Tamaki.- Yo Kimiko was born in Yokohama, a city just south of Tokyo to a Japanese mother and Taiwanese father on the 12th of May 1956. Her cousin was actress Bunjaku Han. She became active in front of the camera in 1987 and has been a feature of Japanese television and cinema ever since. She had begun acting on the theatre stage in 1976. Audiences may mostly know her for her supporting role in Shin Gojira, as a sympathetic colleague in the 2008 films Departures, which won an Oscar, and kind wife and waitress in Ramen Girl, but she has almost 200 credits to her name. These include an abnormal neighbour in The Drugstore girl and serene presence in Café Lumière where she was directed by a Taiwanese director in Japan. Dear Doctor (2009) propelled her name forward in Japan and was an award winner. She has several Japan Academy prizes to her name. Like most celebrities she pushes products and has done commercials for telephone companies, shampoos and cosmetics manufacturers. Yo is married to a man who at the time was a NHK employee in 2006 and is managed by the Alpha Agency.
- Hideko Yoshida was born on 7 January 1944 in Ishikawa, Japan. She is an actress, known for Shaso (1989), The Pillow Book (1995) and Submersion of Japan (1973).
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Veteran Japanese actress Yoshinaga Sayuri was born in Shibuya, Tokyo as World War II drew to a close. She graduated from Tokyo's Waseda University and later married director Okada Taro. She signed with the famous Nikkatsu Studio and has starred in films like Foundry Town ('Kyupora No Aru Machi'), Makioka Sisters ('Sasame-Yuki'), Kabe and About Her Brother ('Ototo') among others for the aforementioned company and others. In the process Yoshinaga has won many awards including Japan Academy Prizes and starred in films that have won international accolade including Special Grand Prix at the Montreal World Film Festival for Cape Nostalgia ('Fushigi Na Misaki No Monogatari') and Cannes Film Festival's Blue Ribbon Awards for the aforementioned Foundry Town. Among her other valuable contributions Yoshinaga has been a supporter of the anti-nuclear movement and has played a hibakusha ('atomic bomb survivor') on TV and has contributed to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Her pacifism has lead her to numerous appearances and public interactions in her fight against war and militarism. She has been reciting poetry by residents and survivor from Nagasaki and Hiroshima and lent her support to the people of Okinawa who fight and oppose the Tokyo Central government and the US military station and expansion in Okinawa. Yoshinaga Sayuri is often considered the most notable Japanese actress.