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Top 10 Best Japanese Actresses
In this article, we will tell you about the best 10 famous Japanese actors. Which one of them do you like the most let us know in the comment.
Komatsu Nana
Komatsu Nana, who was born and raised in Tokyo, kicked out her acting career by appearing in a short film called Tadaima. Afterward, she went on to play in feature films such as Close Range Love and The World of Kanako. However, before any of these things happened, she was a model and a prominent account holder on Instagram. As a result, the fact that one of Nana’s passions is photography does not come as a surprise. In 2016, she published a picture collection of her work focusing on the port of Trabzon in Turkey. In the Harajuku neighborhood of Tokyo, where she was living and attending primary school, she was discovered. By the year 2015, she already held the title of winner of the 38th Japan Academy Prize for Newcomers of the Year. Since then, she has accumulated a number of other honors and accolades. She is a member of Stardust Promotion and has a variety of interests, including traveling and playing the flute, yet she has a strong aversion to spiders and karaoke.
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The fact that Suda Masaki and Nana Komatsu had been dating since the fall of 2019 became public knowledge on March 20, 2020. They made the announcement on their respective social networks and at their agency on November 15, 2021, stating that they are now married.
Ayase Haruka
Ayase Haruka is a well-known performer in the fields of acting, modeling, and singing in Japan. Her parents and one brother make up the rest of her immediate family, which also includes her. Haruka was a sports enthusiast when she was younger. She participated in the Chugoku area Ekiden event (a long-distance relay race) while she was in junior high school, and she played basketball when she was in middle school. The next year, while Haruka was a freshman in high school, she successfully competed in an audition for the 25th Horipro Talent Scout Caravan. This marked the beginning of her career in the entertainment industry. Haruka’s parents first opposed the idea of her having a career in entertainment, but they eventually came around after seeing how determined she was to do so. Haruka immediately began a rigorous exercise routine upon moving to Tokyo, which allowed her to lose a total of 6 kg of weight.
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Haruka began her career by debuting as a gravure idol, at which time she published a picture book and a DVD. She then began a career in acting, getting modest roles in television dramas. In 2003, the Fuji TV drama “The Way I Live” (Boku no Ikiru Michi) was the one that made a favorable effect on the general audience. Her career took off after she gave a memorable performance as Hirose Aki in the television drama “Crying Out Love, at the Center of the World,” which aired on TBS in 2004. In order to secure the part of Hirose Aki at “Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World,” Haruka had to compete against 723 other actors.
In more recent years, Haruka has established herself as a star actress on the big screen, appearing in films such as “Cyborg Girl,” “Happy Flight,” “Ichi,” and “Oppai Volleyball.” Haruka acted as a cyborg in the anime titled “Cyborg Girl,” an airline hostess in the anime titled “Happy Flight,” a blind swordswoman in the anime titled “Ichi,” and a junior high volleyball coach in the anime titled “Oppai Volleyball.” Her versatility as an actor should also be acknowledged.
Haruka has also had a prosperous career in the field of music, releasing her debut song titled “Period” in the year 2006. Her first single debuted at position #8 on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart when it was released. In addition, she issued two further singles, titled “Kosaten Days” (2006) and “Hikoki Gumo” (2007), both of which enjoyed a degree of success comparable to the first.
Yoshitaka Yuriko
Yoshitaka Yuriko is a Japanese actress who was born in Tokyo and is represented by the Japanese agency Amuse. Yoshitaka Yuriko was born in Tokyo.
2006 was the year that Yoshitaka made her stage debut. In 2007, she was cast in the leading role of the live-action version of Hitomi Kanehara’s novel Snakes and Earrings, which had already won several awards. Yoshitaka’s career took off after he was cast in the part of Lui, a young man whose life takes a turn for the worst once he meets the forked-tongued and tattooed Ama. In the role, Yoshitaka portrays Lui. Yoshitaka was ranked as the fifth most promising young actress of 2009 and the freshest female celebrity of 2009, according to a survey that was held by Oricon in Japan. The Japanese people started to take notice of her. In 2010, Oricon carried out another survey to determine which actress had the most potential, and she was able to work her way to the top of the list.
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Yoshitaka started to receive more work in the year 2008, when she made an appearance in the music video for Flow’s song “Arigatou” (which translates to “Thanks”), was given her first lead role in the comedy-drama Konno-san to Asobo (“Let’s Play with Konno”), and took up the lead role in the film Yubae Shoujo (“A Girl in the Sunset”) before the theatrical release of her other lead film Snake.
Yoshitaka was cast as the character Kairi Hayakawa, who was contemplating suicide, in the romantic comedy-drama Love Shuffle in the year 2009. Later on in the year, she played the role of Matsunaga Yuuki in the Japanese television police drama Tokyo Dogs. Her co-stars in the show were Shun Oguri and Hiro Mizushima.
In the one-hour drama series named Tofu Shimai, which aired in 2010, she played the roles of all three sisters (“Tofu Sisters”). Yoshitaka was cast as a university student who suffers from an incurable illness in the first season of the drama series Mioka, which debuted on network television in Japan on May 13, 2010, and it was reported that she would play the lead character in the series.
In the 2011 live-action version of the sci-fi and action manga Gantz, which was split into two parts, she plays the role of Tae Kojima. It was reported that Yoshitaka will play the major character in the upcoming film Konzen Tokkyuu, directed by Kouji Maeda. Yoshitaka will play the part of a young woman who dates numerous men in the hopes of finding the one she would marry. The debut of the film took place in the spring of 2011.
In September 2007, Yoshitaka was injured in a car accident that resulted in a fracture of her jaw. At the time, she was rehearsing for her role in Snakes and Earrings, which was released later that year. Because of this, she had to spend five days in the intensive care unit.
Aoi Yu
Aoi Yu is a well-known model and actress in Japan. She made her acting debut as Shiori Tsuda in the 2001 film All About Lily Chou-Chou, which was directed by Shunji Iwai. After that, she played Tetsuko Arisugawa in Hana and Alice (2004), which was also directed by Iwai; Kimiko Tanigawa in the hula dancing film Hula Girls; and Hagumi Hanamoto in the 2006 live-action adaptation of the popular Honey and Clover manga series. All three of these roles were portrayed by Iwai.
She has been honored with a number of accolades for her work in front of the camera, including the highly coveted Japan Academy Prize and the Kinema Junpo Awards for best-supporting actress in 2007 for her role in the film Hula Girls. In 2009, she was named Rookie of the Year by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan for her continued performances in the field of Films in Media and Fine Arts.
Aoi has been honored with a number of prizes, including the highly regarded Japan Academy Prize for best-supporting actress in 2007, which she received for her performance as Kimiko Tanigawa in the film Hula Girls, for which she received widespread acclaim from the film’s reviewers.
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Both for her performance in Hula Girls and for her portrayal of Hagumi Hanamoto in the Honey and Clover live-action movie, she was awarded the Blue Ribbon Award and the award for best actress at the Yokohama Film Festival in the same year. Both of these accolades were presented to her in the same year. In addition, she was presented with the Hochi Film Award, the Kinema Junpo Award, and the Mainichi Film Concours for best-supporting actress for her work in the films Hula Girls, Honey, and Clover, and Rainbow Song. In addition, the performance she gave in Hula Girls earned her the Nikkan Sports Film Award for the greatest new talent in the film industry.
Earlier, in 2005, she also received the Japanese Professional Movie Award for Best Actress for her depiction of Tetsuko (Alice) Arisugawa in the film Hana and Alice. This award was given out by the Japanese Film Critics Association.
She tied the knot with comedian Yamasato Ryota in June 2019. They made the happy announcement on February 10, 2022, that they are going to be parents for the first time. On the 10th of August, 2022, Yamasato Ryota revealed to listeners of his radio program on TBS, titled “Suiyou JUNK Yamasato Ryota no Fumo na Giron,” that his wife had given birth to a daughter.
Juri Ueno
Juri Ueno is a well-known actress in Japan. She was born in Kakogawa, which is located in the Hyogo Prefecture of Japan. Her mother and father, together with her two elder sisters, make up Juri’s family. Juri Ueno had a lot of success on the track as a young child and continued to compete in sprints all the way up until the first grade of middle school. She eventually stopped jogging due to the difficulties associated with hyperventilation.
Juri made her debut in the entertainment industry in 2002 when she took part in a commercial for J-Phone. Juri would also make her debut in the world of television drama that same year, making an appearance in the NHK series “Seizon.” Juri made her debut as an actress the year after, in 2003, in the film “Summer of Chirusoku” (Chirusoku no Natsu). She also had an appearance later that same year in the movie “Josee, the Tiger, and the Fish.”
By the year 2004, Juri had her breakout performance in the feel-good comedy titled “Swing Girls.” Her portrayal of a high school girl who develops a passion for jazz music earned her the title of best newcomer at the Japanese Academy Awards in the year in which it was presented.
In the fall of 2015, she began a romantic relationship with Wada Sho, who is a member of the rock band TRICERATOPS. They officially registered their marriage on May 26, 2016.
It was revealed on April 1st, 2022 that she had parted ways with the agency Amuse to pursue a career as an independent artist and had signed a deal as an agent with Don-crew.
Miyazaki Aoi
Miyazaki Aoi is an actress working in Japan. It is said that she is one of the most gorgeous ladies in all of Japan. She is well recognized for the parts that she played in films such as “Nana” and “Virgin Snow.” Both she and her brother, the actor Miyazaki Masaru, appeared in the film “Hatsukoi” together. Her brother is also an actor.
Aoi’s first job was in the entertainment sector, which she began when she was just four years old. At first, the majority of her roles were supporting ones, such as in television dramas, television commercials, and magazine advertising. Aoi was just fourteen years old when she made her acting debut in the film “Ano Natsu no Hi.” Additionally, she made her debut in the musical “The Little Prince” in the year 2003.
On June 15, 2007, she wed Takaoka Sosuke, who had been her companion since she was fifteen years old. Nevertheless, they parted ways in December 2011. On the 23rd of December in 2017, Miyazaki Aoi married Okada Junichi for the second time. In October 2018, they became parents for the first time to a little boy.
Nagasawa Masami
Nagasawa Masami is a well-known Japanese actress. She was born in Iwata, which is located in the Shizuoka Prefecture of Japan. She is also known by the name “Ma-chan,” or “Maa-tan,” as it is referred to by Yamashita Tomohisa. During her radio broadcast, she introduces herself to listeners as “Gasawa,” a moniker that was given to her by the audience. She is the daughter of Nagasawa Kazuaki, who was the previous manager of the J. League team Jubilo Iwata; she was born in the season in which they won their very first league championship.
Due to the fact that her name was not yet well recognized at the time of her debut in the Nabisco CM in 2002, she was referred to as “The Pretty Girl from the Nabisco CM” in various publications and on various television shows.
She had her very first leading role in the film Robokon, which was released in 2003. Masami has stated that it was this film that first brought out her acting skills and that it is still one of her favorite works to this day. She had her very first leading role in the film Robokon, which was released in 2003.
In the popular film Crying Out Love, In the Center of the World, which was released in 2004, Masami played the lead role of the film’s protagonist, a young woman who passed away as a result of leukemia. The movie was a huge success at the Japanese box office, raking in a total of 8.5 billion Yen. As part of her preparation for her role as a leukemia patient in this film, she ultimately made the decision to shave off all of her hair. Her exceptional performance in this film brought her attention as an actress and gained her a number of accolades, one of which was the Best Supporting Actress Prize at the 28th Japanese Academy Awards, making her the youngest recipient of this award in the history of the ceremony.
Nagasawa graduated from Horikoshi High School, which also counts among alumni talents like Hamasaki Ayumi, Haruka Ayase, Ueto Aya, Matsumoto Jun, Yuya Tegoshi, Yamashita Tomohisa, Toma Ikuta, and Koki Tanaka.
She has been featured on the cover of the Toho Calendar, which has been published for more than half a century, for each of the past three years, beginning in 2005.
She worked with Yamashita Tomohisa again in April 2007 for the second time in the fantasy love comedy, Proposal Daisakusen (the first time was in Dragon Zakura). This time, the film also included Eikura Nana, who had previously worked as a model. In addition to the show’s success in the ratings, its cast was also victorious at the Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix Awards for Spring of 2007, taking first place in all five of the competition’s categories: best actor, best actress, best-supporting actor, best-supporting actress, and best drama.
In the summer of 2007, Masami was the only woman to be included in the poll of the Most Influential People in Japan, which she topped at number nine. The ranking is as follows: Takuya Kimura, Takeshi Kitano, Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui, Monta Mino, Sanma Akashiya, Shingo Katori, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Nagasawa Masami, Masahiro Nakai, according to magazine Flash.
Kitagawa Keiko
Kitagawa Keiko is a well-known Japanese actress and former model. She was born in the Hyogo Prefecture of Japan.
She spent her childhood in Kobe, and after the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995, she was separated from several of her friends. When she was younger, she had the ambition to become a physician; but, by the time she entered high school, she was unsure of whether or not she could achieve that goal, and she was also unsure of what she wanted to do in the future. She was recruited at about this time by a talent agency, and she eventually made the decision to try her hand at the entertainment industry. Her parents were originally against the idea, but they eventually agreed to let her pursue it on two conditions: first, that she quit if she was not making any headway within a year’s time, and second, that she prioritizes her education and graduates from university. She attended Meiji University, where she earned a degree in Commerce and graduated from the institution in March 2009.
From the latter half of 2003 until the latter half of 2006, she modeled exclusively for the Japanese edition of Seventeen magazine. When she left the magazine in the middle of 2006, she also ceased modeling.
She has performed key parts in the television dramas Mop Girl (2007), Homeroom on the Beachside (2008), Buzzer Beat (2009), and Lady Saigo no Hanzai Profile. She has acted in a number of films, including The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) and Handsome Suit (2008).
She considers herself more of a homebody and spends her free time doing things like watching movies on DVD, listening to music, and reading books. When asked what she would do if she knew the world would end the next day, her response was, “I would read books.” Swimming is another one of her favorite activities, particularly the backstroke. Jill is the name she gave her tomcat pet.
On January 11, 2016, she made the announcement that she was going to marry another actor named DAIGO. After working together on the film “LADY,” the two started dating a few years later. She made the news public on April 22, 2020, that she is carrying the couple’s first child and is pregnant.
Stardust Promotions is the company that represents her professionally.
Eikura Nana
Model, actor, and occasional host of a radio show, Eikura Nana is active in the Japanese entertainment industry.
Since their initial collaboration in 2006, Eikura has teamed up with Masami Nagasawa for a total of eight different ads that have aired on television (as of 2010). The majority of the models with whom Nagasawa has worked have been “extremely” arrogant to her, ridiculing her, and some of them have even physically abused her. However, Nagasawa has repeatedly referred to Eikura as being an “incredibly” good person. This was supported by Rosa Kato and Asami Mizukawa, both of whom have extensive experience working with models. Kato stated that Nagasawa is correct and that Eikura does not fit the mold of a normal model since Eikura does not make derogatory comments about actresses.
Eikura can sing in fluent Ryukyu, play the shamisen, and she has a diploma. She learned the Ryukyu language through her modeling colleagues who were from Okinawa. She sang a rendition of Rimi Natsukawa’s song “Nada Sou Sou” on a television show for children called Kinki Kids in the year 2007.
The marriage between Eikura and the actor Kaku Kento was legally recognized on August 7, 2016. On June 12, 2017, the couple welcomed their new child. On February 4, 2021, they made the happy announcement that they had given birth to their second child.
Hirosue Ryoko
Hirosue Ryoko is a Japanese actress and singer. She is most known in the West for her parts in the films “Wasabi,” which was produced by Luc Besson, and “Departures,” which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Hirosue was born on July 18th, 1980 in the city of Kochi, which is located in the prefecture of Kochi. Hirosue joined the 1st Clearasil “Shiny Face Contest” in 1994, while she was in the second year of her junior high school education. She won the Grand Prix and made her debut in the same commercial the following year, 1995. After then, she started starring in a variety of ads for large companies including Glico, P&G, NTT Docomo, and Meiji Seika. Hirosue rose to prominence very fast and became one of the most popular idols of the 1990s. She was responsible for the phenomena known as the “Hirosue boom” and dominated the gravure industry with a little boyish neutral image.
In 1995, when she was just 15 years old, Hirosue made her debut on television in the Fuji TV program “Heart ni S.” Additionally, she won the award for “Best Newcomer” at the tenth annual Television Drama Academy Awards. In the same year, she had a starring role in “Shota no Sushi,” a comedy series shown on Fuji TV. Her breakout performance was in the comedy series “Beach Boys,” which aired on Fuji TV in 1997. For her work in the series, she was given the “Best Supporting Actress” award at the 14th Television Drama Academy Awards.
In the same year, Hirosue also made her debut in the film industry with her role in “20-Seki Nostalgia,” for which she received accolades from film critics. She was given the “Sponichi Grand Prize New Talent Award” at the Mainichi Film Awards, the “Best New Talent Award” at the Yokohama Film Festival, and the “Newcomer of the Year Award” at the 21st Japanese Academy Awards for her work.
On April 15, 1997, Hirosue released her first single, which was titled “Maji De Koi Suru Gobyou Mae.” The record was produced by Mariya Takeuchi. It got over 60,000 hits and was included in a commercial for NTT Docomo Pager as well as serving as the theme music for the Fuji TV drama “’97 Akuryo Gakuen.” In addition to her performance in the 48th NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen, Hirosue’s second single, “Daisuki,” topped the charts on Oricon. Waseda University’s Faculty of Education welcomed Hirosue as a student in November 1998; however, she had to withdraw from the program in 2003 due to her growing number of touring and acting commitments.
Both “Poppoya” and “Himitsu” were films that Hirosue starred in during the year 1999. She was nominated for two awards at the 23rd Japanese Academy Awards, one of which was for Best Actress (for the film Himitsu), and the other was for Best Supporting Actress. Her performances in both films earned her much praise from the award-giving bodies of Japan (for Poppoya). Her reputation on a global scale was boosted even further when she was awarded the prize for Best Actress at the 30th Sitges – Catalan International Film Festival for her performance in the film “Himitsu.”
In the middle of the 2000s, Hirosue’s activities temporarily decreased as a result of her marriage, motherhood, and divorce. In 2008, she made a successful comeback with the comedy-drama “Yasuko to Kenji” on NTV and the Japanese film “Departures,” which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 2009, she starred in the remake of “Zero Focus,” for which she was nominated for “Best Actress” at the 33rd edition of the Japanese Academy Awards. In the same year, she also starred in the film adaptation of the novel “Villon’s Wife,” which was written by Dazai Osamu.
Hirosue got married to the model Okazawa Takahiro in December 2003, and on April 10, 2004, she gave birth to her son. Early 2008 marked the end of their marriage. Her wedding to Izutsu Jun, a candle artist, took place on October 9th, 2010. The birth of Hirosue’s second son occurred on March 10, 2011, and the birth of her third child, a daughter, took place on July 17, 2015.
The talent agency known as FLaMme is the one that represents Hirosue Ryoko.