Anna Tsuchiya is a beautiful, talented Japanese actress (born to a Japanese mother and a Russian-American father) whose interesting roles in out-of-the-box films, combined with a successful music career, have gained her a huge cult following in Japan. You may know and love her as the bad-ass Yankee girl Ichigo from the popular, award-winning Kamikaze Girls (Shimotsuma Monogatari), but you may not have seen her as the (bad-ass!) courtesan in the artistically beautiful period drama Sakuran (and if you haven’t seen this movie, go out and get it now!), nor some of her other roles in critically-acclaimed lesser-known Japanese movies such as Memories of Matsuko (Kiraware Matsuko no Issho) and The Taste of Tea (Cha no Aji). She also plays Ayu in Legend of Kamui (Kamui Densetsu), which was released in Japan on September 9th.
Anna was born in Tokyo, and started her career as a model. Her unique mixed-race looks and individual style quickly gained her a popular following. As well as performing with (Japanese rock band) Oblivion Dust’s guitarist K.A.Z in the band Spin Aqua,she has also released several singles and albums, to critical acclaim and packed-out tour audiences, and provided the singing voice of Nana Ozaki for the NANA Anime (and released an album for this as well) – a role that certainly suits Anna’s image perfectly.
Anna was married to Joshua Niimura between 2004-2006. Joshua died of heart failure in May 2008, aged only 25. She is the mother of Sky, born in 2004, and has announced on her blog this month that she is 3 months pregnant and planning to marry.
Anna has surpassed the labels “model”, “actress” and “singer”, to become an icon of her generation and a role model to many young Japanese women. This star is shining bright and many fans are looking forward to where her career will take her next.
Sources:
http://anna-t.com/en/profile.html
www.tokyograph.com/news/id-5279
