Aki Asakura

is a Japanese actress. She was born in Kanagawa Prefecture. Currently belongs to Japan Music Entertainment. She has appeared in many of Japan's national television series NHK taiga drama and asadora, and is also known for voicing the main character Princess Kaguya in the Studio Ghibli film The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.

History In 2006, Asakura applied for the 6th Toho Cinderella Audition, an audition sponsored by Toho and Toho Entertainment, and was selected as a finalist. According to her, the audition was recommended to her by others. In 2007, she made her acting debut in the television series When I was a child: Actress Yuki Saito, and in the following year, 2008, she made her first film appearance in Double Trouble. In 2010, She first starred in a television series, Tomehane! Suzuri Kōkō Shodōbu.

In 2013, Asakura voiced Princess Kaguya, the heroine of the Studio Ghibli film The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. She has loved Ghibli films since childhood, but had no previous experience of voice acting. Hundreds of people applied for the audition for this role, which was held around spring 2011. She said that she did not respond well to the audition and went home crying, thinking she had failed. Director Isao Takahata said he chose Asakura because many actresses today have passive voices, but her voice was selfish. She later said that she needed a break at the time and also said she spent her time working part-time in an office during her hiatus of about a year.

In 2015 she returned to show business when she became affiliated with the entertainment agency Konyi and had her first starring role in a film in Halloween Nightmare. In 2017, the film Summer Blooms, in which he starred, won the FIPRESCI Jury Prize and Russian Critics Jury Special Mention at the 39th Moscow International Film Festival.

She was scheduled to appear in the stage production of Frozen Beach starting in July 2019, but had to withdraw due to health problem. At the end of February 2022, she terminated her contract with the entertainment agency Konyi. In December of the same year, she announced that she would be joining Japan Music Entertainment.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 2008 Double Trouble Ayaka Ohta 2013 The Tale of the Princess Kaguya Princess Kaguya (voice) Leading role 2018 Summer Blooms Hatsumi Takimoto Leading role 2019 Whistleblower Yui Hamamoto 2020 Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes Megumi Masked WardNao 2022 The Fish Tale Program assistant A Mother's Touch 2025 Catching the Stars of This Summer Ichino The Deepest Space In Us Echoes of Motherhood

TV series Year Title Role Notes 2007 When I was a child: Actress Yuki Saito Rie Saito Bōshi Setsu Takemoto (14/19-years-old) 2010 Tomehane! Suzuri Kōkō Shodōbu Yuki Mochizuki Leading role Teppan Kana Shinomiya Asadora 2011 Gō Natsu Taiga drama 2013 Jun and Ai Hasumi Miyasato Asadora 2015–18 Downtown Rocket Aki Kanoh 2 seasons 2017 Naotora: The Lady Warlord Takase Taiga drama 2018–19 Inspector Totsugawa Series Sakai Series 5, 6, 7, 8 2019 La Grande Maison Tokyo Miyu Ebina Rinka, Kabukicho Defence lawyer Rinka Misuzu Leading role 2021 Reach Beyond the Blue Sky Ayako Okuma Taiga drama 2023 The Crimes of Those Women Yuko Kameyama Shall We Have a Toast Anyway? Akebi Machi 2024 Dear Radiance Fujiwara no Seishi Taiga drama La Grande Maison Tokyo Special Miyu Ebina Television film

Books Photo books Morning Glories (10 Feb 2010, Wani Books, photo by Yuki Nishida)