Keiko Kitagawa
is a Japanese actress and former model. She was an exclusive model for the Japanese ''Seventeen'' magazine from late 2003 to mid-2006, and quit modeling when she left the magazine. Her first acting role was Sailor Mars in the Sailor Moon live action show ''Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon'' (2003-2004), and after her role in the film '' Mamiya Kyōdai'', she left modeling to concentrate on acting. She has appeared in several films, including '' The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift'' (2006) and ''Handsome Suit'' (2008), and has played leading roles in the TV Dramas ''Mop Girl'' (2007), ''Homeroom on the Beachside'' (2008), ''Buzzer Beat'' (2009), ''Lady Saigo no Hanzai Profile'' (2011), and ''Akumu-chan'' (2012). Biography Personal life and career Kitagawa was born on August 22, 1986 in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. She grew up in Kobe, and lost many friends in the Great Hanshin earthquake in 1995. As a child, she wanted to be a doctor, but by the time she reached high school she was unc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kobe
Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, which makes up the southern side of the main island of Honshū, on the north shore of Osaka Bay. It is part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kyoto. The Kobe city centre is located about west of Osaka and southwest of Kyoto. The earliest written records regarding the region come from the '' Nihon Shoki'', which describes the founding of the Ikuta Shrine by Empress Jingū in AD 201.Ikuta Shrine official website – "History of Ikuta Shrine" (Japanese) [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Yoshimitsu Morita
was a Japanese film director who was born in Tokyo. Career Self-taught, first making shorts on 8 mm film during the 1970s, he made his feature film debut with ''No Yōna Mono'' (''Something Like It'', 1981).Mark Schillin"Director Yoshimitsu Morita dies" ''Chicago Tribune'', 21 December 2011 In 1983 he won acclaim for his movie ''Kazoku Gēmu (The Family Game)'', which was voted the best film of the year by Japanese critics in the ''Kinema Junpo'' magazine poll.Roger Mac"Yoshimitsu Morita: Director best known for 'The Family Game'" ''The Independent'', 3 January 2012 This black comedy dealt with then-recent changes in the structure of Japanese home life. It also earned Morita the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award. The director has been nominated for eight Japanese Academy Awards, winning the 2004 Best Director award for ''Ashura no Gotoku'' (''Like Asura'', 2003). He also won the award for best director at the 21st Yokohama Film Festival for ''39 keihō dai sanjūky ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Handsome Suit
is a Osamu Suzuki's Novel. And 2008 Japanese film directed by Tsutomu Hanabusa. The film showed at the 2009 11th Udine Far East Film International Premiere. Plot An overweight restaurant owner Takuro (Muga Tsukaji) while popular with people for his delicious dinners, is unlucky in love because of his looks, dress sense and terrible habits. Takuro longs for his part-time waitress Hiroko who fell for him because of his warm-hearted nature, but rejects him because she believes he only cares about her looks. A distraught Takuro is given the opportunity to try out a new invention, the Handsome Suit, which will make him good-looking, tall and deep-voiced. He puts it on and transforms himself into "Annin Hikariyama" and quickly becomes a supermodel. He meets "Raika", who a gorgeous, beautiful and prestigious model. She becomes attracted to him as she works and aggressively seduces him. He delights in it, indulges in kissing Laika, and almost falls in love with her. Noticing how diff ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Southbound (2007 Film)
is a 2007 Japanese movie directed by Yoshimitsu Morita and starring Toyokawa Etsushi and Yūki Amami. Based on the novel of the same name by Hideo Okuda, it tells the story of a schoolboy whose family moves from Tokyo to Okinawa. It began filming in May 2007 in Tokyo; the crew went to Okinawa for on-location filming at the end of June. Its theme song is " Eien no Uta" by Nakashima Mika. Cast * Etsushi Toyokawa as 'Ichiro Uehara' (as a father who was an extremism activist) * Yūki Amami as 'Sakura Uehara' (as a mother who was an extremism activist) * Keiko Kitagawa as 'Yoko Uehara' (as a Sakura's daughter) * Shuto Tanabe as 'Jiro Uehara' (as a Eldest son. 6th grade schoolboy. This movie's protagonist) * Rina Matsumoto as 'Momoko Uehara' (as a Second daughter. 4th grade schoolgirl. She loves being bitten by her father) * Ken'ichi Matsuyama as Officer 'Niigaki' (He fell in love with Yoko at first sight.) * Mitsuru Hirata as the Principal * Hideko Yoshida as Social Insurance Ag ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dear Friends (2007 Film)
is a 2007 drama film written by Yoshi and directed by Kazuyuki Morosawa. The film stars Keiko Kitagawa and Yuika Motokariya in its lead roles. It is adapted from the manga ''Dear Friends'' by YOSHI, and art by Ayu Watanabe. The tagline for the film is "''Are friends necessary?''" The theme song is also called " Dear Friends", which is performed by Soulhead. Plot ''Dear Friends'' follows a high-school student named Rina (played by Keiko Kitagawa) who believes that friends are not necessary and that they can only be used in times of need. Thus, she is unable to maintain a decent relationship with her friends and classmates. Her family's relationship is also lacking; her father does not care much about his family and her mother is over-protective. Rina spends a lot of her time going to a club in Shibuya where Yousuke (played by Masaya Kikawada) is the disc jockey with her friends Hiroko (played by Airi Toriyama) and Emi (played by Hatsune Matsushima). (In the opening scene, Rina ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dear Friends (Japanese Film)
is a 2007 drama film written by Yoshi and directed by Kazuyuki Morosawa. The film stars Keiko Kitagawa and Yuika Motokariya in its lead roles. It is adapted from the manga ''Dear Friends'' by YOSHI, and art by Ayu Watanabe. The tagline for the film is "''Are friends necessary?''" The theme song is also called " Dear Friends", which is performed by Soulhead. Plot ''Dear Friends'' follows a high-school student named Rina (played by Keiko Kitagawa) who believes that friends are not necessary and that they can only be used in times of need. Thus, she is unable to maintain a decent relationship with her friends and classmates. Her family's relationship is also lacking; her father does not care much about his family and her mother is over-protective. Rina spends a lot of her time going to a club in Shibuya where Yousuke (played by Masaya Kikawada) is the disc jockey with her friends Hiroko (played by Airi Toriyama) and Emi (played by Hatsune Matsushima). (In the opening scene, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mizu Ni Sumu Hana
is a Japanese '' shōjo'' manga series written and illustrated by Chie Shinohara is a Japanese manga artist best known for '' Red River'', known in Japan as ''Sora wa Akai Kawa no Hotori: Anatolia Story''. She has twice received the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo, in 1987 for '' Yami no Purple Eye'' and in 2001 for ''Red .... It was serialized in Shogakukan's '' Betsucomi'' magazine from 2004 to 2005. Shogakukan collected the individual chapters into five bound volumes from June 2004 to March 2006. The series was adapted into a live-action feature film directed by Kenji Gotō and released in theaters in Japan on May 27, 2006. Plot Rikka Nikaidō is a normal school girl whose life is thrown into chaos when her bus flips into a lake while on a school field trip. She is the sole survivor. Once she is released from the hospital, she tries to regain a regular life and even starts up swimming again. However, a black-haired woman attempts to attack Rikka repeatedly whil ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |