is a Japanese actress, singer and model.

Biography

Maeda is notable for performing Shiori Kitano in the 2003 film '' Battle Royale II: Requiem'', as well as for voicing the title role in the

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

series ''

Kino's Journey , shortened to ''Kino's Journey'', is a Japanese light novel series written by Keiichi Sigsawa, with illustrations by Kouhaku Kuroboshi. The series follows a traveler named Kino and her talking motorcycle named Hermes, as they explore ...

'' (for which she also performed a theme song to the series, "The Beautiful World"). Her younger sister is

Aki Maeda is a Japanese actress and singer. She has an older sister named Ai Maeda. She is perhaps best known in the west for her role as Noriko Nakagawa in the controversial 2000 film '' Battle Royale'', which she reprised for its sequel '' Battle R ...

. Ai Maeda came into the spotlight when she was only 8 years old, appearing in a

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

commercial. From there her career started off. She modeled along with her sister

when they were young until she was 16/17 years old, when she starred in many movies and TV series. Maeda is skilled in the piano, Tate (fighting battles on the movie set) and the English language (Ai studied abroad in Canada for a year in 2000). She starred in the 3-D Ghost horror film Shock Labyrinth 3D, which was directed by

Takashi Shimizu Takashi Shimizu (清水崇 ''Shimizu Takashi'', born 27 July 1972) is a Japanese filmmaker. He is best known for being the creator of the ''Ju-On'' franchise, and directing four of its films, internationally, in both Japan and the U.S. Accordi ...

.Wild New Stills from Takashi Shimizu's 'The Shock Labyrinth 3D'
/ref> She is a graduate of

Aoyama Gakuin University is a private Christian university in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Originally established in 1874 by missionaries from the Methodist Episcopal Church, it was reconfigured in its current form in 1949 as part of Aoyama Gakuin. Aoyama Gakuin Universit ...

(Faculty of Economics, International Politics and Communications). On October 28, 2009, Maeda married

Kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought to ...

actor

Nakamura Kankurō VI is a Japanese kabuki and film and television actor. Born , he is the eldest son of actor Nakamura Kanzaburō XVIII and the older brother of Nakamura Shichinosuke II. He is a well-known '' tachiyaku'' actor (kabuki actor who plays male roles) just ...

and they have two sons.

Career

* 1993: Debuted in a McDonald's commercial together with her sister Aki. She was in her fourth year of primary school. * 1994: Ai and Aki joined the manager firm "Crayon". * 1994 April: Became a regular cast of the show ''Appare-Sanma Sensei''. * 1997: Changed manager to "Granpapa". * 1997: Formed the group "Pretty Chat" with Maya Hamaoka, Yuuka Nomura and Ayako Omura, releasing a single album "Wake up girls". * 2003: On her 20th birthday she voiced her first anime '' Kino no Tabi''.

Filmography

Discography

Mini-albums

* Night Fly 005.03.16

Singles

* the Beautiful World The title track was used in

ending theme

References

External links

* Official Website (In Japanese) http://www.granpapa.com/1251277177523/ * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maeda, Ai 1983 births Living people Japanese child actresses Japanese women pop singers Japanese film actresses Japanese rhythm and blues singers Japanese television actresses Japanese voice actresses Japanese female models Actresses from Tokyo Aoyama Gakuin University alumni 20th-century Japanese actresses 21st-century Japanese actresses 21st-century Japanese women singers 21st-century Japanese singers