is a Japanese

gravure idol A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Though mo ...

tarento Television personalities in Japan, known as in Japanese, are celebrities who regularly appear in mass media in Japan, especially as panelists on variety shows. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, bankable stars in America were described as "tal ...

, actress and one-time

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

fighter. Sakuraba has appeared in several

photobook A photo book or photobook is a book in which photographs make a significant contribution to the overall content. A photo book is related to and also often used as a coffee table book. Early Early photo books are characterized by their use of ...

s, films and TV series. She also participated in the MMA tournament ''ReMix World Cup 2000''.

Biography

Background

Sakuraba was born in Koriyama,

Fukushima may refer to: Japan * Fukushima Prefecture, Japanese prefecture ** Fukushima, Fukushima, capital city of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan ***Fukushima University, national university in Japan *** Fukushima Station (Fukushima) in Fukushima, Fukushim ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. She graduated from the Koriyama Women's University Associated Senior High School.

Modeling and acting career

Sakuraba debuted in 1996 with the photobook published by gravure publisher Scola. She began to appear on TV programs and in gravure videos the same year. She made her acting debut in 1997 in the

V-Cinema Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

film , directed by Minoru Kawasaki. Sakuraba was romantically linked to Kenji Haga, her partner in the 1999 film ''Silver'' (directed by

Takashi Miike is a Japanese film director, film producer and screenwriter. He has directed over one hundred theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. His films run through a variety of different genres, and range from violent an ...

) but it was later believed to be a

publicity stunt In marketing, a publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized, or set up by amateurs. Such events are frequently utilize ...

. In 1999, Sakuraba appeared in her first

nude Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to h ...

photobook titled ''Careyes'' and published by Roux Shuppan. Her first theatrical film was '' Waru'' also directed by

. Sakuraba has also participated in

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

Publications

Photobooks

*, Scola, , *''in the room'', Scola, , *''Careyes'', Roux Shuppan, , *''Ultimate Hunter: Guardless 4'',

Takeshobo is a major publisher in Japan. Takeshobo was founded in 1972 by Kyōichirō Noguchi, starting Japan's first Mahjong magazine . Other magazines, such as a magazine dedicated to mahjong-themed manga, as well as a magazine dedicated to yonkoma ma ...

, ,

Videos

*, Scola, , *, Eichi Publishing, ,

JAN Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Num ...

1902874032381, *''Careyes: Atsuko Sakuraba'', SVC, , JAN 1920876028009, *''Ultimate Hunter: Guardless 4'' (VHS), Takeshobo, JAN 4985914111393, *''Ultimate Hunter: Guardless 4'' (DVD), Takeshobo, JAN 4985914118057,

Filmography

V-Cinema

* (directed by Minoru Kawasaki, ) *''Bad girls'' (directed by Minoru Akimoto and Yuzuru Ashiya, ) *''F·I·S·H'' (directed by Kenji Seki, ) *''Silver'' (directed by

, ) * (directed by Takeshi Yokoi, ) * (directed by Hiroyuki Tsuji, ) * (directed by Hiroyuki Tsuji, ) * (directed by Kanta Tagawa, ) * (directed by Seiji Chiba and

Kenji Tanigaki is a Japanese action choreographer and film director best known for his works in Hong Kong action cinema, and has expanded his career in Japanese cinema and Hollywood. Inspired by Jackie Chan's action films, Tanigaki migrated to Hong Kong in 1 ...

, ) * (directed by Kanta Tagawa, ) *''Two-F'' (directed by Kanta Tagawa, )

Theatrical

*'' Waru'' (directed by

, ) * (directed by Shinpei Hayashiya, )

TV programs

*''

Tamori Club , known by his stage name (an anagram of his surname), is a List of Japanese celebrities, Japanese television celebrity. Known for his trademark dark sunglasses, Tamori is one of the "big three" television comedians in Japan along with Takesh ...

'' (

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Compan ...

) * (Various) * (

Tokyo Broadcasting System formerly is a Japanese media and licensed broadcasting holding company. It is the parent company of the television network and radio network . It has a 28-affiliate television network called JNN (Japan News Network), as well as a 34-affili ...

) * (Mondo21)

Theatre

* (directed by Uson Kimu, 2003) * (directed by Uji Takinosuke, 2004) * (directed by Uson Kimu, 2005)

Others

Serialization: , ''

Weekly Manga Action is a Japanese seinen manga magazine published by Futabasha. It is currently published twice a month, on the first and third Thursday. The magazine was originally formed as and began publishing weekly from July 7, 1967. It is considered the firs ...

'', -

Mixed martial arts career

Sakuraba had a MMA bout in the event ''ReMix World Cup 2000'' on , where she faced four-time national judo champion, 1993 and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

list and three-time World Cup winner

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

Tatyana Kuvshinova in a non-tournament fight. She was clearly outmatched by the Russian, and despite her spirited efforts, her corner decided to throw the towel in after her arm was injured in an

armbar An armlock in grappling is a single or double joint lock that hyperextends, hyperflexes or hyperrotates the elbow joint or shoulder joint. An armlock that hyper-extends the arm is known as an armbar, and it includes the traditional armbar, pr ...

from which Sakuraba did not want to tap, dislocating her elbow in the process. Sakuraba also participated in ''ReMix Golden Gate 2001'', although merely as a TV commentator.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 0-1-0 , Tatyana Kuvshinova , TKO (corner stoppage) , ReMix World Cup 2000 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:26 ,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, Japan ,

References

External links

* *
Profile
at Fightergirls.com
Profile
at allcinema

at the

Japanese Movie Database The , more commonly known as simply JMDb, is an online database of information about Japanese movies, actors, and production crew personnel. It is similar to the Internet Movie Database but lists only those films initially released in Japan. Y. ...

Profile
at

Kinema Junpo , commonly called , is Japan's oldest film magazine and began publication in July 1919. It was first published three times a month, using the Japanese ''Jun'' (旬) system of dividing months into three parts, but the postwar ''Kinema Junpō'' ha ...