is a Japanese

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

. Amongst her film and television credits are Rinko in the film '' My Love Story!'', Suzume Yosano in the film ''

Daytime Shooting Star is a Japanese shōjo manga written and illustrated by Mika Yamamori. It ran in ''Margaret (magazine), Margaret'' from 2011 to 2014. A live-action film adaptation of the same name was released in 2017, as well as a collaboration clothing line w ...

'', and Suzume Nireno in the 98th

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestri ...

asadora , colloquially known as , is a serialized, 15 minutes per episode, Japanese television drama program series broadcast in the mornings by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. The first such series aired in 1961 with the black-and-white , starring Take ...

Hanbun, Aoi is a Japanese television drama series and the 98th Asadora series, following ''Warotenka''. It premiered on April 2, 2018, and concluded on September 29, 2018. Mei Nagano was cast in the lead role of Suzume Nireno after an audition of 2366 women ...

''.

Career

Nagano was scouted in

Kichijōji __NOTOC__ is a neighborhood in the city of Musashino in Western Tokyo, Japan. It is centered on a compact but popular commercial area to the north and south of Kichijoji Station, with a full range of shops, restaurants, bars, and coffee house ...

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 ...

when she was in her third year of elementary school. She made her acting debut in the 2009

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...

''Hard Revenge Milly: Bloody Battle'' as a minor character. Nagano was a regular model for Japanese

fashion magazine Fashion journalism is a component of fashion media, with a focus on writing and photojournalism. Fashion journalists write about fashion events, trends and have to cultivate and maintain a relationship with stylists and designers. A fashion jour ...

s '' Nico☆Petite'' and '' nicola''. In August 2016 she became an exclusive model for ''

Seventeen Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

''. In 2015 she played the heroine, Rinko Yamato, in the

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film '' My Love Story!''. Her first lead role came in the 2016

teen drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

''Koe Koi'' as Yuiko Yoshioka, a high school student who meets a mysterious boy who wears a paper bag over his head. Later that year she provided the voice for the character Zaya in the Japanese version of the film ''

Gods of Egypt Ancient Egyptian deities are the gods and goddesses worshipped in ancient Egypt. The beliefs and rituals surrounding these gods formed the core of ancient Egyptian religion, which emerged sometime in prehistory. Deities represented natural fo ...

''. She also appeared in commercials for Calpis Water,

Sekisui House is one of Japan's largest homebuilders. It was founded on August 1, 1960 and is headquartered in Osaka. In 2009, Sekisui House expanded into Australia and Russia before expanding into China and the United States the following year. The company ...

, Townwork, UQ Mobile, and Alpen. In 2017 she starred in the

romance film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

'' and was announced as the lead for

's 98th

Asadora , colloquially known as , is a serialized, 15 minutes per episode, Japanese television drama program series broadcast in the mornings by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. The first such series aired in 1961 with the black-and-white , starring Take ...

, ''

'', which started airing in April 2018. For her lead role in this

, Nagano was named the Best Actress at the 98th Japan Television Drama Academy Awards. In 2019, Nagano acted alongside

Masaki Suda , known professionally as , is a Japanese actor and singer. He won the Japan Academy Film Prize for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role. His debut song is "Mita Koto mo Nai Keshiki". Personal life Suda is a close junior to S ...

in the drama ''Mr. Hiiragi's Homeroom'', and was named Best Supporting Actress at the 100th Japan Television Drama Academy Awards for her role. In 2022, Nagano was nominated in the Best Actress category for her role in the 2021 film ''And So the Baton Is Passed'' at the

45th Japan Academy Film Prize The is the 45th edition of the Japan Academy Film Prize, an award presented by the Nippon Academy-Sho Association to award excellence in filmmaking Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmakin ...

. She was also named

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress awar ...

at the 64th

Blue Ribbon Awards The are film-specific prizes awarded solely by movie critics and writers in Tokyo, Japan. The awards were established in 1950 by which is composed of film correspondents from seven Tokyo-based sports newspapers. In 1961, the six major Japanes ...

for her role in the same film. She then appeared in the drama ''Unicorn ni Notte''. She also starred in the

live-action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...

film adaptation of the manga ''

My Broken Mariko is a Japanese web manga series written and illustrated by Waka Hirako. It was serialized on Kadokawa's ''josei'' manga website ''Comic Bridge'' from July to December 2019. Characters ; : ;Mariko Ikagawa : ;Makio : ;Mariko's father : ;Kyok ...

'' which was released in September 2022.

Filmography

Film

Television drama

Other television

Japanese dub

Music videos

Bibliography

Magazines

*''

Ribon is a monthly Japanese manga magazine published by Shueisha on the third of each month. First issued in August 1955, its rivals are ''Nakayoshi'' and '' Ciao''. Its target audience is girls roughly 8–14 years old. It is one of the best-s ...

'',

Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...

1995-, as an exclusive model since 2010 *'' Nico☆Petite'',

Shinchosha is a publisher founded in 1896 in Japan and headquartered in Yaraichō, Shinjuku, Tokyo. Shinchosha is one of the sponsors of the Japan Fantasy Novel Award. Books * Haruki Murakami: ''Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World'' (1985), ...

2006-, as an exclusive model from 2010 to 2013 *'' nicola'', Shinchosha 1997-, as an exclusive model from 2013 to 2016 *''

'', Shueisha 1967-, as an exclusive model since 2016

Photobooks

* ''Moment'' (2019) * ''No cambia'' (2020)

Awards

References

External links

Official profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nagano, Mei 1999 births Actresses from Tokyo Living people Stardust Promotion artists Asadora lead actors Japanese child actresses 21st-century Japanese actresses