is a Japanese actress, artist, and model. She is a former member of the

Japanese idol An is a type of entertainer marketed for image, attractiveness, and personality in Japanese popular culture, Japanese pop culture. Idols are primarily singers with training in other performance skills such as acting, dancing, and modeling. Idol ...

group

Nogizaka46 is a Japanese female idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto, created as the "official rival" of the group AKB48. They are the first group from the Sakamichi Series, which also includes sister groups Sakurazaka46 (formerly Keyakizaka46), Yoshim ...

. She has played lead roles in the 2015 film ''Eyes'' and the 2021 film '' It's a Summer Film'', and supporting roles in the films '' Asahinagu'' and ''

Kakegurui – Compulsive Gambler is a Japanese manga series written by Homura Kawamoto and illustrated by Tōru Naomura. It began serialization in Square Enix's '' Gangan Joker'' in March 2014, with its chapters additionally collected into eighteen volumes as of July 2 ...

''. Her performance in ''It's a Summer Film'' was nominated for a

Hochi Film Award The are film-specific prizes awarded by the '' Hochi Shimbun''. Categories *Best Picture *Best International Picture *Best Animated Picture (since 2017) *Best Actor *Best Actress *Best Supporting Actor *Best Supporting Actress *Best New Artist ...

and a

Mainichi Film Award The are a series of annual film awards, sponsored by ''Mainichi Shimbun'' (毎日新聞), one of the largest newspaper companies in Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of t ...

Early life

Itō was born on February 20, 1996, in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, Japan to a fashion designer mother and a graphic designer father. She began her entertainment career in 2011 by successfully auditioning for the first generation of

, an idol group created as the official rival of

AKB48 AKB48 (pronounced ''A.K.B. Forty-Eight'') is a Japanese idol musical girl group named after the Akihabara area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48 has sold more records than any other female musical act in Japanese history. AK ...

Career

Nogizaka46

As a Nogizaka46 member, Itō appeared in several albums, concerts, short films, music videos, and television shows, including the million-selling singles "Influencer" and " Itsuka Dekiru kara Kyō Dekiru". In 2017, at the group's sold-out first

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium (whose former site is now occupied by the Tokyo Dome Hotel and a plaza for this stadium). In Japan, it is often us ...

concert, Itō performed for the last time as a Nogizaka46 member. After formally leaving the group, Itō remained on the talent roster of Nogizaka46's management company.

Acting

Itō's acting career began while she was still a member of Nogizaka46. She had a minor part in the 2013 movie ''Bad Boys J'', but her first major film role was in ''Eyes'', an adaptation of a story by ''Ring'' author

Koji Suzuki is a Japanese writer, who was born in Hamamatsu and lives in Tokyo. Suzuki is the author of the Ring (novel series), ''Ring'' novels, which have been adapted into other formats, including films, manga, TV series and video games. He has written ...

. In 2017 she played a supporting role in '' Asahinagu'', an adaptation of the manga of the same name, for which she had to learn how to use the

naginata The ''naginata'' (, , ) is a polearm and one of several varieties of traditionally made Japanese blades ('' nihontō''). ''Naginata'' were originally used by the samurai class of feudal Japan, as well as by ashigaru (foot soldiers) and sōhei ( ...

. In 2019, Itō was cast in her first post-Nogizaka46 film role, winning a supporting role in ''

'', a film adaptation of the Homura Kawamoto manga of the same name. Later that year she played the role of Minatsu in the

Kansai TV JODX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is the Kansai region key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and Fuji Network System (FNS), owned-and-operated by the . Its studios and headquarters are located in Osaka and the broadcaster is an affi ...

drama '. Itō's second lead role came in the 2021 film ''It's a Summer Film'', in which she played Hadashi. Her performance earned a nomination for a

for Best New Artist and a nomination for a

for Best New Actress, as well as a Best New Actress prize at the Tama Film Awards, which are part of the Tama Cinema Forum, a "people's choice film festival". The following year she appeared in supporting roles in the films ''To a More Transcendent Place'' and ''Sobakasu'', and in several episodes of the Hikari TV series . She also took on the lead role of Kurumi Enomoto, a

food truck A food truck is a large motorized vehicle (such as a van or multi-stop truck) or trailer equipped to store, transport, cook, prepare, serve and/or sell food. Some food trucks, such as ice cream trucks, sell frozen or prepackaged food, but m ...

owner, in TV Tokyo's , a drama produced as part of TV Tokyo's efforts to promote regional revitalization in

Takasaki is a Cities of Japan, city located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 372,369 in 167,345 households, and a population density of 810 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Takasaki is famous as th ...

Art and modeling

While in Nogizaka46, Itō art directed and styled several of her individual performance videos, which were included in bonus versions of singles and DVDs. Shortly before her graduation from Nogizaka46, Itō's first solo art exhibition was held in October 2017 at GALLERY X BY PARCO and featured photographs of fellow Nogizaka46 members, a room filled with objects meant to represent the contents of Itō's brain, and an original short film playing on a loop. In 2017 she also filmed her first solo commercial, for the app ("requpo"), based on a character she created and played in a Nogizaka46 music video. In 2018, Itō's photobook ''Étranger'', for which she styled the clothing, was published. She was also selected to be the image model for the MOOSIC LAB 2018 music and film festival. In 2019 her solo art exhibition "HOMESICK" was held at Parco Gallery X in Shibuya. Itō also appeared as the sole performer in a 2022 commercial for the candy Puregumi, directed by Santa Yamagishi, who had also directed Itō in ''To a More Transcendent Place''.

Selected works

Films

Animation

Television

Solo art exhibitions

* , Gallery X by Parco, 2017 * , Kyoto Nippon Festival, 2017 * “HOMESICK”, Parco Gallery X, 2019

Photobooks

* (''Étranger''),

Shueisha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Shueisha is the largest publishing company in Japan. It was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The ...

, 2018,

Advertising

* "" commercial, ''requpo'', 2017 * "" commercial, Puregumi, 2022

Awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ito, Marika 1996 births Living people Japanese film actresses Japanese female models Japanese women artists Models from Osaka Prefecture Actresses from Osaka Singers from Osaka Japanese idols Japanese women singers J-pop singers Nogizaka46 members Sony Music Entertainment Japan artists 21st-century Japanese actresses