The 30 Most Beautiful and Popular Japanese Actresses

1. Kasumi Arimura
Kasumi Arimura was born on February 13, 1993. This gorgeous young lady is known for Amachan, Strobe Edge, Flying Colors, and Rurouni Kenshin. She is a pretty good actress of her generation. By looking at her cute face, one would definitely recognize her as a younger version of Nagasawa Masami

2. Hikari Mitsushima
Hikari Mitsushima was born on 30 November 1985. She is a Japanese actress and singer. She came to note as a pop singer but went on to star in films. In 1997, she began her music career as an idol singer. In the same year, she made her acting debut in the Rebirth of Mothra II. She is best known in manga-based thriller film Death Note (2006) and the well-received Love Exposure (2008), a comedy-drama/art film directed by Sion Sono. Her performance in the latter brought her critical attention and won her several awards.

3. Nanao Arai
Nanao Arai was on born October 28, 1988. She is a Japanese model and actress who is affiliated with Platinum Production. She started her career in 2009 as a model and race queen in the magazine. She won the Miss TGC of Tokyo Girls Collection and the 2010 Sanai Mizugi Image Girl and was a fashion model for Non-no. In 2011, she became an exclusive model for the magazine Ginger. Nanao was also notable as a tarento from her activities. She appeared in various fashion magazines, television commercials, dramas, and variety shows, as well as variety shows, and has developed a wide range of activities on the stage.

4. Mikako Tabe
Mikako Tabe was born on January 25, 1989. She started her career after landing a role in the Sailor Moon musicals, she has developed into a lead actress in film and television, playing the heroine in the Asadora Tsubasa, starring in TV comedy series such Yasuko to Kenji and Deka Wanko, and playing the lead in films such as Kimi ni Todoke and Piece of Cake.

5. Marie Iitoyo
Marie Iitoyo was born on January 5, 1998. She is a fashion model and actress. She is best known for her roles in Mars: Tada, Kimi Wo Aishiteru, Kyo no Kira-kun, and Ankoku Joshi. Iitoyo is currently an exclusive model for the Japanese magazine, Oggi. She also appeared in the 2018 drama Hana Nochi Hare as Megumi Nishidome.

6. Yuna Taira
Yuna Taira was born on November 12, 1998. She was in the sixth grade at elementary school when her mother and grandmother applied for her to be in the film I Wish. She passed the audition and debuted as an actress. In 2011, she made regular appearances in NHK Educational TV’s R no Hōsoku.

7. Sayaka Isoyama
Sayaka Isoyama was born on October 23, 1983. She is a Japanese gravure idol, entertainer, actress, and sports writer who is represented by the talent agency, Hori Agency. Isoyama graduated from Ibaraki Prefecture Hokota Second High School.

8. Minami Hamabe
Minami Hamabe was born on August 29, 2000. She is a Japanese actress. She won the New Generation Award at the 7th Toho Cinderella Audition. She gained widespread fame in Japan for her role in the Japanese live-action film Let Me Eat Your Pancreas, which has also gained fame in many Asian countries.

9. Meisa Kuroki
Meisa Kuroki was born on May 28, 1988. She is an Okinawan actress, model, and singer. She is represented by the agency Sweet Power and is signed to Sony Music Japan. She made her acting debut in 2004. She has modeled for the popular Japanese fashion magazine JJ, among others, and is the current Japanese representative for Epson and Giorgio Armani. She has appeared in numerous television dramas, commercials, films, and stage productions.

10. Yui Aragaki
Yui Aragaki was born on June 6, 1988. She is a Japanese idol, model, actress, singer, voice actress, and occasional radio show host. She is particularly recognized for her beauty and her movie projects.

She won the Film prize at the 45th Golden Arrow Awards in 2008. Her tremendous number of movie shoots as well as the preparation for her debut album resulted in her suffering from work-related stress in 2007.

Outside acting she also released her first album, Sora, and the single “Heavenly Days”, a song from Koizora. “Memories”, the theme song for Tokyo Serendipity, was included in her debut album. She also performed at Budokan.

She was also the co-hosts for popular radio program Girls Locks from 2010-2012.

11. Aya Ueto
Aya Ueto was born on September 14, 1985. She is a Japanese actress, singer, model, tarento, and occasional radio personality. Aya was discovered when she participated in the 7th Japan Bishōjo Contest, where she won the special jury prize. At the age of thirteen, she made her acting debut, in the film Satsujinsha: Killer of Paraiso (1999).

Aya’s breakthrough came when she was cast as a high school student suffering from gender identity disorder (GID), in the sixth season of the long-running TBS drama 3-nen B-Gumi Kinpachi-sensei. Her critically acclaimed performance led to several leading roles and endorsements, eventually establishing herself as one of Japan’s most recognizable faces.

As one of Japan’s most ubiquitous celebrities, Aya constantly appears on billboards, shop windows, and train adverts, and has held the annual title of CM Queen five times since 2004.

12. Yuriko Yoshitaka
Yuriko Yoshitaka was born on July 22, 1988. She is a Japanese actress who is represented by the Japanese agency Amuse.

Yuriko made her acting debut in 2006. She was given the lead role in the live-action adaptation of Hitomi Kanehara’s award-winning novel Snakes and Earrings in 2007. Portraying Lui, a teenager whose life goes into a downward spiral after meeting the forked-tongued and tattooed Ama, the role was her breakthrough role.

The Japanese public began to take notice of her, and in a poll conducted by Oricon, Yoshitaka was the fifth promising young actress of 2009 and 2009’s freshest female celebrity. In 2010, Oricon again conducted a poll on the most promising actress and she managed to climb up to top the poll.

She played Tae Kojima in the two-part 2011 live-action adaptation of the sci-fi and action manga Gantz. She also took the lead role in Kōji Maeda’s movie Konzen Tokkyū, portraying a young woman dating multiple men in hopes of finding the right one to marry. It premiered in Spring 2011.

13. Erika Toda
Erika Toda was born on August 17, 1988. She is a Japanese actress. She has starred in many Japanese television dramas, including Liar Game, Code Blue, Ryusei no Kizuna, and Keizoku 2: SPEC. She has also had supporting roles in many other popular TV dramas, such as Boss, Nobuta Wo Produce, Engine, and Gal Circle. In the manga adaptation movie, Death Note, she played the role of Misa Amane.

14. Maki Horikita
Maki Horikita was born on October 6, 1988. She is a Japanese actress. She debuted in 2003 and has starred in numerous Japanese television dramas, television and magazine advertisements, and movies. Horikita’s popular roles include the introverted high school student Nobuko Kotani in Nobuta Wo Produce, the righteous law student Tsurara Yoshikawa in Kurosagi, and the cross-dressing sports fan Mizuki Ashiya in Hanazakari no Kimitachi e.

Her first NHK Isadora project came in 2012 through Umechan Sensei in which she led the cast as a teenager who blossomed into a town doctor during the Showa era.

In early 2009, she also dubbed a character from the Belgian 3D animated movie Nat’s Space Adventure 3D/Fly Me to the Moon. She provided the Japanese voice of the protagonist, a young male fly who was determined to explore outer space.

15. Erika Sawajiri
Erika Sawajiri was born on April 8, 1986. She is a Japanese actress, also active as a model and singer. She became popular after appearing in the nonfiction Japanese television drama 1 Litre of Tears, playing the role of a girl who suffered from the intractable diseases spinocerebellar degeneration (SCD).

She got her big break when she was cast in the TBS TV drama Hotman. Her most notable role was in 1 Litre of Tears in 2005 when she portrayed a girl with the degenerative disease spinocerebellar degeneration.

She first started her music career under the name “Kaoru Amane”, the name of her character in her last drama, the TV adaptation of A Song to the Sun (Taiyo no Uta). The single went into number 1 in its second and fourth weeks. It was certified Triple Platinum for cell phone downloads of 750,000.

She was originally scheduled to star in the live-action film version of Space Battleship Yamato but was replaced by Meisa Kuroki.

16. Kyoko Fukada
Kyoko Fukada was born on November 2, 1982. She is a Japanese actress and singer. In Japan, her name is sometimes contracted to the nickname Fukakyon. She won the award for Best Actress at the Yokohama Film Festival for Kamikaze Girls.

She debuted in 1987 with her first appearance in the television drama Sore ga Kotae da! as Kazune. Fukada appeared in her first movie Ring 2 as Kanae Sawaguchi in 1999 and in later in School Day of the Dead, released in 2000. That same year, she graduated from Horikoshi High School.

In 2002, she made an appearance in Dolls as Haruna. Fukada is also a J-pop singer and her debut single “The Last Fruit” led to her album Dear, both released in 1999.

17. Nozomi Sasaki
Nozomi Sasaki was born on February 8, 1988. She is simply known as Nozomi during her fashion modeling career, is a Japanese glamour model and former professional fashion model from Akita.

After working as a fashion model for nearly 7 years, she has become famous as a gravure idol and main ringside commentator/spokesperson for the mixed martial arts competition Dream Fighting Championships and the kickboxing competition K-1 World Max since 2009.

In 2010, she started her music career, debuting with the single “Kamu to Funyan” which featured rapper Astro and was used in the tie-in commercials for Lotte Fit’s Chewing Gum. Sasaki’s debut album Nozomi Collection was released on April 18, 2012.

She was given the nickname “No Mercy” for her countless reported atrocities toward other show-business girls she worked within her teenage years, especially toward actresses, glamour models, and fashion models from foreign countries, whom she considered to be “fat.”

18. Keiko Kitagawa
Keiko Kitagawa was born on August 22, 1986. She is a Japanese actress and former model. She was an exclusive model for the Japanese Seventeen magazine from late 2003 to mid-2006 and left modeling when she left the magazine.

Her first acting role was Sailor Mars in the Sailor Moon live-action show Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (2003-4), and after her role in the film Mamiya Kyōdai, she left modeling to concentrate on acting.

She describes herself as a stay-at-home person, and likes watching DVDs, listening to music, and reading books. When asked what she would do if the world was going to end tomorrow, she said “read books”.She also likes swimming, particularly backstroke. She has a pet (male) cat, called Jill.

19. Yukie Nakama
Yukie Nakama was born on October 30, 1979. She is a Japanese actress, singer, and former idol. She was born in Urasoe, Okinawa, Japan, into a fisherman’s family, the youngest of five siblings.

At the start of her career, she was a gravure idol and singer (her debut single “Moonlight to Daybreak” was released in 1996), and appeared in bit roles until her career breakthrough playing Sadako in “Ring 0: Birthday (2000).”

In 2000, Yuki demonstrated her talent for comedy with her lead role in the Japanese television drama Trick which proved so popular that it had two more seasons and three film versions, but it was the top-rating 2002 TV series Gokusen, a live-action version of the popular manga, that established her as one of Japan’s most popular and bankable actresses. Gokusen continued on for 3 seasons, which had many cameo appearances by actors who were on previous seasons. She is also known for her role in the drama, Saki, which co-starred Shohei Miura.

20. Suzu Hirose
Suzu Hirose is a model and actress known to be the dopple ganger of Korean actress Bae Suzy. She’s a multi-talented personality in her generation. If you’re longing to see her on a new movie or drama, then you better mark your 2018 calendar as she will star in the movie Chihayafuru: Musubi. You can also see her on the 2018 drama Anyone. A 2019 drama project Natsuzora has been settled also that will star her.

21. Mariya Nishiuchi
Mariya Nishiuchi is a Japanese actress known in the drama Great Teacher Onizuka and Yamada and the Seven Witches. Aside from being an actress, this beautiful and talented lady is also a model and a songwriter.

Mariya has a natural beauty that attracts everyone especially her fans. She can also change her expressions but still looks pretty. She’s last seen in the drama series Everyone’s Getting Married.

22. Satomi Ishihara
Satomi Ishihara is a Japanese actress best known for the live-action movie Attack on Titan. As one of the well-known actresses in the country, you’ll see her billboards in every place around Japan showing her beautiful and younger-looking face. She’s an actress who can play different roles in a drama. She can be cute, clumsy, and naughty.

23. Haruna Kawaguchi
This charming lady is a popular Japanese actress and a model under the Ken-On agency. She is mostly known for being part of Great Teacher Onizuka, Ouran High School Host Club and Say “I Love You”.

24. Ayame Gouriki
Usually mistaken as the Taiwanese actress Raine Yang, this talented actress was born on August 27, 1992. She stars in the drama Gosa, Mr. Housekeeper, Mitazono Season 2, and Seven Ms. Prisoners.

25. Ayami Nakajo
This lovely actress was born in Osaka. She started her career in 2011 when she auditioned for the female fashion magazine Seventeen. She was awarded as the winner of “Miss Seventeen Grand Prix”. She debuted in the television series, Kuro no Jokyoshi. In the year 2014, she was cast in her first starring role in the film, Gekijoban Zero.

26. Kanna Hashimoto
This lady with pretty eyes is a well-known pop singer in Japan. She was born on February 3, 1999. As a member of a girl group, Kanna is known for having a great visual. At the age of 11, Kanna joined the talent agency Active Hakata. She will star the upcoming 2020 movie, Signal 100 which is based on manga series of the same name.

27. Tina Tamashiro
This beautiful young lady is a fan of Arashi’s Sho Sakurai. She is a model, idol, and actress known worldwide. She appeared on Dolmen X on both movie and drama series. Tina gets her doll looking features from her American father and Japanese mother. With the first look, anybody would be mistaken her as a doppelganger of Dakota Rose.

28. Emi Takei
This 24-year-old versatile and gorgeous lady was an inspiring model before deciding to become an actress. She was in her junior high school when she told her parents about her dreams of being a model.

Emi is among the well-known Japanese actresses of her generation. She is married to exile member Takahiro.

29. Mirei Kiritani
Another beautiful actress that we have on the list is Merei Kiritani who is popularly known by international fans on the drama Hana Kimi, in which she played the character of Kanna Amagasaki.

Alongside being an actress and model, she is also a news anchor. Truly a beauty, brain, and talent who also serves the public.

30. Mizuki Yamamoto
This 26-year-old but ageless and young-looking actress is also a well-known model in Japan. She’s best known for playing the character of Yuri Kurahashi in Sadako vs Kayako. She started her career as a model of a fashion magazine in the country then later turns her luck into acting.

It was even unbelievable that she’s a 90’s baby as she looks very young in her pictures and even on the big screen.