Jun Natsukawa (夏川 純)

Jun Natsukawa (夏川 純, Natsukawa Jun, born September 19, 1980 in Hiroshima) is a Japanese gravure idol.

She debuted with “Weekly young jump” in 1999.

In 2003, a photography book ‘believe’ was published.

In 2004, she became a member of the TV Asahi corporation project “Angel Eye”.

KYOURAKU image girl “Miss surprise” in 2006.

In October 2005, she released a CD titled “Himetra Trance”, in which she covered the theme song from the anime Cats’ Eye. She made an appearance on the Japanese television show “Pink no Idenshi”, as a schoolgirl who falls in love with her teacher; and as herself on the reality show “Geirinji”. She was also featured in a commercial for “Kantan Kirei-na Fudeo”.

She was featured in the PlayStation 2 game, “Yakuza”. Though it was just a few pictures, upon entering “Kyushu No. 1 Star”, she can be seen in a magazine called “Sabra”.

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Kasumi Nakane (仲根 かすみ), Kasumi Ue (植 可澄美)

Kasumi Nakane (仲根 かすみ Nakane Kasumi is a Japanese model, gravure idol, and actress born on April 3, 1982 in Higashiōsaka, Osaka and raised in Tokyo, Japan. Her birth name was Kasumi Nakasone (仲宗根 かすみ Nakasone Kasumi), and she formerly worked under the name Kasumi Ue (植 可澄美 Ue Kasumi). She graduated from the private Horikoshi High School, the same school attended by talent such as Yoko Minamino, Yōko Oginome, Ai Katō, and Masumi Miyazaki.

In 1993, Nakane joined the Nezumikko Club, an all-girl idol group composed of Nakane, Natsu Itō, Kana Itō, Sato Higashi, Ami Yamazaki, Emiko Inoue, Juri Miyazawa, and Chiaki Nakajima. The group was created to ride on the popularity of such groups as Onyanko Club. The group released two albums, both in 1993. In 1996, she began working as a gravure idol, gaining success due to having a larger bust for her age. Nakane began appearing in 1999 in drama series, as well as in variety, sports, educational, and other television programs.
She married Japanese baseball player Tsuyoshi Wada on 2005-12-10. She gave birth to their first daughter on September 13, 2006.

Nakane has been a spokesperson for MSN at the WPB Expo in Tokyo. She helped launch a “morning wake-up call” service in 2002 by personally calling five customers selected at random as part of the service. In 2004, she participated in a Yahoo! chat session to promote the release of her DVD box set Nakane Kasumi Memories Box “Merci!” in which over 6700 individuals participated by submitting over 3700 questions.

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Yukie Nakama (仲間 由紀恵)

Yukie Nakama (仲間 由紀恵 Nakama Yukie, born October 30, 1979 in Okinawa) is a Japanese actress, singer and former idol. She was born in Okinawa in 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, Nakama 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 TV series Gokusen (2002), a live-action version of the popular manga, that established her as one of Japan’s most popular and bankable actresses.

Nakama has featured in commercials for companies such as Nissin, Glico, Lotte, Asahi, Shiseido, au by KDDI, and has even served as a spokesperson for Japan Railways and the Japanese Tax Agency.

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Shoko Nakagawa (中川 翔子)

Shoko Nakagawa (中川 翔子 Nakagawa Shōko, born May 5, 1985 in Tokyo) is a Japanese idol, tarento, actress, voice actress, illustrator, and singer. She is best known as the presenter of Pokémon Sunday. She is the daughter of Katsuhiko Nakagawa, a celebrity in Japan in the 1980s.

She is represented by the Watanabe Entertainment talent agency. Her nickname is Shokotan (しょこたん) (In the blog by Mika Kaneda, who appeared with her on “Ōsama no Brunch”, she is called Shokotasu).

Life

Born to entertainer Katsuhiko Nakagawa as Shiyōko Nakagawa (中川 しようこ Nakagawa Shiyōko, her name was not registered in a koseki as Shoko (しょうこ Shōko) as she had been using for most of her life), she was raised by her mother in Nakano (Katsuhiko Nakagawa died in 1994). She made her entertainment debut in 2001, winning the Grand Prix award at the Popolo Girl Audition and representing the Jackie Chan talent agency. Later, on the “Yume-Ga-Oka Residence” programme on SKY PerfecTV!, she was given a Jackie Chan photobook by Midorikawa Shobō, who were guests on the show. She commented “I thought he was an enemy of Bruce Lee’s”, apparently referring to Enter the Dragon. In 2002, she was chosen as Miss Shōnen Magazine. She appeared in a brief section of “Kangaeru Hito” (“People who think”) on the Fuji TV network in 2004 and showed her ability as an illustrator; this won her a regular place on the later version of the programme which started with minor changes in early 2005, “Kangaeru Hitokoma” (“Thinking about one frame [of a cartoon strip]“). For one year starting in May 2005, she appeared as a regular on the TBS programme “Ōsama no Brunch”, which made her well-known among the general public. In July 2006, she released her debut single “Brilliant Dream”. It entered the Oricon chart at number 29, with initial sales of 6313 copies. Nakagawa performed at Anime Expo 2008 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Personality

Nakagawa is a fan of the Super Sentai series, and in particular looks up to the character Yūri/Time Pink of Mirai Sentai Timeranger. At the time, she stood in line all night to watch the live Timeranger show at Kōrakuen Fairground (now Tokyo Dome City Attractions) in the front row. In 2004, she achieved a longstanding ambition by putting in a guest appearance in the 38th episode of Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger (she had previously appeared as a child in Chikyuu Sentai Fiveman). She has always wanted to become the next Pink Ranger, and has gone out for auditions four times, but failed each time because “she does not have good athletic ability”. She has said that she was drawn to the entertainment world out of admiration not for her father but for Mika Katsumura, who played the role of Yūri, and that during gravure work she uses Katsumura’s photobooks and DVDs as a guide. She later appeared with Katsumura on Men B, and the two are now as friendly as if they were sisters. She is also a fan of the Metal Hero Series and Heisei Kamen Rider Series, particularly the series written by Yasuko Kobayashi, and sees Shigeki Hosokawa who played the titular character of Kamen Rider Hibiki as an ideal man. She is also fond of fellow entertainer and gravure idol Natsuki Katō for playing the first female Kamen Rider Kamen Rider Femme (both share a love of anime, tokusatsu, and video games).

Nakagawa is also a fan of Bruce Lee, and has a wide knowledge of kung fu films. She has studied Cantonese, and visited Hong Kong many times with her mother (However, she confessed on TV that in fact she soon gave up Cantonese, and hardly speaks it at all, although she keeps it on her profile.) She got to know Jackie Chan when she met him by chance at a restaurant he runs. Jackie Chan now keeps a picture she drew on display at his offices in Hong Kong. She has her own tracksuit and nunchaku she made herself, which are decorated with pink fur.

Nakagawa is skilled as a manga cartoonist and illustrator. She worships CLAMP and Kazuo Umezu, and wants to become a manga artist. On the Fuji TV show Kangaeru Hitokoma, on which she is a semi-regular guest, she showed this side of herself by drawing in the style of Kazuo Umezu. Some of her work was shown on the May 11, 2006 edition of Downtown Deluxe on the Nippon TV network, and was much praised. As of 2006, her manga “SHOCOTAN * QUEST” is being serialised on her official website. The fact that even after becoming a celebrity she has not given up on drawing led to her being selected as a member of the judging panel in the “Jump Damashii” section of the Shūeisha publication Weekly Shōnen Jump, starting from Jump number 13 of 2006.
Nakagawa does not like cooking. In a special version of Koi no Apron (TV Asahi) in August 2005, she disappointed the judges with her cabbage roll. She appeared on Koi no Apron again in November, this time making cream puffs and coffee jelly, but gave another poor showing, with the lowest ranking of any of the Apron Girls for that day. In July 2006, Nakagawa confessed to having a weak digestion, but managed to keep the situation light-hearted with jokes, while wearing a serious expression on her face.

Nakagawa is also enthusiastic about the Wikipedia Project. In a blog entry dated November 25, 2006 she praised the free online encyclopedia for its articles, especially those related to the otaku culture. She is especially fond of the collaborative writing aspect the project incorporates and has even jokingly said she wanted to jumble her own article.

Cosplay

Nakagawa is also known for loving cosplay, and buys up many clothes at auction, (particularly costumes for Neon Genesis Evangelion, the Final Fantasy series and Sailor Moon).

On the May 30, 2006 airing of Kasupe!, in the section entitled Fuji Ginkō Geinōjin Satei-Gakari (フジ銀行 芸能人査定係), “Fuji Bank Celebrity Evaluator”, it was discovered that she liked the manga Kachō Shima Kōsaku, eliciting a comment from the host, Sayaka Aoki, that she had pretty “grown-up tastes”.

On Private Lesson – Tadashii Wada Akiko no Tsukurikata (個人授業(プライベートレッスン)~正しい和田アキ子の作り方~), “Private Lesson – The Right Way to Make an Akiko Wada”, shown on October 4, 2006, when she appeared as a tutor, she entered dressed as Haruhi Suzumiya from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, dancing to the end theme from that anime. Immersed in the role of Haruhi, she expounded passionately on “otaku studies” in a disrespectful tone, bewildering her student, Akiko Wada, from start to finish. She showed off her cosplay versions of Misato from Evangelion (which she filmed herself), Doremi from Ojamajo Doremi, and Vegeta from Dragon Ball, and to finish, got Wada to join in, with Wada playing Rei to her Asuka, and even gave acting directions.

Blog

Her official blog, Shokotan * Blog opened in 2004, and by April 2006 it had received a total of 100 million hits. On February 2, 2008, the daily Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun reported that her blog had been accessed 1 billion times. There are very many otaku-style entries, and she updates it extremely regularly: in the month of April 2005, there were 600 updates, and on January 28, 2006, there were 70 updates, a record number for a single day. She has become known as the “New Queen of the Blogs”, after the original “Queen of the Blog”, Kaori Manabe.

The blog sometimes took liberties with copyright, but as of 2006, these entries have been deleted.

From September 2004, posters on 2 Channel took note of her otaku-style interests. She started to use board slang in her blog, including ASCII art imitating Raizon Naitō.

After her appearance on a telethon, the number of accesses to her blog increased, leading to continual trackback spamming. The trackback function was suspended. At present, fans can only send her messages in real time via her mobile phone guestbook.

Pets

At present she keeps ten cats as pets. She also has four turtles; a school of Clione, a planarian and a Corydoras.

Other Work

In 2009, she appeared in a series of commercials for Norton AntiVirus.

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Rina Nagasaki (長崎 莉奈)

Rina Nagasaki (長崎 莉奈, Nagasaki Rina, born September 26, 1987 in Tokyo) is a Japanese gravure idol.
BWH: T165 B80 W58 H83 S24.5
Hobby: SAX music / art trail

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Chisato Morishita (森下 千里)

Chisato Morishita (森下 千里 Morishita Chisato, born September 3, 1981 in Nagoya, Aichi) is a Japanese idol, tarento, actress, and former race queen. She dropped out of Nagoya GAkuin University. She started working as a race queen in 2001, when she was chosen “The race queen of the year”.

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Yoko Mitsuya (三津谷 葉子)

Yoko Mitsuya (三津谷 葉子 Mitsuya Yōko, born November 8, 1984 in Tokyo) is a Japanese gravure idol and actress.

Yoko was born in Tokyo but moved to Saitama shortly after she was born. She began practicing ballet as a first grader; her dream was to become a ballerina. When she was in sixth grade, she applied for the Horipro Talent Scout Caravan and was awarded a prize for her excellent work. From there, she made her debut in the photobook Baby Kiss (and was photographed alongside such idols as Rei Yoshii and Reiko Ōmori). Around this time, future actresses Kyoko Fukada and Ayana Sakai were also making their debuts. (Ayana was also part of the Baby Kiss photobook.)

Even though Yoko was now aiming to become an actress, because of her large bust size for her age, she began doing gravure work at a steady pace. Her body size (especially her bust) was considered more mature than her age at that time. For that, she had been in several publications and photobooks by the time she was 15, and was chosen as the Visual Queen of the year for 2000. Because of her bust size and overall body appearance, Yoko was considered chubby and this pressured her to crash diet when she was 16. As a result of this she lost not only centimeters from her chest, but her new size was a turn-off when wearing swimsuits.

During this time Yoko stopped gravure work. Furthermore, since her dream of becoming an actress was being deterred due to her gravure work, she considered leaving Horipro and even sent a resume to Starbucks (it can be assumed she was rejected).

Yoko made a comeback when she was 18 by wearing lingerie. This not only surprised her fans, it impressed them because it was considered a sexier and more obscene pose. Finally, Yoko got to become an actress with her first movie being 69 ~ Sixty Nine.

In 2004, she appeared in the Kamen Rider Blade movie, Missing Ace as Kamen Rider Larc, a role she would later reprise in 2009′s Kamen Rider Decade.

In 2006 she played in a live action movie of Tatsuya Egawa’s (semi hentai manga) Tokyo Daigaku Monogatari, with, of course, a yoko nudity scene in it. By the time she played the movie, people already knew her as a famous “E-cup” Japanese actress/model.

Also in 2006 she played in a (“Electra” like) super hero movie called “Cool Dimension”. She finally plays as a leading actress; in fact she is the super hero in the movie. In mini series “Sakura 2 Go” (2007), she played a role as a robot girl. This movie is about a love-torn scientist who recreates his lost love in a robot. In 2007 she also played as a supporting actress in “Drift Special – Beauty Battle Deluxe Edition”.

One of her most obscene roles was in a movie “IT Bubble to Neta Onna Tachi ” in 2007, about a girl dreaming of becoming a star travels from the country to Tokyo where she discovers young IT startups and falls in love.

In 2008 she played in a movie “Sunshine Days”, and was a supporting actress in the series K-tai Investigator 7 and Metal Samurai.

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