# Aki Asakura

Aki Asakura (Japanese: 朝倉 あき, Hepburn: Asakura Aki) is a Japanese actress. She was born in Kanagawa Prefecture. Currently belongs to Japan Music Entertainment. She has appeared in many of Japan's national television series NHK taiga drama and asadora, and is also known for voicing the main character Princess Kaguya in the Studio Ghibli film The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.

## History

In 2006, Asakura applied for the 6th Toho Cinderella Audition, an audition sponsored by Toho and Toho Entertainment, and was selected as a finalist. She did not win the prize at that time, but she attracted attention and became a Toho Entertainment celebrity and entered the show business. According to her, the audition was recommended to her by others. In 2007, she made her acting debut in the television series When I was a child: Actress Yuki Saito, and in the following year, 2008, she made her first film appearance in Double Trouble. In 2010, She first starred in a television series, Tomehane! Suzuri Kōkō Shodōbu. Following this, she played the role of the protagonist's friend in the NHK broadcast asadora TV series Teppan, which started to air in September 2010.
In 2013, Asakura voiceed of Princess Kaguya, the heroine of the Studio Ghibli film The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. She has loved Ghibli films since childhood, but had no previous experience of voice acting. Hundreds of people applied for the audition for this role, which was held around spring 2011. She said that she did not respond well to the audition and went home crying, thinking she had failed. Director Isao Takahata said he chose Asakura because many actresses today have passive voices, but her voice was selfish.
At the end of March 2014, Asakura terminated her contract with Toho Entertainment and temporarily suspended her acting career. She later said that she needed a break at the time and also said she spent her time working part-time in an office during her hiatus of about a year.
In 2015 she returned to show business when she became affiliated with the entertainment agency Konyi and had her first starring role in a film in Halloween Nightmare. In 2017, the film Summer Blooms, in which he starred, won the FIPRESCI Jury Prize and Russian Critics Jury Special Mention at the 39th Moscow International Film Festival.
She was scheduled to appear in the stage production of Frozen Beach starting in July 2019, but had to withdraw due to health problem. At the end of February 2022, she terminated her contract with the entertainment agency Konyi. In December of the same year, she announced that she would be joining Japan Music Entertainment.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2008 | Double Trouble | Ayaka Ohta | |
| 2013 | The Tale of the Princess Kaguya | Princess Kaguya (voice) | Leading role |
| 2015 | Halloween Nightmare | Saki Morinaka | Leading role |
| 2018 | Summer Blooms | Hatsumi Takimoto | Leading role |
| 2019 | Whistleblower | Yui Hamamoto | |
| 2020 | Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes | Megumi | |
| 2022 | The Fish Tale | Program assistant | |
| 2022 | A Mother's Touch | | |

### TV series

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2007 | When I was a child: Actress Yuki Saito | Rie Saito | |
| 2008 | Gakkō ja Oshierarenai! | Hitomi Kenjou | |
| 2008 | Bōshi | Setsu Takemoto (14/19-years-old) | |
| 2010 | Tomehane! Suzuri Kōkō Shodōbu | Yuki Mochizuki | Leading role |
| 2010 | Teppan | Kana Shinomiya | Asadora |
| 2011 | Gō | Natsu | Taiga drama |
| 2013 | Jun and Ai | Hasumi Miyasato | Asadora |
| 2015–18 | Downtown Rocket | Aki Kanoh | 2 seasons |
| 2017 | Naotora: The Lady Warlord | Takase | Taiga drama |
| 2018–19 | Inspector Totsugawa Series | Sakai | Series 5, 6, 7, 8 |
| 2019 | La Grande Maison Tokyo | Miyu Ebina | |
| 2019 | Rinka, Kabukicho Defence lawyer | Rinka Misuzu | Leading role |
| 2021 | Reach Beyond the Blue Sky | Ayako Okuma | Taiga drama |
| 2023 | The Crimes of Those Women | Yuko Kameyama | |
| 2023 | Shall We Have a Toast Anyway? | Akebi Machi | |
| 2024 | Dear Radiance | Fujiwara no Seishi | Taiga drama |
| 2024 | La Grande Maison Tokyo Special | Miyu Ebina | Television film |

## Books
### Photo books

* Morning Glories (10 Feb 2010, Wani Books, photo by Yuki Nishida) ISBN 978-4-8470-4237-9