Asian Beauty Appreciation

It’s difficult to take hold of a dream, but a chance can come to anyone, at any time.

This was the closing line (translated to English) from the 2009 Japanese TV Series Chance. I’ve included it as the introduction for this article and it leads us to a question: Do all the best Japanese actresses in TV series come from Okinawa? Probably not. Make that definitely not, but for some inexplicable reason (the water? the climate? the local rice?) the list of well known and well received Okinawan actresses seems to be growing rapidly. I’ll give you a look at some of them, but I’ll limit myself to those who have appeared in a TV Series that I’ve seen.

Let’s lead with Yukie Nakama who is 29 and is from Urasoe, Okinawa. Her best know work is from the beloved series Gokusen which has been so popular that it since its first season was broadcast in 2002, it was renewed for another full season in 2005, and in 2008 a 3rd full season was aired. In 2009 a movie special was broadcast. But I first became aware of Yukie in the 2004 series called Tokyo Wankei aka Destiny of Love.

Yukie has the role of Mika Kimoto. She portrays a Korean girl, who was born in Japan and has lived in Japan her entire life. Her father insists that she marry a Korean boy, and his interference is enough to break up her relationship with a Japanese doctor.

Then Mika posts a message on a mobile phone dating-service. It is answered by a blue collar guy working at a warehouse at Shinegawa Pier which is just across Tokyo Bay from the upscale Daiba neighborhood where she works as an editor for a publishing house. They each work at opposite ends of the bridge traversing the Bay. The series is her story and you will get caught up in wanting to know what will become of Mika’s destiny.

Our second actress from Okinawa is Ryoko Kuninaka (30) from Naha, Okinawa. Known in television circles in Japan for having ‘the best smile in the business’,  Ryoko is indeed gorgeous. Most recently I’ve seen her as the second female lead in two series.

In 2007, she played second fiddle to Haruka Ayase in Hotaro no Hikari (The Glow of Fireflies). In this story Ryoko as Yuuka is the beauty with the brains in the office, while Haruka plays the I-can’t-be-bothered- with-men – I’d-rather-laze-about-drinking-beer caterpillar who will evolve into the lovely butterfly, or make that desirable woman. This series is light-hearted and a lot of fun. Ryoko won an award for best supporting actress in this series for her role. 

In 2008, she was again cast as the second female lead in Celeb to Binbo Taro (Celeb & Poor). Aya Ueto starred as the rich girl with her own designer fashion company who meets a poor widower with two kids. Ryoko is the neighborhood girl who loves this poor guy.

Our third notable Okinawan actress is the tall and gorgeous Yu Yamada who is 25 and from Onna, Okinawa.

I saw her in the 2008 series called Seigi no Mikata. Yu plays the sexy and stunning older sister Makiko to actress Mirai Shida’s younger sister who is just 15. To the outer world Makiko is a warm and wonderful person, but when we see her at home she bosses her younger sister around mercilessly. She’s an ‘evil bitch’ and her character is impossible to like. That’s why you have to give Yu Yamada a great deal of credit for her excellent work as a character you’ll love to hate.

One more – the stunning Meisa Kuroki who is 21 and from Nago, Okinawa. I watched her in the charming 2007 series, Haikei, Chichiue-sama (Dear Father).

She played the mysterious and beautiful love interest to a young chef in training in the Kagurazaka neighborhood of Tokyo. She was mysterious because she spoke only in French three or four days a week. And beautiful of course, needs no explanation.

In 2009, Meisa co-starred with Maki Horikita in a sweet two part series called Chance where two girls have the same name, and are working in the same department of a large Japanese Travel Agency firm.

A case of mistaken identities follows after the two of them collided in the hallway and picked up each other’s cell phone. Such is corporate life. One gal’s opportunity is another’s chance that was missed.

And there you have it. Maybe the fact that all of these actresses were cast in their roles was just a happenstance of chance. However all are beauties and all are capable of great performances. I still can’t explain why so many of Japan’s best actresses do come from Okinawa. Even Japanese porn-star Fuko is from Okinawa.