Rinko Kikuchi facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rinko Kikuchi
菊地 凛子
Kikuchi at the 37th Tokyo International Film Festival in October 2024
Born	Yuriko Kikuchi (1981-01-06) January 6, 1981 (age 44) Hadano, Kanagawa, Japan
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1999–present
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 6+1⁄2 in)
Spouse(s)	Shōta Sometani ​ (m. 2014)​
Children	2

Rinko Kikuchi (born Yuriko Kikuchi on January 6, 1981) is a talented Japanese actress. She made history by becoming the first Japanese actress in 50 years to be nominated for an Academy Award. This nomination was for her amazing performance in the movie Babel (2006).

Rinko Kikuchi has starred in many other well-known films. These include Norwegian Wood (2010), which was shown at the 67th Venice Film Festival. She also appeared in Guillermo del Toro's exciting science fiction movie Pacific Rim (2013). For her role in the drama film Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (2014), she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. You can currently see her in the HBO Max crime drama series Tokyo Vice.

Early Life and Discovery

Rinko Kikuchi was born on January 6, 1981, in Hadano, Kanagawa, Japan. She is the youngest of three children. When she was 15 years old, a talent agent discovered her. This happened while she was at the Laforet Harajuku shopping mall.

Acting Career Highlights

Rinko Kikuchi started her acting career in 1999. She used her birth name, Yuriko Kikuchi, for her first film, Will to Live. In 2001, she starred in the movie Sora no Ana, which was shown at film festivals around the world. In 2004, she appeared in The Taste of Tea, a film that was chosen for the Cannes Film Festival.

Breakthrough with Babel

In 2006, Rinko Kikuchi was chosen for the film Babel. In this movie, she played Chieko Wataya, a troubled teenage girl who is deaf. Her performance gained her international attention. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. This was a special achievement because she was the fourth person in Academy Award history to be nominated for a role where her character did not speak. She won several awards for this role, including the National Board of Review Award for Best Breakthrough Female Performance. She also won the Gotham Independent Film Award. Since Babel, she has worked on many films outside of Japan. She also makes music under the name Rinbjö.

Kikuchi (left) with Kenichi Matsuyama at the Venice Film Festival in 2010.

Later Film and TV Roles

Rinko Kikuchi has appeared in two films by director Mamoru Oshii: The Sky Crawlers (2008) and Assault Girls (2009). She also starred in The Brothers Bloom (2009), which was her first movie entirely in English. Even though she played a main character, her character only spoke three words in the film.

In 2010, Kikuchi played Naoko in the movie Norwegian Wood. This film was based on a famous novel by Haruki Murakami. In 2011, she joined the cast of 47 Ronin. This was an English-language movie based on a Japanese legend about samurai loyalty. In 2013, she appeared in Pacific Rim. She improved her English for this role by watching the American TV show The Voice.

Kikuchi (far right) at the opening of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival in 2015.

In 2014, Kikuchi starred in Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter. She also appeared in Season 2 of the HBO science fiction series Westworld.

More recently, Kikuchi plays Emi Maruyama in the HBO Max series Tokyo Vice. Emi is the supervisor of the main character, Jake Adelstein. In August 2022, she was a taxi driver in a music video for Mondo Grosso's song "Crypt". In 2024, she was featured on the official poster for the 37th Tokyo International Film Festival. She was also the "festival navigator," guiding audiences at official events.

Personal Life

From 2010 to 2011, Rinko Kikuchi was in a relationship with director Spike Jonze. She lived in New York for a short time during this period.

On December 31, 2014, Kikuchi married Japanese actor Shōta Sometani. They welcomed their first child in October 2016. Their second child was born in late 2018.

Filmography

Rinko Kikuchi has appeared in many films and television shows. Here are some of her notable works:

Film

Television

Awards and Nominations

Rinko Kikuchi has received many awards and nominations for her acting.

See also

In Spanish: Rinko Kikuchi para niños

• Asian Americans in arts and entertainment
• List of Asian Academy Award winners and nominees