Yumi Sugimoto

Yumi Sugimoto (杉本 有美 Sugimoto Yumi?, born April 1, 1989) is a Japanese model, actress, gravure idol and singer.

Sugimoto began her career in modeling during elementary school, when she was chosen in a Grand-Prix semi-audition for the girls manga magazine Ribon.

In July 2007 she received her first lead role in TV Tokyo's late TV drama series Boys Esté. Her latest role is Miu Sutō/Go-on Silver in the 2008 TV Asahi's tokusatsu series Engine Sentai Go-onger. She stars also in Mutant Girls Squad under the direction from Tak Sakaguchi, Noburu Iguchi and Yoshihiro Nishimura.

Aside from singing character portrayal songs in Engine Sentai Go-onger, Sugimoto has expressed an interest in producing music. She released her debut single, Harukoi, on February 17, 2010. (wikipedia).

Keiko Kitagawa

This innocent looking girl is an established model, actress and a commercial science major at Meiji University in Tokyo. Keiko Kitagawa had no intention of entering into the entertainment world. She wanted to become a doctor. By the time she reached high school, she was not sure about her future career. At that time, a talent agency approached her. Initially, her parents did not agree but then they gave her permission. In 2003, Keiko Kitagawa was chosen as Miss Seventeen 2003 and started her career as a model for the popular Japanese teen magazine Seventeen. 

She worked there from late 2003 to mid 2006 and stopped modeling upon leaving the magazine. That same year, she started her acting career in the live action television series, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. Keiko Kitagawa played the character of Rei Hino in that series. After Sailor Moon, Keiko Kitagawa worked in bothHollywood and Japanese movies. Her major Hollywood movie includes, The Fast and The Furious sequel, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Born on August 22, 1986 in Hyogo Prefecture, Keiko Kitagawa is a fortunate survivor of the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995. 

She lost many of her friends in that earthquake. When she was young she was hit by a car and had to stay in the hospital for a long time. A stay-at-home person, Keiko Kitagawa enjoys watching DVD, listening to music and reading books. She also likes swimming. She has a pet cat named Jill.

Erika Sawajiri

Erika Sawajiri is born to a Japanese father and an Algerian-French mother. Her name Erika is derived from a flower’s name, Ericaceae’s Erica. Erika started her entertainment career as a freelance teenage model before signing for Stardust (talent agency) after passing an audition in 1999. She entered the entertainment world because she wanted to meet her idol, Japanese pop star Namie Amuro.

Erika continued to work as a teenage model before making her TV debut in 2001 as a regular in a Japanese variety show. She extended her modelling career as a gravure idol (bikini model) at just about the same time. Erika made her drama debut in 2003 with a small role in “Hotman”, starring Takashi Sorimachi. Her breakthrough came in 2004 with movie “Pacchigi” which won her multiple movie awards as best newcomer.

Erika then rose to super-stardom in 2005 with acclaimed TV drama “1 Liter of Tears”, in which she starred as a teenager with degenerative disease, based on a real life story. Erika launched her music career in 2006, using the name Kaoru Amane, her character from TV drama “Taiyou no Uta” (not to be confused with same titled movie, starring another Japanese starlet Yui).

Erika’s debut single was quite a hit and topped the Oricon chart. She released her 2nd single, “Free” in July 2007 using her name Erika, and hit the #1 spot on Oricon chart once again. Erika’s booming entertainment career however suffered a setback in Sept 2007 when she was promoting her movie “Closed Note” in an official event, where she showed some nasty attitude.

In a country (Japan) where politeness is everything, her gimmick drew huge criticism from the public. The media and some celebrities had openly criticised her attitude, and some of her fans had showed no mercy with this issue as well. Erika had to make a career saving apology on her website a few days later. Erika is currently taking a long break from her entertainment career; she left Japan for London in early January. Her future career plans remain uncertain.