Nanako Matsushima

She was born in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. Nanako is a Japanese actress and model. On February 21, 2001, she married Japanese actor Takashi Sorimachi, her co-star in the hit drama GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka). They have two daughters together, born on May 31, 2004, and November 30, 2007. She is considered one of Japan's most beautiful women.[3]

Having won the Best Actress Award a staggering 6 times at the Japan Television Drama Academy Awards, an award given quarterly by a popular Japanese magazine, The Television, and are based on the combined results of votes from the magazine readers, juries, and TV journalists in Japan, Nanako is widely regarded as the Japanese Television Queen of Dramas.[4] She has appeared in numerous critically acclaimed dramas, many of which are amongst the highest rated dramas of all-time in Japan.

In 1997, Nanako was selected to play the female lead, a poor but happy designer who happens to run a shop in a building owned by a wealthy, arrogant but dying rich man played by Hiroyuki Sanada in the drama A Story of Love. The drama chronicles the trial and tribulations that the leads undergo as their feelings developed into something more than mere friendship.

In 1998, Nanako starred together with her now husband, Takashi Sorimachi in the hit drama, GTO, Great Teacher Onizuka about a former delinquent turned teacher. The drama which was based on the popular manga Great Teacher Onizuka was a massive hit with its final episode rating hitting 35.7 making it one of the highest rated Japanese drama of all-time.

Pursuant to her success in Great Teacher Onizuka, Nanako was selected to play an air-stewardess who was hell bent on marrying a rich man in the drama Yamato Nadeshiko.

Nanako was selected to play the Tsubaki Domyouji, the sister of the main male lead Domyouji Tsukasa in the hugely popular drama Hana Yori Dango (TV series) and Hana Yori Dango Returns. Both dramas were a rating success with the final episode of Hana Yori Dango Returns peaking at 27.6.f

Nanako subsequently appeared as the female lead in the controversial drama Majo no Jōken which centres on the romance between a teacher and her student. Such a subject is normally regarded as a taboo in Asian culture. Despite its controversial nature, the drama was awarded the best drama at the 21st Japan Television Drama Academy Award.[5]

Nanako was also cast as the main lead in the cult classic horror film Ring. This critically acclaimed film is universally regarded as one of the best horror films of all-time.[6] The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 97% based on 38 reviews, with a weighted average of 7.5 out of 10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Ringu combines supernatural elements with anxieties about modern technology in a truly frightening and unnerving way."[7] This film brought Nanako worldwide recognition and it has since been remade into an American film.

In 2011, Nanako starred in the mega-hit I am Mita, Your Housekeeper, the final episode which garnered the rating of 40%, making it one of the highest rated Japanese dramas of all-time.I am Mita, Your Housekeeper won several awards, including the Best Drama and Best Female Actress award, at the 71st Television Drama Academy Awards.[8]

Nanako has appeared in numerous dramas in Japan, many of which regularly obtained television ratings of above 20%, a figure which is normally regarded as a sign of success in Japan.

Nanako has also appeared in several other popular films, amongst them Whiteout. Whiteout tells the story of the male lead's one-man fight against a terrorist attack at a dam in Japan. The film has grossed over 4.2 billion yen in Japan. The film was named as one of nominees for the Picture of the Year award in the 24th Japan Academy Film Prize. For her role in the film, Nanako herself was also nominated for the Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role award in the 24th Japan Academy Film Prize. Her co-star in the same film, Kōichi Satō (actor) was awarded the Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role award in the same award ceremony.

In September of 2021, she co-starred in a commercial for Uber Eats, alongside Matt Kuwata.[9]

• Tonari no Chikara (2022)
• Super Rich (2021)
• Nozaki Shuhei President of Bank (2020)
• Natsuzora (2019), as Fujiko Shibata
• Auditor Shuhei Nozaki (2018)
• Suna no Tou (2016)
• Lucky Seven (Toko Fujisaki) (2012)
• Kaseifu no Mita (Mita the Housekeeper) (2011)
• Kyumei Byoto 24 Ji 4 (24 Hour Emergency Ward 4) (2009)
• Hana Yori Dango Returns (Boys Over Flowers) (2007)
• Furuhata Ninzaburo Final (2006)
• Hana Yori Dango (Boys Over Flowers) (2005)
• Hotaru no Haka (Grave of the Fireflies) (2005)
• Kyumei Byoto 24 Ji 3 (24 Hour Emergency Ward 3) (2005)
• Bijo ka Yajuu (The Beauty or the Beast) (2003)
• Toshiie to Matsu (Toshiie and Matsu) (2002), as Maeda Matsu
• Yamato Nadeshiko (Perfect Woman) (2000)
• Hyakunen no Monogatari (The Story of One Century) (2000)
• Koori no sekai (Ice World) (1999)
• Majo no Jouken (Forbidden Love) (1999)
• Kyumei Byoto 24 Ji (24 Hour Emergency Ward) (1999)
• Great Teacher Onizuka (1998)
• Sweet Season (1998)
• Shinya Tokkyu a.k.a. Midnight Express (1998)
• Shinryounaikai Ryouko (The Doctor Is In) (1997)
• Konna Koi no Hanashi (A Story Of Love) (1997)
• Yonimo Kimyona Monogatari Kanrinin (1997)
• Kimi ga Jinsei no Toki (The Time of Your Life) (1997)
• Himawari (Sunflower) (1996)
• Heart ni S (1995)
• Onegai Darin (Please Darling!) (1993)
• Shacho ni natta Wakadaisho (1992)

• Fireworks, Ferris Wheels And Love (1997)
• Ring (1998)
• Ring 2 (1999)
• Whiteout (2000 film)
• The Inugamis (2006)
• Bizan: The Mountain of Mother's Love (2007)
• Ghost (2010)
• All About My Dog (2011)
• Shield of Straw (2013)
• When Marnie Was There (2014), Yoriko Sasaki (voice)
• The Crimes That Bind (2018)
• Almost a Miracle (2019)
• The Great Yokai War: Guardians (2021), Reika[10]

• Yuukai Houtei: Seven Days (2018)
• Onna No Kunshou (2017)
• Red Cross - Onna Tachi no Akagami (2015)
• Murder On The Orient Express (2015)
• Grave of the Fireflies (2005)
• Kyumei Byoto 24 Ji (24 Hour Emergency Ward) (Special) (2005)
• 100 Years: Taisho, Showa, Heisei (2000)