is a Japanese actress. She first gained recognition in the 2005 film '' Swing Girls'' where she was a recipient of Newcomer of the Year prize at the

Japanese Academy Awards The , often called the Japan Academy Prize, the Japan Academy Awards, and the Japanese Academy Awards, is a series of awards given annually since 1978 by the Japan Academy Film Prize Association (日本アカデミー賞協会, ''Nippon Akademii- ...

. Ueno achieved mainstream success for playing the titular role in the live-action adaptations of manga ''

Nodame Cantabile is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tomoko Ninomiya. It was serialized in Japan by Kodansha in the ''josei'' manga magazine ''Kiss'' from July 2001 to October 2009 and collected in 23 ''tankōbon'' volumes. A two-v ...

'' for which she won Best Lead Actress at the 51st Television Drama Academy Awards in 2007. She further gained acclaim with her role in the television series ''

Last Friends is a Japanese television drama which aired on Fuji TV at 10:00 pm every Thursday from April 10, 2008, until June 17, 2008. It stars Masami Nagasawa, Juri Ueno, Eita, Asami Mizukawa and Ryo Nishikido of japanese idol group Kanjani Eight. The s ...

'' for which she won Best Supporting Actress at the Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix and the 57th Television Drama Academy Awards in 2008.

Career

Ueno made her television debut in 2002 at the age of 16 in the

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

series ''Seizon'' before making her first film major appearance in 2003 in ''Chirosoku no Natsu'' which won her the Sponichi Grand Prize New Talent Award at the Mainichi Film Awards along with her performance in the 2004 film, '' Swing Girls''. ''Swing Girls'' proved to be a breakthrough when she received critical acclaim and awards for Best Newcomer at the

Yokohama Film Festival The is an annual awards ceremony held in Yokohama, Japan. Ten films are chosen as the best of the year and various awards are given to personnel. The first festival, held on February 3, 1980, was a small affair by fans and film critics. In 1994, ...

(she was also honored for her performance in ''Joze to Tora to Sakana Tachi'') and the

. In 2004, Ueno took on a supporting role in TBS's romance drama, ''

Orange Days Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

'', and co-starred in 2005 with

Takuya Kimura is a Japanese actor, singer, and radio personality. He is regarded as a Japanese icon after achieving success as an actor. He was also a popular member of SMAP, one of the best-selling boy bands in Asia. A 1996 television drama series, ''Long ...

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network S ...

's romantic comedy ''

Engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

'' as Misae Hoshino. She also appeared with

Kazuya Kamenashi is a Japanese singer, actor, host, producer, magazine model and a member of KAT-TUN. Born and raised in Edogawa, Tokyo, he joined the Japanese talent agency, Johnny & Associates, at the age of 12. He was drafted as a member and co-lead vocalist ...

in the special television movie of '' Kinda'ichi Shōnen no Jikenbo'' the same year taking over the role of Miyuki Nanase from

Anne Suzuki is a Japanese actress. Career Suzuki co-starred in Shunji Iwai's '' Hana and Alice'' with Yū Aoi. She voiced the title character Ray Steam in Katsuhiro Otomo's animated film '' Steamboy''. Suzuki played a supporting role in Andrew Lau and A ...

. Ueno's popularity rose further when she was cast as Megumi Noda ("Nodame") in the 2006 live-action television adaptation of the popular

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

''. Co-starring opposite Hiroshi Tamaki, the series' 11-episode run was a success with an average viewership rating of 18.79% with the season finalé garnering 21.7% of the viewership share for its time slot. Ueno's portrayal as the eccentric and disorganized but yet extremely affable and talented pianist won her "Best Lead Actress" at the 51st Television Drama Academy Awards while the show won "Best Drama". The show was also recognized overseas at the 2nd Seoul Drama Festival where it was awarded "Best Miniseries". Ueno and Tamaki reprised their roles in 2007 in the two-part special, ''Nodame Cantabile Shinshun Special in Europe'', which chronicles their individual struggles to achieve success on Europe's storied classical music stage whilst being away from each other. In 2008, Ueno reunited with ''Nodame'' co-stars

Eita is a Japanese actor from Tokyo. He has appeared in many Japanese television dramas and movies; most notable is the TV series '' Water Boys''. He also appeared in '' Summer Time Machine Blues'' and '' Tokyo Friends: The Movie''. Career In 2009, ...

and

Asami Mizukawa is a Japanese actress. She grew up in Ibaraki, Osaka. She made her debut in 1996 at age 13 in an advertisement for Asahi Kasei's "Hebel Haus". In 2000, she won the ''Grand Prix'' at the “3rd Miss Tokyo Walker” competition (the first winner ...

in Fuji TV's drama, ''

'', as Ruka Kishimoto, a talented

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competiti ...

racer with a hidden secret she cannot discuss with friends or family. Taeko Asano, the

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

of ''Last Friends'' praised Ueno's acting of Ruka, stating that Ueno is a "natural genius" and that she became "the character itself". Ueno won "Best Supporting Actress" at the 12th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix and The 57th Television Drama Academy Awards for her role. She was recognised as "Best Student Voice Actress" at the 2008 MTV Student Voice Awards for her role in ''Wanko''. The Japanese version of ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'' named her as one of the "Women of the Year 2008". On 9 December 2008, it was announced that she would reprise her role as "Nodame" in a new ''Nodame Cantabile'' two-movie sequel slated for release in 2010, with filming to start in May 2009. On 25 January 2010, it was announced that Ueno would be the lead in the 2011 NHK Taiga drama '' Gō'' based on an original script by '' Atsuhime'' writer . with filming starting in August 2010. The series is Ueno's first role in a historical drama. ''Gō'' is NHK's 50th Taiga drama, and only its 10th drama with a woman as the main character. On April 15, 2010, Ueno took the role of "Haru" in the spring J-Drama

Sunao ni Narenakute (''Hard to Say I Love You'') was a Japanese television drama on Fuji TV which aired from April 15, 2010 to June 24, 2010. Plot This is a story about the blossoming friendship of five young people who were brought together by Twitter, and the ...

which tells a story of the blossoming friendship between five people through

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, along with

Hero Jaejoong Kim Jae-joong (; born January 26, 1986), also known mononymously as Jaejoong in South Korea and in Japan, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, actor and director. He is a member of the Korean pop group JYJ and was one of the original members ...

Megumi Seki (born 8 September 1985 in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese actress. Her movies include ''Koi wa Go-Shichi-Go!'' (2005), ''Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge'' (2008) and ''Dragonball Evolution'' (2009). Filmography TV dramas * Ganbatte Ikim ...

and

Tetsuji Tamayama is a Japanese TV and film actor. He joined modeling competitions and was active in ''Checkmate'' and other fashion magazines. In 2001, Tamayama debuted in '' Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger'' as GaoSilver. He continued to star in more movies and TV dr ...

. On 11 September 2010, Ueno guest starred in the Korean variety show MBC's ''

We Got Married ''We Got Married'' () was a South Korean reality variety show that aired on MBC from 2008 to 2017. The show paired up celebrities who pretended to be married couples and completed various challenges together. The show ran for four seasons and ...

'' Season 2 while promoting '' Nodame Cantabile - The Movie'' and paid a visit to SNSD's

Seohyun Seo Ju-hyun (; born June 28, 1991), known professionally as Seohyun, is a South Korean singer, actress and songwriter. She debuted as a member of girl group Girls' Generation (and later its subgroup Girls' Generation-TTS) in August 2007, which ...

and

CN Blue CNBLUE ( ko, 씨엔블루) is a South Korean pop rock band formed in 2009. The band consists of Jung Yong-hwa (leader, main vocals, guitar, keyboard, rap), Kang Min-hyuk ( drums), and Lee Jung-shin (bass). First bassist Kwon Kwang-jin left the ...

's Jung Yong-hwa. In 2013 she returned to acting with a leading role in the romance film ''

Girl in the Sunny Place is a 2013 Japanese fantasy romance film directed by Takahiro Miki. The film, about an ordinary young couple named Kosuke and Mao, is based on a novel by Osamu Koshigaya of the same name that ranked first among novels which Japanese girls wanted bo ...

'' opposite actor

Jun Matsumoto Jun or JUN may refer to: People and anthroponymy * Jun (given name), a common Japanese given name * Jun (singer), a member of South Korean boy band U-KISS * Tomáš Jun, Czech footballer * A spelling of common Korean family name Jeon (Korean surn ...

which was based on the best selling novel of the same name. The film opened in Japanese theaters on October 12 and was a commercial success topping the box office and grossing ¥763 million after eight days. In 2014 she starred in the TBS revenge drama ''Alice no Toge'' as Mizuno Asumi a young woman who becomes a doctor at the hospital her father was treated at in order to get revenge on those responsible for his death. This was followed by another leading role in the TBS television drama ''Ouroboros'' based on the manga of the same name and opposite actors

Toma Ikuta is a Japanese actor. Ikuta is known for his roles in '' Hanazakari no Kimitachi e'', ''Honey & Clover'', '' Sensei!'', '' Maō'' and '' Ouroboros''. He also stars in feature films, notably ''Hanamizuki'', '' Ningen Shikkaku'' and ''Brain Man'' ...

and

Shun Oguri is a Japanese actor and voice actor, son of stage director Tetsuya Oguri, and the youngest of 3 siblings, including older brother Ryo, who is also an actor. He started in small roles as extra in the works in which his father and brother worked ...

. This marks her first time starring in a detective drama. and she joined alongside Korean singer TOP for romantic Web drama titled ''Secret Message''

Personal life

Ueno married

Triceratops ''Triceratops'' ( ; ) is a genus of herbivorous chasmosaurine ceratopsid dinosaur that first appeared during the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous period, about 68 million years ago in what is now North America. It is one ...

band member Sho Wada on May 26, 2016.

Filmography

Film

Television

Photo books

* ''A Piacere'' (2006)

Selected awards

2005

* 28th

– Newcomer of the Year for '' Swing Girls'' * 59th Mainichi Film Awards: Sponichi Grand Prize New Talent Award – Best Newcomer for ''Swing Girls'' and ''

Chirusoku no Natsu is a 2003 Japanese film directed by Kiyoshi Sasabe. Awards *Won: 2003 Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award - Kiyoshi Sasabe Kiyoshi Sasabe (佐々部清) (January 8, 1958 – March 31, 2020) was a Japanese film director. Career Born ...

'' * 25th

– Best New Talent for ''Swing Girls'', '' Joze to tora to sakana tachi'' and ''Chirusoku no Natsu''

2007

* 51st Television Drama Academy Awards – Best Lead Actress for ''

'' * Elan d'or Awards – Best Newcomer for ''

2008

* 12th

Nikkan Sports is the first-launched Japanese daily sports newspaper founded in 1946. It has a circulation of 1,661,000, and is an affiliate newspaper of the ''Asahi Shimbun''. Companies and regions ;Nikkan Sports News (Tokyo) :Tokyo HQ: 5-10, Tsukiji Sanc ...

Drama Grand Prix Award (Spring 2008) – Best Supporting Actress for ''

'' * The Galaxy Award – monthly award (June), for the performance in

* 57th Television Drama Academy Awards – Best Supporting Actress for

* MTV Student Voice Award – Best Student Voice Actress * 21st Japan Best Dressed Eyes Awards – Special Award * International Drama Festival in Tokyo Awards 2008 – Best Actress for '' Nodame Cantabile in Europe'' * Vogue – Women of the Year 2008

2009

* TV Life 18th Annual Drama Awards 2008 – Best Supporting Actress for ''

'' * TV Navi Drama of The Year 2008 – Best Supporting Actress for ''

'' * 17th Hashida Awards – Best Newcomer

References

External links

Official website
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ueno, Juri 1986 births Living people People from Kakogawa, Hyōgo Japanese child actresses Japanese film actresses Japanese television actresses Taiga drama lead actors Amuse Inc. talents 21st-century Japanese actresses 21st-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese women singers