is a Japanese model, actress and singer. She formerly used the stage name when she was with Snow Rabbits Productions. After Izumi returned to the modeling world in 2008, she used both 泉里果 and 泉里香 as stage names; both are pronounced "Izumi Rika".

Life

Izumi was born in

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

. Her first major acting role was as

Ami Mizuno , better known as is a fictional character in the ''Sailor Moon'' manga series created by Naoko Takeuchi, a teenage Japanese schoolgirl, and a member of the Sailor Guardians, supernatural female fighters who protect the Solar System from evil. ...

(Sailor Mercury) in the live action '' Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon''. In Act Zero and the Special Act, she was credited as "Rika" (梨華; note different

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

than her current stage name). She released a CD "single", containing two songs, for her character Sailor Mercury: ''Mi Amor'' (Spanish: ''my love'') and ''Yakusoku'' (約束, meaning ''promise''). Before PGSM, Izumi's only television work was on an Idol special on Sky PerfecTV Japan called "Being Junior, Go!" She has also modeled in magazines called ''Monthly De-View'' (Winter 2002–2003). ''Pichi Lemon'' (Summer 2003), ''For Lillie'' (April 2003), ''Up-To-Boy'' (November 2003), and ''Melon'' (July 2003 to June 2005, when it stopped publication). She was on the cover of three consecutive issues of ''Pure Pure'' or ''Pure²'', a magazine aimed at the under-fifteen crowd (Issues 17 to 19, her photos were along with those of many other like-aged idols). She had released a single in November 2003 for a song entitled "Koisuru Soldier" ('' Kanojo wa Ijiwaru'' Nasty Girl"was the other song on that CD; it was released on her agency's label and distributed by Windsong). She was also in a magazine called ''Bomb!'' with

Miyuu Sawai is a Japanese actress, model, and gravure idol. Her best-known role was Usagi Tsukino/Sailor Moon in the live-action adaptation of ''Sailor Moon'' which ran from 2003 to 2004. Personal life Sawai was born in Kanagawa Prefecture on October 2 ...

and

Keiko Kitagawa is a Japanese actress. She was an exclusive model for the Japanese '' Seventeen'' magazine from late 2003 to mid-2006, and quit modeling when she left the magazine. Her first acting role was Sailor Mars in the Sailor Moon live action show '' Pret ...

in character as Sailor Mercury. After PGSM, Izumi's career went on hiatus for two years as she finished high school. No new photos of her surfaced, and when she attended PGSM cast reunions, her ex-castmates were careful not to post her full name in blogs nor post photos of her. When she was accepted at

Meiji University is a Private university, private research university in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Originally founded as Meiji Law School () by three lawyers in 1881, it became a university in April 1920. As of May 2023, Meiji has 32,261 undergradu ...

as a literature major in 2007 (the same university ex-PGSM castmate Kitagawa attended), she resumed her career. In June 2008, Rika returned to the modeling world after years of inactivity. She was in the top twelve in a competition for the title of "Pinky Princess" (total number of entrants: 5,427). She signed with Sun Music Brain agency on June 1, 2008.泉　里香 (いずみ　りか)
sunmusic-brain.jp (in Japanese) New photos of her appeared in the August 2008 issue of ''Ray'' magazine, and she has appeared in subsequent issues. The ban her former castmates had of posting photos of her was lifted; she was photographed with Sawai, Kitagawa,

Mew Azama (born December 26, 1986) is a Japanese model and actress. Azama signs her name "Mew" using romaji characters. She explains it in her profile: "美優 is read Mew. I was named from Kyōko Koizumi's famous song 'MEW of dawn'. So, the inscription ...

, and

Ayaka Komatsu Ayaka Komatsu ( ''Komatsu Ayaka''; born 23 July 1986) is a Japanese model, gravure idol and actress. She was born in Ichinoseki, Iwate Prefecture. Biography Modeling career Her previous modeling agency A modeling agency is a company that ...

at a party celebrating Komatsu's twenty-second birthday, and Komatsu posted the photo on her blog on August 7, 2008. In December 2008, she appeared in a commercial for Nissin Food Products. In May 2010, she moved from Sun Music Brain to Sun Music Productions, another division within the same agency. She has been mentioned as being in the casts of three movies: ''The Go Master'' (2006), ''Clearness'' (2008), and ''Go Seigen'' ("Five Restrictions") (2008). The Sun Music Brain bio lists a November 2007 movie with Izumi in the cast. It was called ''Oh Kiyohara''. Rika has also done runway modeling since her 2008 return. In 2011, she had a cameo in the movie ''Paradise Kiss'' in which she was reunited with her ex-PGSM castmate Kitagawa. In 2013 she played the role of Akira Kazuraba (Kota's sister) in ''

Kamen Rider Gaim is a Japanese television series, a tokusatsu drama that is in the Kamen Rider Series; it is the 15th series during its Heisei run and 24th overall. The series, written by Gen Urobuchi and directed by Ryuta Tasaki it began airing on TV Asahi from ...

''. She is currently signed with

Stardust Promotion is a leading Japanese talent agency, headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo. It was founded in 1979 and invests in entertainment forms including music, cinema, and modelling. The agency has a dominant share in the management of actresses. For example, ...

, he
official profile page
on Stardust states she is part of the cast of the 2016 movie ''Scoop!''.

Filmography

Movies

* ''

The Go Master () is a 2006 biopic film directed by Tian Zhuangzhuang of the twentieth century Go master Wu Qingyuan, better known as Go Seigen, the Japanese pronunciation of his name. The film, which premiered at the 44th New York Film Festival, focuses on ...

'' (2006) * ''Clearless'' (2008), Reiko * ''

Paradise Kiss ''Paradise Kiss'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ai Yazawa. It appeared as a serial in Shodensha's fashion magazine ' from March 1999 to March 2003, with its chapters collected in five volumes. A 12-episode anime t ...

'' (2011) * ''

Scoop! ''Scoop!'' is a 2016 Japanese suspense comedy drama film directed by and starring Masaharu Fukuyama. It was released in Japan by Toho on October 1, 2016. Plot Cast *Masaharu Fukuyama as Shizuka Miyakonojō * Fumi Nikaidō as Nobi Namekawa *Yō ...

'' (2016) * '' Waiting for Spring'' (2018), Nanase Kashiwagi * ''The Memory Eraser'' (2020), Nanami Ando * ''You're Not Normal, Either'' (2021), Minako Togawa * ''That Disappearance'' (2022)

Television

* '' Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon'' (2003-2004), Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury * ''

Magerarenai Onna is a Japanese television drama that aired on NTV between 13 January and 17 March 2010. Synopsis Ogiwara Saki (Miho Kanno) is a woman who does not go with the flow of society but forges her own path. She hates flattering men and trying to be nic ...

'' (2010) * ''Shin Keishichō Sōsaikka 9 Kakari'' Season 2 Episode 11 (2010), Risa Mizoguchi * ''Nasake no Onna: Kokuzeikyoku Sasatsu-kan'' Episode 4: (2010), Sachi Oda * ''Karyū no Utage'' Episode 1 (2011) * ''Tempest'' Episode 7 (2011) * ''Tokyo Jōkyū Date #7 Kuramae'' (2012) * ''Koisuru Hae Onna'' (2012), Arisa Mita * ''

Shomuni (also called Power Office Girls) is a comedic TV drama serial based on the Japanese manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the f ...

'' (2013), Akane Mita * ''

'' (2013), Akira Kazuraba * ''Ms. Kanna!'' Episode 6 to 9 (2017) * ''

Princess Jellyfish is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akiko Higashimura. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''josei'' manga magazine ''Kiss'' from October 2008 to August 2017. The manga is licensed in North America by Kodansha USA. An 11-ep ...

'' (2018), Syoko Inani * ''Galápagos'' (2023) * ''

Dear Radiance is a Japanese historical drama television series starring Yuriko Yoshitaka as Murasaki Shikibu. The series is the 63rd NHK ''taiga'' drama. Cast Starring role * Yuriko Yoshitaka as Murasaki Shikibu. In the series, she is called Mahiro. **Miyu ...

'' (2024),

Izumi Shikibu was a mid-Heian period Japanese people, Japanese poet. She is a member of the . She was the contemporary of Murasaki Shikibu, and Akazome Emon at the court of empress Empress Shōshi, Joto Mon'in. She "is considered by many to have been the gr ...

References

External links

Rika's official Stardust Profile page

Rika's Official Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Izumi, Rika 1988 births Japanese gravure models Japanese female models Japanese film actresses Japanese television actresses Living people Actresses from Kyoto Stardust Promotion artists Singers from Kyoto 21st-century Japanese actresses