(born May 7, 1993) formerly known by her stage name , is a Japanese actress and model.

Early life

Abe was born on May 7, 1993, in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

. She attended at the Osaka Prefectural Kitano High School, where she was part of the

Aikido Aikido ( , , , ) is a gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art which is split into many different styles including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai, and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practic ...

team. While in high school, she was involved in Japanese dance,

scuba diving Scuba diving is a Diving mode, mode of underwater diving whereby divers use Scuba set, breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scub ...

and playing piano. She was also part of the high school

brass band A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting primarily of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands (particularl ...

, where she played flute. In March 2017, she graduated from the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies at

Keio University , abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university located in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally established as a school for Rangaku, Western studies in 1858 in Edo. It was granted university status in 1920, becomi ...

in Tokyo.

Career

While at elementary school, she was discovered and signed on by an agent. She made her debut as an advertising model for

Hankyu Department Store is a Japanese department store chain owned by , a subsidiary of H2O Retailing Corporation. History Hankyu once operated in Malaysia in the 1980s as Hankyu Jaya, established in March 1984 as Hankyu Jaya Holdings Berhad. Its initial subsidiarie ...

. In middle school, she worked as a model for a fashion magazine and later worked as an image character for the

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...

anime series ''

Shion no Ō , subtitled ''The Flowers of Hard Blood'', is a Japanese manga series written by Masaru Katori and illustrated by Jiro Ando. It is published by Kodansha in the seinen manga magazine ''Monthly Afternoon'', and is collected in eight bound vol ...

''. In 2010, she made her acting debut in the movie ''The Chasing World 2'' (リアル鬼ごっこ2), as the heroine. She started using her stage name ''Jun Yoshinaga''. In 2012, she played as one of the main casts in the Japanese comedy-drama television series ''

Perfect Son is comedy-drama television series starring Hey! Say! JUMP's Ryosuke Yamada and Kyōka Suzuki, which aired on NTV from 21:00-21:54 on Saturday nights from January 14, 2012 to March 17, 2012. The screenplay was written by Shinji Nojima. Synopsis H ...

''. As a result of her role in the series, she garnered attention and the number of access to her official

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

grew. In 2014, she starred in the movie ''

Still the Water is a 2014 Japanese romance film written and directed by Naomi Kawase. It was filmed in the scenic nature of Amami City in Kagoshima Prefecture in 2013. The score was composed by singer-songwriter Hasiken. ''Still the Water'' was selected to c ...

'' directed by

Naomi Kawase is a Japanese film director. She was also known as , with her former husband's surname. Many of her works have been documentaries, including ''Embracing'', about her search for the father who abandoned her as a child, and ''Katatsumori'', about ...

. She was selected as the cast for the movie, due to her experience in scuba diving during her time in high school, at "the beauty of swimming" audition in

Amami Ōshima , also known as Amami, is the largest island in the Amami Islands, Amami archipelago between Kyūshū and Okinawa Prefecture, Okinawa. It is one of the Satsunan Islands, all of which belong to Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The island, 712.35 ...

. For her performance in the movie, she received the Best Actress Award at the

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, p=səxɐˈlʲin) is an island in Northeast Asia. Its north coast lies off the southeastern coast of Khabarovsk Krai in Russia, while its southern tip lies north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido. An islan ...

International Film Festival and Best New Actress Award at the

Takasaki is a Cities of Japan, city located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 372,369 in 167,345 households, and a population density of 810 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Takasaki is famous as th ...

Film Festival. In August 2014, Abe took a career break and quit her acting agency to head to the United States for a year to study English and Drama at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. While studying at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, she met her acting agency staff and returned to Japan in 2015. Following her return to Japan, she started to use her birth name as stage name. Abe auditioned for

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

TV serial ''

Toto Neechan is a Japanese television drama series and the 94th asadora on NHK. It premiered on April 4, 2016, and ended on October 1, 2016. The theme song is " Hanataba o Kimi ni" by Hikaru Utada. Plot Tsuneko is the eldest of three daughters of Takezō and ...

'' and was cast for the role of heroine's friend, Aya Nakada. In 2019, she starred in movie ''

The Prisoner of Sakura (, ''V plenu u sakury'') is a 2019 Japanese war film directed by Masaki Inoue. A joint Japan-Russia co-production, the movie is based on the true story of a prison camp in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, during the Russo-Japanese War. Plot In the pr ...

'', a Japan-Russia co-production, which was based on the true story of a war prison in

Matsuyama 270px, Matsuyama City Hall 270px, Ehime Prefectural Capital Building is the capital city of Ehime Prefecture, on the island of Shikoku, in Japan and is also Shikoku's largest city. , the city had an estimated population of 505,948 in 243,541 h ...

Ehime Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,334,841 and a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, Toku ...

, during the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

. In the movie, she has a

dual role A dual role (also known as a double role) refers to one actor playing two roles in a single production. Dual roles (or a larger number of roles for an actor) may be deliberately written into a script, or may instead be a choice made during produc ...

Filmography

Films

*''The Chasing World 2 '' (2010) – Sato Ai *''Wasao'' (2011) - Tagawa Maki *''A Man With Style'' (2011) - Miyata Momoko *''Tonnerura de Boo'' (2011) - Sakiko Toyama *''In the City of Dawn'' (2011) - young Nakanishi Akiba *''Lifeline'' (2014) - main role *''

My Hawaiian Discovery is a 2014 Japanese romantic comedy film directed by Koji Maeda and starring Nana Eikura, Rin Takanashi, Koji Seto, and Ryo Kase. It was released on 14 June 2014. Cast *Nana Eikura *Rin Takanashi *Koji Seto *Ryo Kase *Sosuke Ikematsu *Shingo Tsu ...

'' (2014) - Mako *''

'' (2014) - Kyoko *''Home Away From Home'' (2014) - Akiko *''The Limit of Sleeping Beauty'' (2017) - Maria *''Dawn Wind in My Poncho'' (2017) - Maria *'' The Blood of Wolves'' (2018) - Momoko Okada *''The Man From the Sea'' (2018) - Sachiko *''

Samurai Marathon is a 2019 Japanese-British historical action adventure film co-written and directed by Bernard Rose and starring Takeru Satoh, Nana Komatsu and Mirai Moriyama. It is based on the 2014 novel ''The Marathon Samurai: Five Tales of Japan’s Firs ...

'' (2018) - Shiori Uesugi *''

'' (2019) - Yui Takeda / Sakurako Takamiya *''I Don't Want to Be Like You'' (2019) *''Daughters'' (2020) - Kiyokawa Ayano *''The Voice of Sin'' (2020) - young Sone Mayumi *''461 Days of Bento: A Promise Between Father and Son'' (2020) - Yajima Maka *'' Baragaki: Unbroken Samurai'' (2021) - Itosato *''

A Dog Named Palma ''A Dog Named Palma'' () is a 2021 Russian children's drama film directed by Aleksandr Domogarov Jr., based on real events that took place in 1974–1976 at the Moscow's Vnukovo International Airport. It was released theatrically on March 18, 202 ...

'' (2021) - Akita Dog Museum staff *''

Ring Wandering is a 2021 Japanese fantasy drama film, written and directed by Masakazu Kaneko. Starring Sho Kasamatsu, Junko Abe, Reiko Kataoka and Ken Yasuda, the film revolves around a young manga artist who is planning to write a manga about Japanese wo ...

'' (2022) - Midori / Kozue *''Yes, I Can't Swim'' (2022) - Namie *''

Miss Osaka is a 2021 drama film directed by Daniel Dencik and stars Victoria Carmen Sonne. The film is set in Norway and Japan, and follows a Danish woman searching for her own identity who leaves her whole life behind after meeting a Japanese woman in ...

'' (2022) *''Remember to Breathe'' (2022)

Television

*''Drama W Beat'' (2011) – Terumi Higuchi *''

'' (2012) - Hyouzuka Masako *'' Rumic Theater'' (2012) - Hazuki Fuwa *''Special Spy Zone'' (2012) - Kitagawa Natsumi *''

Gozen 3-ji no Muhōchitai Gozen (御前) is a Japanese term meaning "young lady" or "young lord". It is sometimes applied as a title for female warrior samurai. It may refer to: Japanese women * Aya-Gozen (1524–1609), first wife of Japanese clan leader Nagao Masakage a ...

'' (2013) - Haruka *''In the Room'' (2013) - Narukawa Rui *''

'' (2016) - Aya Nakada *'' A Girl & Three Sweethearts'' (2016) - Ishikawa Wakaba *''Tales of the Unusual Story Autumn Special Edition'' (2016) - Natsuki Tokita *''Osaka Kanjousen Part 2 '' (2017) - Fujimoto Asahi *''4-go Keibi'' (2017) - Ueno Yu *''I Will Threaten You From Now On'' (2017) - Momoka Kobashi *''

Tokyo Vampire Hotel is a 2017 Japanese nine-part horror television miniseries written and directed by Sion Sono. All episodes (episode 8 was split into two parts for streaming) were originally released on Amazon Video on June 16, 2017. A special feature-length cut ...

'' (2017) - Yui *''Swab'' (2018) - Faculty role *''Caseworker's Diary'' (2018) - Kataoka Mari *''Heisei Bashiru'' (2018) - Ayaka Ekuni *''BRIDGE Begins on 1995.1.17 Kobe'' (2019) - Ritsu Takeda *''Fruits Takuhaibin'' (2019) - Sumomo *''Sasurai Onsen'' (2019) - Yabe Junko *''No Side Manager'' (2019) - Fujishima Rena *''Really Scary Story'' (2019) - Asuka Miyazaki *''Shiyakusho'' (2019) - Imoto Midori *''Keiji to Kenji - Shokatsu to Chiken no 24ji'' (2019) - Ishida Kiriko *''Papa ga Mo Ichido Koi wo Shita'' (2020) - Kawakami Yukari *''Sunday Prime Funny Detective '' (2020) - Rena Gazuma *''Baby Boyfriends '' (2020) - Yoko *''Tantei Yuri Rintaro'' (2020) - Kawase Fumino *''Dakara Watashi wa Make Suru'' (2020) - Kawamatsu Yasuko *''

Ochoyan is a Japanese television drama series and the 103rd Asadora series, following Yell. It premiered on November 30, 2020 and concluded on May 15, 2021. It is based on the life of Chieko Naniwa. Plot Chiyo Takei (Hana Sugisaki) was born to a p ...

'' (2020–21) - Wakasaki Yoko

Online

*''Nestlé Theater on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

"Day and Night"'' (2014) - Shiori Haneda

Commercials

Suntory (commonly referred to as simply Suntory) is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational brewing and distilling company group. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Japan, and ...

- C.C. Lemon (April 2011) *Haruyama Trading Co., Ltd. (February 2013) *

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...

Odakyu Electric Railway , commonly known as Odakyū, is a major railway company based in Tokyo, Japan, best known for its '' Romancecar'' series of limited express trains from Tokyo to Odawara, Enoshima, Tama New Town, and Hakone. The Odakyu Electric Railway Company f ...

(August 11, 2017) * ABC-Mart - Asics/Asics GEL-PROMESA (January 25, 2018) * Daily Yamazaki (February 2018)

Radio drama

*FM Radio Drama Retake Sixteen - Starring Saori Komine ( NHK FM, 26 August 2013 - 13 September 2013)

Music videos

Tatsuro Yamashita , occasionally referred to as Tatsu Yamashita or Tats Yamashita, is a Japanese singer-songwriter and record producer, who is known for pioneering the city pop style of music. His most well-known song is "Christmas Eve", a best-selling song rel ...

- '' Cheer Up! The Summer'' (2016) *MOROHA - ''Revolution'' (2018) *

Mr. Children , commonly referred to by their contracted nickname , are a Japanese pop rock band formed in 1989. Consisting of Kazutoshi Sakurai, Kenichi Tahara, Keisuke Nakagawa, and Hideya Suzuki, they made their major label debut in 1992. They are one ...

- ''Gravity and Breath'' (2018)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abe, Junko 1993 births Japanese film actresses Japanese television actresses Japanese female models Living people 21st-century Japanese actresses Keio University alumni Amuse Inc. talents Actresses from Osaka