is a Japanese actress,

voice actress Voice acting is the art of Acting, performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animation, animated, ...

gravure idol A model is a person with a Role (disambiguation), role either to display commercial product (business), products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as an Model (art), artist's model. Modelling ("modeling" in British and ...

, and occasional

J-pop J-pop (often stylized in all caps; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in trad ...

singer.

Biography

Reiko Chiba was born on January 8, 1975, in

Osaka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Nara ...

, and raised in

Fukushima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,771,100 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Prefecture borders Miyagi Prefecture and Yamagata Prefecture ...

. She started her career as a model in 1991 before making her acting debut in the 1992

Super Sentai The is a Japanese superhero team media franchise consisting of television series and films produced by Toei Company and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi. The shows are of the '' tokusatsu'' genre, featuring live action characters and colorfu ...

series ''

Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger is a Japanese ''tokusatsu'' television series and the sixteenth installment in the long-running ''Super Sentai'' metaseries of superhero programs. Produced by Toei Company, Toei, it aired on TV Asahi from February 21, 1992 to February 12, 1993, w ...

'' as Mei/Ptera Ranger. When the series was adapted into the US version ''

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers ''Mighty Power Rangers'' (''MMPR'') is an American superhero television series that premiered on August 28, 1993, on the Fox Kids programming block. It is the first entry of the ''Power Rangers'' franchise, and became a 1990s popular culture, ...

'', it aired in Japan where Chiba, herself, re-dubbed both Ptera Ranger and the US footage of actress

Amy Jo Johnson Amy Jo Johnson (born October 6, 1970) is an American and Canadian actress, musician, and filmmaker. As an actress, Johnson is best known for her roles as Kimberly Hart on ''Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'' (1993–1995), Julie Emrick on '' Feli ...

who played her character, now known as Kimberly Hart/Pink Ranger. After the end of the series, Chiba made her J-Pop debut on April 7, 1993, as a member of Aurora Gonin Musume. She provided the vocals for the main theme song of ''

Fatal Fury Special ''Fatal Fury Special'', known as in Japan, is a 1993 fighting game developed and published by SNK and originally released for the Neo Geo (console), Neo Geo arcade and home platforms. It is an updated version of 1992's ''Fatal Fury 2'', introduc ...

'' titled "Non Stop! One Way Love" and participated in the game's first

image album In Japan, an image song or character song is a song on a tie-in single or album (often called an image album or character album) for an anime, video game, drama, manga, or other commercial product that is sometimes sung by the voice actor or ac ...

, released in April 1994. She also did a cameo voice appearance as herself in the

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

movie '' Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture'', performed the voice of Cham Cham in the ''

Samurai Shodown ''Samurai Shodown'', known in Japan as is a fighting game series by SNK. The series began in 1993 and is known for being one of the earliest in the genre with a primary focus on weapon-based combat. Plot The stories in the series take place i ...

'' video game series, and had a spot in the nightly radio show ''Akihabara Young Denkikan''. Chiba retired from the entertainment industry in 1995. However, she has made several public appearances in recent years at comic and anime conventions in the United States to help promote the official US release of Zyuranger on DVD.

Personal life

When she married Tetsuhito Kirihara in 1998, her legal name became . However, she continues to be known by either her maiden name or "Chibarei" in business and other public contexts. Since her marriage and the birth of a son in 1999, Chiba has adopted a more mature public persona. She is currently active as a certified yoga instructor, teaching yoga classes and issuing a series of instructional books and videos. She also continues to pose for publications such as ''

Weekly Playboy , also known as or ''WPB'', is a Japanese weekly magazine published by Shueisha since 1966. Although the magazine publishes a variety of news and special interest articles, columns, celebrity interviews, and manga, it is considered an adult maga ...

''. Chiba is also the public face of the corporation Cherrybabe, Inc. In 2011, Chiba spoke out about enduring years of depression and has become an advocate of , the

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare The is a cabinet level ministry of the Japanese government. It is commonly known as in Japan. The ministry provides services on health, labour and welfare. It was formed with the merger of the former Ministry of Health and Welfare or and th ...

's mental health portal website.Kokoro no Mimi - Reiko Chiba's Video Message: "My Experience"
Chiba currently resides in Itoshima,

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

Filmography

TV series

*''

'' – Mei/Ptera Ranger (1992–1993) ** ''

'' (Kimberly Ann Hart/Pink Ranger via Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger footage) *''

Under the Same Roof Under may refer to: Music *''Under'', an album by Savoy, 2024 * "Under" (Alex Hepburn song), 2013 * "Under" (Pleasure P song), 2009 *"Under", a song by Sampha from ''Process'', 2017 People *Bülent Ünder (born 1949), Turkish footballer *Cengiz � ...

'' (1993) *''

Minami-kun no Koibito , also known as ''My Little Lover'', is a Japanese manga series by Shungicu Uchida. It has been adapted into five Japanese television dramas. The manga has been released in France by Éditions IMHO with the title ''La petite amie de Mina ...

'' (1994) (Risako Nomura) *''

Ninja Sentai Kakuranger is a Japanese ''tokusatsu'' television series. It was Toei Company Limited's eighteenth production of the Super Sentai metaseries. It aired from February 18, 1994, to February 24, 1995, following its predecessor '' Gosei Sentai Dairanger'' and ...

'' – episode 25 guest appearance Reika (1994)

TV special

*'' Samurai Shodown: The Motion Picture'' –

Nakoruru is a fictional character in the '' Samurai Shodown'' (''Samurai Spirits'' in Japan) series of fighting games by SNK. She is one of the series' best known and most popular characters alongside its main protagonist Haohmaru, and was introduced in ...

(1994)

Film

*'' Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture'' – Herself / Nakoruru (1994, voice only) *'' Super Sentai World'' – Ptera Ranger (1994, voice only) *'' Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger vs. Go-Busters: The Great Dinosaur Battle! Farewell Our Eternal Friends'' – Ptera Ranger (2014, voice only)

Anime OVA

*''

Wild 7 is a Japanese manga series by creator Mikiya Mochizuki that debuted on 1969 on '' Weekly Shōnen King'' where it ran until 1979. The creation of the manga had been based on the condition that Japan and other non-communist countries were f ...

'' – Iko (1994)

Video games

*''

Samurai Shodown II ''Samurai Shodown II'', known in Japan as is a 1994 fighting game released as the second entry in SNK's ''Samurai Shodown'' series. Like the original ''Samurai Shodown'', the sequel was initially released for the Neo Geo arcade and home system. ...

'' – Cham Cham (1994) *'' The King of Fighters EX: Neo Blood'' – Moe Habana (2002)

References

External links

* (in Japanese) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chiba, Reiko 1975 births Living people People from Tennōji, Osaka Japanese women pop singers Japanese women television personalities Japanese video game actresses Models from Fukushima Prefecture Singers from Fukushima Prefecture Singers from Osaka Voice actresses from Fukushima Prefecture Voice actresses from Osaka 20th-century Japanese actresses 20th-century Japanese women singers 20th-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese actresses 21st-century Japanese women singers 21st-century Japanese singers