, also known professionally as Sayaka, Lily, and , was a Japanese actress, singer, and model. She was the only child of actor Masaki Kanda and pop singer

Seiko Matsuda , known professionally as , is a Japanese singer-songwriter, known for being one of the most popular Japanese idols of the 1980s. Since then, she has continued to release new singles and albums, go on annual summer concert tours, perform at wi ...

Early life

Kanda was born at Tokyo Teishin Hospital in

Chiyoda, Tokyo , known as Chiyoda City in English,
." ''City of Chiyoda''. Retrieved on December 28, 2008. is a S ...

. She was the only child of actor Masaki Kanda and

, a representative idol singer of the 1980s in Japan. Her paternal grandmother Teruko Asahi (1924–2001) was a former actress.

Career

In 1999, while a student at a Japanese school in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, she appeared in ''Bean Cake'', a

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

that won the Palme d'Or du court métrage at the

2001 Cannes Film Festival The 54th Cannes Film Festival took place from 9 to 20 May 2001. Norwegian actress and director Liv Ullmann was named Jury President for the main competition. Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti won the ''Palme d'Or'' for the drama film '' The Son's ...

. She was quite active as an actress in movies and mostly on stage since her debut. In 2006, Kanda composed and wrote the lyrics to "Bless You", a song performed by her mother Seiko Matsuda. Kanda was credited under the name "Jun Uehara", originating from two characters from the manga series ''

Good Morning Call is a Japanese ''shōjo'' manga series by Yue Takasuka that ran in the monthly magazine ''Ribon'' from 1997 to 2002. Part of the story has been adapted into an OVA. In 2007, a sequel manga, , was serialized in ''Cookie''. As of December ...

'', which she had loved at the time. Kanda made her ''

Kōhaku Uta Gassen , more commonly known simply as ''Kōhaku'', is an annual New Year's Eve television special produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. It is broadcast live simultaneously on television and radio, nationally and internationally by the NHK net ...

'' debut in December 2011 singing "

Ue o Muite Arukō , alternatively titled "Sukiyaki", is a song by Japanese crooner Kyu Sakamoto, first released in Japan in 1961. The song topped the charts in a number of countries, including the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1963. The song grew to become one o ...

" alongside her mother, Seiko Matsuda. In July 2012, Kanda debuted as a voice actress on TV animation ''

Good Luck Girl! ''Good Luck Girl!'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by . The manga was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Jump Square'' from June 2008 to July 2013, with its chapters collected in 16 volumes. A ...

'', which led her to be cast as Mary in ''

The Muppets The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an surreal humor, absurdist, slapstick, burlesque, and self-referential humor, self-referential style of Musical theatre, musical Variety show, variety-sketch comedy. Cre ...

'' and

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna of East Anglia, King (died c.654) * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th c ...

in the Japanese language dub of

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

's animated film '' Frozen''. She won the Best Lead Actress award for the role in the

9th Seiyu Awards The 9th Seiyu Awards ceremony was held on March 7, 2015 at the JOQR Media Plus Hall in Minato, Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a ...

. In 2019, she voiced as Anna once again for ''

Kingdom Hearts III is a 2019 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows, and Nintendo Switch. It is the third main installment in the '' Kingdom Hearts'' series and the twelfth game overall, and ser ...

''. In April 2014, she formed the duo Trustrick with guitarist Billy. They released their debut album, ''Eternity'', on June 25 of the same year. They disbanded on December 17, 2016. Kanda appeared as a special guest in the Alan Symphony Concert from December 20, 2014, alongside Tibetan Chinese diva

Alan Dawa Dolma Alan Dawa Dolma (born 25 July 1987), known mononymously as alan, is a Tibetan singer from China. She is a graduate of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Academy of Art in Beijing, majoring in vocal music and erhu, which she has played since chi ...

, and together, they sang a music piece originally performed by Alan titled . Kanda released covers of

Vocaloid is a singing Speech synthesis, voice synthesizer software product. Its signal processing part was developed through a joint research project between Yamaha Corporation and the Music Technology Group at Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona. The s ...

songs on her

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 ...

channel.

Modeling career

While Kanda was on hiatus from her acting career in 2005, she began appearing in lolita fashion magazines under the name Lily, a stage name that she had chosen from a "dreamy worldview." Kanda modeled for ', ''

Gothic & Lolita Bible was a quarterly Japanese fashion mook which focuses on the Gothic and Lolita fashions. It was first published in 2001 by Index Communications, and is a spin-off of the Japanese fashion magazine ''Kera''. In February 2008, an English-language ve ...

'', and

Angelic Pretty Angelic Pretty (formerly Pretty from 1979–2001) is a Japanese apparel brand specializing in lolita fashion. The brand was established as Pretty in 1979 by Hiroko Honda, with its flagship store opened at Laforet in the Harajuku region of ...

's catalogs.

Personal life

In May 2017, Kanda married actor

Mitsu Murata is a Japanese actor, fashion model and DJ/music producer, best known for his roles as Douji in the 2005 tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live-action films or television programs that make heavy use of practical special effects. Credited t ...

. Kanda announced their divorce in December 2019. Kanda was in a relationship with actor

Takahisa Maeyama is a Japanese former actor. Maeyama began his acting career in 2011 as a member of D2, a sub-group of Watanabe Entertainment's male acting troupe D-Boys. Since joining D2, Maeyama has appeared and starred in multiple stage plays, including ''Hypn ...

after co-starring in the stage adaptation of ''

Crest of the Royal Family is a shōjo manga by Chieko Hosokawa. It has run in the monthly magazine ''Princess'' since 1976. In 1991, it received the 36th Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo. As of 2015, the collected volumes had sold 40 million copies in Japan, maki ...

'' in August 2021. The two dated with the intention of marriage due to their age. In 2024, Maeyama stated that they only dated for two months and had ended their relationship by the time they had starred together in the Japanese production of ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'' and on the Pygmalion (1938 film), 1938 film ...

'' in November 2021.

Death

On December 18, 2021, Kanda was found unconscious in the outer garden on the fourteenth floor of a hotel in Chūō ward,

Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...

. She was later pronounced dead at a hospital. The cause of death was determined to be

traumatic Trauma most often refers to: *Psychological trauma, in psychology and psychiatric medicine, refers to severe mental and emotional injury caused by distressing events *Traumatic injury, sudden physical injury caused by an external force, which doe ...

shock by the Sapporo Central Police Station, which also said that she had fallen from her room in the upper floors of the hotel. Kanda's remains were cremated and her family kept her ashes at home. A report from ''

Shūkan Bunshun is a Japanese weekly tabloid ( shūkanshi) based in Tokyo, Japan, known for its investigative journalism and frequent clashes with the Japanese government. This has led to it being considered one of the most influential weekly magazines in the ...

'' claimed she committed suicide following vocal cord issues as well as issues with her relationship with Maeyama.

Discography

Singles

* "Ever Since" (2002) * "

Garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

" (2003) * "Mizu Iro" (2004) * "Jōgen no Tsuki" (2005) with TRUSTRICK * "World's End Curtain Call -theme of DANGANRONPA THE STAGE-" (2014) * "FLYING FAFNIR" (2015) * "innocent promise" (2015) * "Recall THE END" (2016) * "DEAD OR LIE" (2016) duo with

Maon Kurosaki was a Japanese singer and songwriter. After being discovered while working as a performer in Akihabara, Tokyo, she signed to NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan and made her major debut in 2010, performing ending themes to the anime television ...

* "Rainbow Summer" (2019), the theme song of Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout

Digital Singles

* "LUVORATORRRRRY!" (2018) * "Good Morning, Polar Night" (2019) * "Roki" (2019) with TRUSTRICK * "On your marks!" (2014) as Yuna from "Sword Art Online" * "Ubiquitous dB" (2017) * "delete" (2017) * "Break Beat Bark!" (2017) * "longing" (2017) * "smile for you" (2017)

Albums

* ''

Doll A doll is a physical model, model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and ...

'' (2005) * ''

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

'' (2011) with TRUSTRICK * ''Eternity'' (2014) * ''TRUST'' (2015) * ''TRICK'' (2016)

Extended plays

with TRUSTRICK *''Mirai-kei Answer E.P.'' (2015) *''beloved E.P.'' (2016)

Cover Albums

*MUSICALOID #38 (2018) *MUSICALOID #38 Act.2 (2019) *MUSICALOID #38 Act.3 (2021)

Compilation Albums

as Yuna from "Sword Art Online" *Sword Art Online the Movie : Ordinal Scale (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2017)

Filmography

Film

* ''Bean Cake'' (1999) * ''

Dragon Head is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Minetaro Mochizuki. It was published by Kodansha in ''Weekly Young Magazine'' from 1994 to 1999 and was collected in ten ''tankōbon'' volumes. It was licensed in English by Kodansha US ...

'' (2003) – Ako Seto * '' School Wars: Hero'' (2004) – Mitiyo Wada * ''Imadoki Japanese yo'' (2008) – Kyouko * '' Farewell, Kamen Rider Den-O: Final Countdown'' (2008) – Sora * ''Amazing Grace'' (2011) – Shizuku Asamizu * Geki×Cine ''Bara to Samurai'' (2011) – Pony de Bribon * ''

Real Girl Real Girl may refer to: * ''Real Girl'' (album), a 2007 album by Mutya Buena ** "Real Girl" (song) * ''Real Girl'' (manga), a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nanami Mao * ''Real Girl'' (film), a 2018 Japanese film adaptatio ...

'' (2018) – Ezomichi (voice)

Television drama

* ''Yankee Bokō ni Kaeru / Drop-out Teacher Returns to School'' ( TBS, 2003) – Nanae Koga * ''四分の一の絆'' (TBS, 2004) – Maiko Nisio * ''

Mito Kōmon is a Japanese ''jidaigeki'' or period drama that was on prime-time television from 1969 to 2011, making it the longest-running ''jidaigeki'' in Japanese television history. The title character is the historic Tokugawa Mitsukuni, former vice-' ...

'' (TBS, 2004, 2007) – Kozue, Osaki * ''たった一度の雪〜SAPPORO・1972年〜'' (

HBC HBC or HbC may refer to: Companies and organizations * Halton Borough Council, England * Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, the state-owned radio and television broadcaster for Greece * Hokkaido Broadcasting, Japan * Houston Boychoir, Texas, US ...

, 2007) – Chiho Shimomura * ''Omotesando Koukou Gasshoubu!'' (TBS, 2015) – Emiri Seyama

Theater Performances

* ''

Into the Woods ''Into the Woods'' is a 1986 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. T ...

'' (2004) – Little Red Ridinghood (credited as SAYAKA) * ''

Murasaki Shikibu was a Japanese novelist, Japanese poetry#Age of Nyobo or court ladies, poet and lady-in-waiting at the Imperial Court in Kyoto, Imperial court in the Heian period. She was best known as the author of ''The Tale of Genji'', widely considered t ...

Story'' (2006, 2008) –

Empress Shōshi , also known as , the eldest daughter of Fujiwara no Michinaga, was Empress of Japan from 1000 to 1011. Her father sent her to live in the Emperor Ichijō's harem at age 12. Because of his power, influence and political machinations she qui ...

* '' The Woman in White'' (2007) – Laura Fairlie * ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

'' (2007–2009) – Peaseblossom * ''

'' (2008) – Hermia * ''

Love Letters A love letter is a romantic way to express feelings of love in written form. Love Letter(s) or The Love Letter may also refer to: Film and television Film * ''Love Letters'' (1917 film), an American drama silent film * ''Love Letters'' ( ...

'' (2008–2010) – Melissa * '' Grease'' (2008) – Sandy Dumbrowski * ''

She Loves Me ''She Loves Me'' is a musical with a book by Joe Masteroff, music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. The musical is the third adaptation of the 1937 play '' Parfumerie'' by Hungarian playwright Miklós László, following the 1940 f ...

'' (2009–2010) – Amalia Balash * ''Bara to Samurai〜Goemon Rock OverDrive'' (2010) – Pony de Bribon * ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' (, ) is a 19th-century French literature, French Epic (genre), epic historical fiction, historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. '' ...

'' (2009–2011) –

Cosette Cosette () is a fictional character in the 1862 novel ''Les Misérables'' by Victor Hugo and in the many adaptations of the story for stage, film, and television. Her birth name, Euphrasie, is only mentioned briefly. As the orphaned child of an ...

* ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical ...

'' (2009–2011, 2017) –

Wendy Darling Wendy Moira Angela Darling is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists of the 1904 play and 1911 novel ''Peter and Wendy'' by J. M. Barrie, as well as in most adaptations in other media. Her exact age is not specified in the origina ...

* ''

The Fantasticks ''The Fantasticks'' is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and book and lyrics by Tom Jones. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the 1894 play ''The Romancers'' (''Les Romanesques'') by Edmond Rostand, concerning two ne ...

'' (2010) – Luisa * '' Endless SHOCK'' (2012) – Rika * ''

Anne of Green Gables ''Anne of Green Gables'' is a 1908 novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery (published as L. M. Montgomery). Written for all ages, it has been considered a classic children's novel since the mid-20th century. Set in the late 19th century, t ...

'' (2012) –

Anne Shirley Anne Blythe () is a fictional character introduced in the 1908 novel ''Anne of Green Gables'' by Lucy Maud Montgomery, L. M. Montgomery. Shirley is featured throughout the classic Anne of Green Gables#Related works, book series, which revolves ...

* '' Himeyuri'' (2012–2014) – Kimi * ''

Dance of the Vampires ''The Fearless Vampire Killers, or Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are in My Neck'' (shortened to ''The Fearless Vampire Killers''; originally released in the United Kingdom as ''Dance of the Vampires'') is a 1967 comedy horror film directed by Roman ...

'' (2015–2020) – Sarah * '' Danganronpa The Stage'' (2014–2016) – Mukuro Ikusaba and

Junko Enoshima is a fictional character and the overarching antagonist of Spike Chunsoft's ''Danganronpa'' series. Featured as the mastermind in the series' first two games as the true identity of Monokuma, in the Spin-off (media), spin-off ''Danganronpa Anoth ...

* '' Super Danganronpa 2 The Stage'' (2015–2017) –

* '' 1789: Les Amants de la Bastille'' (2016–2018) – Olympe * ''

Legally Blonde ''Legally Blonde'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Robert Luketic and written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, based on Amanda Brown's novel. It stars Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson, Selma Blair, Matthew Davis, Victo ...

'' (2017–2019) –

Elle Woods Elle Woods is a fictional character created by Amanda Brown in her 2001 novel '' Legally Blonde''. Woods is known for her blonde hair and bubbly personality, and was received by many audiences as an inspiring character and "feminist icon". The ch ...

* ''

Fiddler on the Roof ''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical theatre, musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and musical theatre#Book musicals, book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Russian Empire, Imperial Russia in or around 19 ...

'' (2017) – Hodel * ''

'' (2018–2021) –

Eliza Doolittle Eliza Doolittle is a fictional character and the protagonist in George Bernard Shaw's play '' Pygmalion'' (1913) and its 1956 musical adaptation, ''My Fair Lady''. Eliza (from Lisson Grove, London) is a Cockney flower seller, who comes to Prof ...

* ''SHOW BOY'' (2019) * '' Rose's Dilemma'' (2021) – Arlene * ''

'' (2021) – Carol Reed

Japanese dub

* '' Frozen'' (2013) –

* ''

Ralph Breaks the Internet ''Ralph Breaks the Internet'' is a 2018 American animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. It is the sequel to the 2012 film ''Wreck-It Ralph''. The film was directed by Rich Moore and Phil Johnston (filmmaker), Phil Joh ...

'' (2018) – Anna * ''

Frozen II ''Frozen 2'', stylized as ''Frozen II'', is a 2019 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures as the sequel to '' Frozen'' (2013). The film was directed by Chris Buck ...

'' (2019) – Anna

Theatrical animation

* '' GAMBA'' (2015) – Shioji * '' Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale'' (2017) – Yuna * '' Space Battleship Yamato 2202: Warriors of Love'' (2017)

Television animation

* ''

'' (2012) – Nadeshiko Adenokouji * ''

Unlimited Fafnir ''Unlimited Fafnir'', originally titled is a Japanese light novel series written by Tsukasa and illustrated by Riko Korie. Kodansha has published fifteen volumes from July 2013 to November 2017 under their Kodansha Ranobe Bunko imprint. A ma ...

'' (2015) – Miyako Shinomiya * '' Convenience Store Boy Friends'' (2017) – Miharu Mashiki * ''

'' (2018) – Ezomichi * '' Sword Art Online: Alicization – War of Underworld'' (2020) – Yuna * '' Idoly Pride'' (2021) – Mana Nagase

Video games

* '' Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony'' (2017) – Kaede Akamatsu * '' Let It Die'' (2017) – Kiwako Seto * ''

'' (2019) – Anna * '' Accel World vs. Sword Art Online: Millennium Twilight'' (2017) – Yuna * '' Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet'' (2018) – Yuna * '' Idoly Pride'' (2021) – Mana Nagase

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kanda, Sayaka 1986 births 2021 deaths 2021 suicides 20th-century Japanese actresses 21st-century Japanese actresses 21st-century Japanese women singers 21st-century Japanese singers Deaths from falls Female suicides Japanese YouTubers Japanese film actresses Japanese female idols Japanese television actresses Japanese women television personalities Japanese video game actresses Japanese women pop singers Musicians from Setagaya Music YouTubers People from Chiyoda, Tokyo Singers from Tokyo Sony Music Entertainment Japan artists Voice actresses from Setagaya Voice actresses from Tokyo Metropolis Suicides by jumping in Japan