Famous People in Japan



Tanaka Rena

Date of Birth 22 March 1980
Place of Birth Fukuoka

Rena Tanaka was born in Kurume in Fukuoka Prefecture on May 22, 1980. She had wanted to be an actress since she was little. Now she is one of the most promising actresses in Japan.

On March 1998, she appeared in two TV commercials, one for "Traing" (JR Higashinihon) and the other for "Nacchan" (Suntory.) These TV commercials made her very popular, especially Nacchan! A lot of Japanese thought her name was actually Nacchan.

The same year, she also played the leading part the movie "Ganbatte Ikimassyoi." The story took place in Matsuyama in Ehime Prefecture 20 years ago. Etsuko Shinomura (the heroine who Rena was played) was impressed with the beautiful scenery of the boats on the sea in the evening and she decided to set up a women's boat team. At first, members could not get on well. But as they shared the joy and pain, they were gradually learned to work towards the same goal. Thanks to this movie, she won a sweeping victory as the "new actress of the year." She got 12 prizes.

After that movie, she was said to be real actress. Now she appears in nine TV commercials.

References: http://rena.infoweb.ne.jp/profile.html

Reported by: Okada Ai
Data verified by: Miho Ueoka
Date of Report: December 1999

Back to the main page