Sakura Ando
Acting
Born February 18, 1986, Tokyo, Japan
With parents in show business, perhaps it is not surprising that Sakura Ando became an actress and, moreover, later married an actor. She was born to actor/director Okuda Eiji and celebrity Kazu Ando on 18 February 1986. Her great-grandfather was Prime Minister Tsuyoshi. Her older sister is director Ando Momoko. She saw her father on stage at age five and decided to become an actress while in second grade. She was often ill as a child; her illness made her dizzy, caused balance problems, and at times her brain would shut down. She chose her mother's maiden surname for her professional career. Sono Sion cast her in his film Love Exposure and gave her a major break on the big screen. She won Best Supporting Actress for that role at the 31st Yokohama Film Festival. Earlier, her father cast her in his film Kaze No Sotogawa (Outside the Wind) alongside her mother and sister. She has since appeared in multiple films and TV series and won several more awards. She married actor Emoto Tasuku in 2012; they met on a train in 2008 and she had obtained her father's permission to date and marry. She was a boxer in 100 Yen Love, which suited her because she had practiced boxing at age fourteen. She gave birth to her first child, a girl, in 2017. She won Best Actress at the 42nd Japan Academy Prize for her work in 2018's Shoplifters. By then she was considered one of the top young actresses in Japan alongside Yu Aoi, Miyazaki Aoi, and possibly Aso Kumiko. Interestingly, she had earlier decided to retire and focus on raising her child. She is a graduate of Gakushuin Women's College.
Filmography
- Brothers in Arms — Narration
- 2026Dora — Nami
- 2026Godzilla Minus Zero — Sumiko Ota
- 2025A Very Straight Neck
- The Hot Spot — Hiroko Takahashi
- 2023Bad Lands — Neri Hashioka
- 2023Godzilla Minus One — Sumiko Ota
- 2023Monster — Saori Mugino
- Rebooting — Kondo Asami
- 2023The Imaginary — Lizzie (voice)
- 2023We're Millennials. Got a problem?: The Movie — Miyashita Akane
- 2022A Man — Rie Taniguchi
- 2022Korosuna — Omine
- Tabiya Okaeri — Erika Oka, 惠理子
- Girl Gun Lady — Daisy
- 2021Ryuukou Kanbou — Haruko
- 2021The Great Yokai War: Guardians — Ubume
- Today's Nekomura — Scared wife
- Mango no Ki no Shita de — Misaki Tamiya
- 2019孤独のグルメ2019大晦日スペシャル 緊急指令! 成田~福岡~釜山 弾丸出張編!
- Magic × Warrior MagiMajo Pures! — Mokonyan (voice)
- Mampuku — Imai (Tachibana) Fukuko
- 2018Shoplifters — Nobuyo Shibata
- 2017Destiny: The Tale of Kamakura — Grim Reaper
- Love Exposure: The TV-Show — Aya Koike
- 2017Reminiscence — Ryoko Nishina
- 2017Sound of Waves — Yuko Kitagawa
- 2017Tornado Girl — Yu Mikami
- 2016Dias Police: Dirty Yellow Boys — Yumeko
- Like a Girl Playing House — Onchi Eiko
- 2016Seed
- We're Millennials. Got a Problem? — Akane Miyashita
- 2015Asleep — Terako
- 2015Her Granddaughter — Misaki Akimoto
- 20140.5 mm — Sawa
- 2014100 Yen Love — Ichiko Saito
- 2014Climbing to Spring — Yuri Nakagawa
- Hello Life from 55
- 2014Homeland — Misa
- 2013Case of Kyoko, Case of Shuichi — Kyoko
- 2013Penance — Akiko Takano
- 2013Petal Dance — Motoko
- 2013Radio — Yuki Sasayama
- Shotenin Michiru no Mi no Uebanashi — Haruko Hatsuyama
- The Brothers Karamazov — Shiori Kurosawa
- 2013The Stork Nest
- 2013Yellow Elephant — Kanyu the dog (voice)
- ATARU — Eiko Sasai
- 2012For Love's Sake — Gum-ko
- 2012Our Homeland — Rie
- Penance — Akiko Takano
- 2012The Samurai That Night — Mika
- 20108000 Miles 2: Girls Rapper
- 2010A Crowd of Three — Kayo
- 2010All to the Sea
- My Name is Noda
- 2010Sweet Little Lies — Miyako
- 2010Teto
- Chance!
- 2009Crime or Punishment?!? — Momo Mimikawa
- 2009Make the Last Wish — Meiko
- 2009Oh, My Buddha! — Junko
- 2009The Wonderful World of Captain Kuhio — Rika Kinoshita
- 2009Torso — Mina
- 2009We'll Keep Walking, That's All — Miyuki Matsunaka
- 2008Ain't No Tomorrows — Chizu
- 2008Love Exposure — Koike
- 2007Out of the Wind — Mariko Iwata
- 2006A Long Walk — Waitress
- Shomuni — Reiko Abe
- 다마코
Appearances as themselves (1)
- 2021Once upon a time... "Shoplifters" — Self