Person: Aoi Yuu 1h5c30

Aoi Yuu, (born Natsui Yuu, August 17, 1985 in Kasuga, Fukuoka) is a Japanese actress and model. She made her film debut as Tsuda Shiori in Iwai Shunji's 2001 film All About Lily Chou-Chou. She subsequently portrayed Arisugawa Tetsuko in Hana and Alice (2004), also directed by Iwai, Tanigawa Kimiko in the hula dancing film Hula Girls and Hanamoto Hagumi in the 2006 live-action adaptation of the popular Honey and Clover manga series.

She has won numerous awards for her performances on screen, including the prestigious Japan Academy Prize and Kinema Junpo Awards for best ing actress in 2007 for Hula Girls and Rookie of the Year for continued performances in the field of Films in Media and Fine Arts by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan in 2009.

Aoi Yuu did her stage debut as Polly in the 1999 rendition of Annie, followed by her appearance as a regular on TV Tokyo's Oha SUTA (The Super Kids Station) in 2000. A year later, she debuted in Shunji Iwai's All About Lily Chou-Chou playing Shiori Tsuda alongside Hayato Ichihara, Shugo Oshinari, Miwako Ichikawa, and Ayumi Ito. Aoi would later work in Ao to Shiro de Mizuiro and Gaichu (Harmful Insect) with friend Aoi Miyazaki. With her first roles on the small and big screen came CMs and endorsements for Sony, Yamaha, DoCoMo, Toshiba and Coca Cola.

In 2003, commemorating the 30th anniversary of Kit Kat in Japan, Shunji Iwai shot a series of short films starring Yu Aoi and Anne Suzuki, which later was expanded into the feature film called Hana & Alice, which earned Aoi the Best Actress award at the Japanese Professional Movie Award.