Maki Horikita (, Horikita Maki, born October 6, 1988) is a former Japanese actress. From 2003 through 2017, she appeared in a number of Japanese television dramas, television and magazine advertising, and films, including Nobuta wo Produce, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e, and Umechan Sensei.
Horikita was born in Kiyose, Tokyo, Japan, on October 6, 1988. She is the middle child of three daughters. Horikita was a tomboy as a child, and she loved basketball and baseball. In junior high, she was the vice-captain of their basketball team. Horikita looked up to her mother despite her boyishness. This was discovered when she appeared on an episode of KAT-TUN's now-defunct variety show Cartoon KAT-TUN and remarked that when she was younger, she adored emulating her mother.
Print and television endorsements for a career
Horikita has appeared in periodicals and television commercials in addition to modelling for photobooks. She is most known for her television advertisements for Fujifilm (in which she co-starred with Japanese superstar Tomoya Nagase) and Lotte. She is also a Suntory and NTT DoCoMo image endorser. Horikita was named one of Japan's top endorsers in 2008 by Nihon Monitor at their annual Most Popular Personality in TV CMs.
Horikita had been hired in a number of drama series and films since 2003, but her appearances in Densha Otoko and Nobuta wo Produce were her breakout roles. Her promising performance in Nobuta wo Produce as the titular character earned her a Best Supporting Actress award from Japan's Television Academy Awards. Around the same time, she received the Japan Academy Awards' Newcomer Award for her portrayal as a student apprentice in Always: Sunset on Third Street.
She earned her second Best Supporting Actress award the following year for her performance in Kurosagi. Months later, she was cast as the protagonist in Teppan Shoujo Akane!! and as a bully behind a class uprising in Seito Shokun!, in which she co-starred with her agency senior Rina Uchiyama. She was also cast in One Missed Call: Final, the final part of the One Missed Call franchise, with agency colleague and best friend Meisa Kuroki and South Korean actor Jang Keun-suk.
Soon after, Horikita won her first Best Actress award for her portrayal as Mizuki Ashiya in Hana-Kimi, or Hanazakari no Kimitachi e, a Japanese drama adaption of the gender-bending manga Hana-Kimi. Horikita co-starred with Aoi Miyazaki in the Taiga drama Atsuhime, which was released the same year as Hana Kimi. In the same year, she played the protagonist character with multiple personality disorder in the suspense film Tokyo Shnen and returned her part as a student apprentice in the sequel to her breakout film, Always: Zoku Sanchome no Yuhi. Horikita's outstanding work was recognised by Vogue Nippon, which named her one of eleven Women of the Year in 2007.
In October of the following year, she appeared on television once more, this time alongside Yuzu's lead vocalist Yujin Kitagawa, as part of the cast of Fuji TV's golden time slot in the drama Innocent Love. She was cast as Naomi, the female protagonist of Dareka ga Watashi ni Kiss wo Shite or DareKiss, a Hollywood-Japan collaboration film directed by internationally acclaimed director and self-confessed Japanese culture fanatic Hans Canosa (based on Gabrielle Zevin's popular novel, Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac). One-third of her lines in the film were in English, it was revealed.
Horikita went on to appear in two television dramas following the completion of DareKiss filming: Atashinchi no Danshi in 2009 as an adoptive mother of six young men (played by Jun Kaname and Mukai Osamu among others) and Tokujo Kabachi!! in 2010 as an administrative scrivener opposite Arashi's Sho Sakurai.
Horikita appeared in the film adaptation of Into the White Night, a widely read novel that was made into a television drama starring Haruka Ayase and Takayuki Yamada in 2006. WOWOW FILMS produced the film, which premiered in the Panorama section of the Berlin Film Festival.
Horikita was offered the lead role in an NHK asadora called Umechan Sensei in 2012. Horikita portrayed Umeko Shimomura in her carefree adolescent years until she developed into a dependable village doctor during the Showa era in the morning drama. Umechan Sensei received a 20.7% average audience rating, marking the first time in nine years that NHK earned an average audience rating above 20% for an asadora time slot. Horikita made her stage debut in a Joan of Arc production at the end of 2012.
Horikita has continued to accept main parts in numerous television and film projects since the popularity of her asadora, including the evening dramas Miss Pilot in 2013 and Masshiro in 2015, as well as the film Mugiko-san to in 2013.
Voice and radio acting
Horikita was one of six female celebrities that hosted Girls Locks!, a feature of the Japanese radio programme School of Locks on the Tokyo FM radio network. Horikita gave book recommendations to her listeners and phoned chosen letter-senders to discuss the questions they asked in their letters when she was the show. Every third or fourth week of the month, she worked at ten o'clock in the evening. She worked with Erika Toda, Yui Aragaki, Chiaki Kuriyama, Nana Eikura, and Kii Kitano until 2009, when she quit the programme.
Horikita has dabbled in voice acting, making her anime debut as a voice actress for one of the characters in Nobita and the Green Giant Legend 2008. Her most well-known project as a voice actress was for Professor Layton, in which she voiced the main character Luke.
She also voiced a character in the Belgian 3D animated film Nat's Space Adventure 3D/Fly Me to the Moon in early 2009. She dubbed the protagonist's voice, a young male fly determined to explore outer space.
Private life
Horikita's management agency revealed on August 22, 2015, that she had married actor Koji Yamamoto earlier that day. The couple met in May 2015 while portraying lovers in the theatre performance Arashi ga Oka (Wuthering Heights), and they began dating in June. She revealed her pregnancy on June 20, 2016. In December 2016, she gave birth to her first child. She announced her retirement from the entertainment world on February 28, 2017.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Network | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Dōbutsu no Oisha-san | Tamako Anzai | TV Asahi | |
| Keitai Deka Zenigata Mai | Mai Zenigata | TBS | Lead role | |
| Koi Suru Nichiyōbi | Chikako Imamoto | BS-i | Lead role; episode 16 | |
| 2004 | Ningen no Shōmei | Sayaka Koori | Fuji TV | |
| Kaidan Shin Mimibukuro | Misuzu Inamine | TBS | Lead role | |
| Division 1 Houkago | Mayuko Michida | Fuji TV | Lead role | |
| Honkowa: True Horror Stories | Yuka Tamura | Fuji TV | Lead role | |
| 2005 | Nobuta wo Produce | Nobuko Kotani | NTV | |
| Densha Otoko | Aoi Yamada | Fuji TV | ||
| Akechi Kogoro VS Kindaichi Kosuke | Marina Saegusa | TV Asahi | Television film | |
| 2006 | Teppan Shoujo Akane!! | Akane Kagura | TBS | Lead role |
| Densha Otoko Deluxe | Aoi Yamada | Fuji TV | Television film | |
| Kurosagi | Tsurara Yoshikawa | TBS | ||
| Tsubasa no Oreta Tenshitachi | Yuna | Fuji TV | Lead role; television film | |
| Honkowa: True Horror Stories: Summer 2006 | Arisa Kubo | Fuji TV | Lead role | |
| 2007 | Koi no Kara Sawagi Drama Special: Love Stories IV | NTV | Lead role; short drama | |
| Galileo | Remi Morisaki | Fuji TV | Episode 6 | |
| Deru Toko Demasho! | Shizuka Kamei | Fuji TV | Lead role; television film | |
| Hanazakari no Kimitachi e | Mizuki Ashiya | Fuji TV | Lead role | |
| Seito Shokun! | Juria Kimura | TV Asahi | ||
| 2008 | Danso no Reijin | Yoshiko Yamaguchi/Ri Kouran | TV Asahi | Television film |
| Innocent Love | Kanon Akiyama | Fuji TV | Lead role | |
| Hanazakari no Kimitachi e SP | Mizuki Ashiya | Fuji TV | Lead role; television film | |
| Tokyo Air Raid | Haruko Sakuragi | NTV | Lead role; miniseries | |
| Atsuhime | Princess Kazu | NHK | Taiga drama | |
| 2009 | My Boys: More Than Family But Less Than Lovers | Chisato Mineta | Fuji TV | Lead role |
| Chance! | Tamaki Kawamura | Fuji TV | Lead role; miniseries | |
| 2010 | Kikoku | Youko Kasai | TBS | Television film |
| Wagaya no Rekishi | Namiko Yame | Fuji TV | Miniseries | |
| Legal Eagle, First Class | Misuzu Sumiyoshi | TBS | Lead role | |
| 2011 | Umareru | Manami Hayashida | TBS | Lead role |
| 2012 | Umechan Sensei | Umeko Shimomura | NHK | Lead role; Asadora |
| 2013 | Miss Pilot | Tezuka Haru | Fuji TV | Lead role |
| 2014 | Fathers | Mifuyu Marui | TBS | Lead role; episode 5 |
| Matsumoto Seichō Drama Special: Kiri no Hata | Kiriko Yanagida | TV Asahi | Lead role; television film | |
| 2015 | Nurses of the Palace | Akari Arimura | TBS | Lead role |
| 2016 | Higanbana | Kurumiya Nagisa | NTV | Lead role |
| Year | Title | Role | Directed by | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Cosmic Rescue | Aya Mochizuki | Shinsuke Sato | |
| Seventh Anniversary | Natsuki | Isao Yukisada | ||
| 2004 | The Locker | Ayano Kubo | Kei Horie | |
| The Locker 2 | Ayano Kubo | Kei Horie | Lead role | |
| Crying Out Love in the Center of the World | Isao Yukisada | Photo only | ||
| Hirakata | Yui Asakawa | Yoshikazu Sugiyama | ||
| Premonition | Sayuri Wakakubo | Norio Tsuruta | ||
| 2005 | Gyakkyou Nine | Akiko Tsukita | Eiichirō Hasumi | |
| Hinokio: Inter Galactic Love | Eriko Akishima | Takahiko Akiyama | ||
| The Deep Red | Young Kanako | Takashi Tsukinoki | ||
| Always: Sunset on Third Street | Mutsuko Hoshino | Takashi Yamazaki | ||
| 2006 | Haru no Ibasho | Meiko | Masatoshi Akihara | Lead role |
| Trick: The Movie 2 | Misako Nishida | Yukihiko Tsutsumi | ||
| Mobile Detective: The Movie | Mai Zenigata | Hirohisa Sasaki | ||
| One Missed Call: Final | Asuka Matsuda | Manabu Asō | Lead role | |
| 2007 | Argentine Hag | Mitsuko | Naoki Nagao | Lead role |
| Last Words | Nagisa Ninomiya | Ryūichi Hiroki | Lead role | |
| Always: Sunset on Third Street 2 | Mutsuko Hoshino | Takashi Yamazaki | ||
| 2008 | Kurosagi | Tsurara Yoshikawa | Yasuharui Ishii | |
| Tokyo Boy | Minato / Night | Shun'ichi Hirano | Lead role | |
| Doraemon: Nobita and the Green Giant Legend | Princess Lire (voice) | Ayumu Watanabe | ||
| 2009 | Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac | Naomi Sukuse | Hans Canosa | Lead role |
| Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva | Luke Triton (voice) | Masakazu Hashimoto | ||
| 2010 | The Lady Shogun and Her Men | Onobu | Fuminori Kaneko | |
| 2011 | Into the White Night | Yukiho Karasawa | Yoshihiro Fukagawa | Lead role |
| That's the Way!! | Hatsumi Takeda | Hideaki Satō | Lead role | |
| 2012 | Always: Sunset on Third Street 3 | Mutsuko Hoshino | Takashi Yamazaki | |
| 2013 | Hospitality Department | Taki Myojin | Yoshishige Miyake | Lead role |
| SPEC: Close | Yukihiko Tsutsumi | Cameo | ||
| My Little Sweet Pea | Mugiko | Keisuke Yoshida | Lead role | |
| 2014 | A Samurai Chronicle | Toda Kaoru | Takashi Koizumi |
| Year | Award | Category | Notable Works | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 27th Yokohama Film Festival | Best New Talent | Always: Sunset on Third Street | Won |
| 2006 | 47th Television Drama Academy Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Nobuta wo Produce | Won |
| 30th Elan d'or Awards | Newcomer Award | Herself | Won | |
| 10th Internet Movie Awards | Best Newcomer | Always: Sunset on Third Street | Won | |
| 15th TV Life Annual Drama Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Nobuta wo Produce | Won | |
| TV Navi Drama Awards | Best Newcomer | Won | ||
| 29th Japan Academy Film Prize | Rookie of the Year | Always: Sunset on Third Street | Won | |
| 43rd Golden Arrow Award | Newcomer Award | Herself | Won | |
| 48th Blue Ribbon Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Always: Sunset on Third Street | Nominated | |
| 49th Television Drama Academy Awards | Kurosagi | Won | ||
| MTV Student Voice Awards | Best Teen Actress | Herself | Won | |
| 2007 | 54th Television Drama Academy Awards | Best Actress | Hanazakari no Kimitachi E | Won |
| 4th Beauty Week Award | The Best of Beauty | Herself | Won | |
| Vogue Nippon Awards | Women of the Year | Won | ||
| 2008 | 17th TV Life Awards | Best Actress | Hanazakari no Kimitachi E | Won |
| 11th Nikkan Sports Annual Drama Grand Prix | Won | |||
| 31st Japan Academy Film Prize | Best Supporting Actress | Always: Sunset on Third Street 2 | Nominated | |
| 5th Cotton USA Awards | Miss Cotton USA | Herself | Won | |
| 19th Japan Best Jewellery Wearer Awards | Best Jewellery Wearer | Nominated | ||
| 2009 | Vogue Nippon Awards | Best Leathernist | Won | |
| 2010 | 9th Ms. Lily Awards | Miss Lily 2010 | Won | |
| Gold Dream Awards | Culture & Entertainment Category | Won | ||
| 2012 | 16th Nikkan Sports Annual Drama Grand Prix | Best Actress | Umechan Sensei | Won |
| 16th Nikkan Sports Spring Drama Grand Prix | Won | |||
| 16th Nikkan Sports Summer Drama Grand Prix | Won | |||
| 74th Television Drama Academy Awards | Won | |||
| Fountain Pen Best Coordinate Award 2012 | Fountain Pen Best Coordinate Award | Herself | Won | |
| 2013 | 2nd Best Beautist Awards | Actress Category | Won |
| Body Measurements | 31-23-33 inches |
| Bodytype | Slim |
| Height | 5 feet 2½ inches (1.59 m) |
| Weight | 48 kg (105 lbs) |
| Waist | 23 inches |
| Hair Color | Black |
| Eye Color | Black |
| Shoe Size | 6.5 (US) |
| Dress Size | 8 (US) |
| Gender | Female |
| Age | 34 years old (in 2023) |
| Date of Birth | October 6, 1988 |
| Full Name | Marina Hara |
| Profession | Actress |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Birthplace | Kiyose, Tokyo, Japan |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Zodiac Sign | Libra |
Qualification: High School Graduate
Profession: Actress
Known For: Nobuta wo Produce, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e
Net Worth: $10 Million Approx
Marital Status: Married
Husband: Koji Yamamoto (m. 2015)
No. of Children: 2
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