Ayako Yoshitani

Ayako Yoshitani (Japanese: 吉谷 彩子, Hepburn: Yoshitani Ayako, born 26 September 1991) is a Japanese actress. She has been an actress since her debut as a child actress in a television series at the age of four.^[1] Born in Chiba Prefecture. Graduated from Nihon University College of Art, Department of Cinema, Acting Course.^[2] She belongs to Tristone Entertainment Inc.^[3] Her husband is actor Ryutarou Akimoto.^[4]

Ayako Yoshitani
吉谷 彩子
Born	(1991-09-26) September 26, 1991 (age 33) Chiba Prefecture, Japan
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1996–present
Agent	Tristone Entertainment Inc.
Height	1.55 m (5 ft 1 in)
Spouse	Ryutarou Akimoto ​ (m. 2024)​
Website	Tristone Entertainment (Japanese)

Career

Yoshitani was very shy as a child, and her mother, concerned about her shyness, enrolled her in a theater company, which led her to enter show business.^[5] She made her debut as a child actress at the age of four in the 1996 TBS special television series Family Affair,^[1] and gained attention for her role as Chieko in the 1997 Nippon TV television series Ryoko: Psychosomatic Physician.^[6] During her junior and senior high school years, she concentrated on her studies, but after entering Nihon University, she resumed her acting career,^[7] and at the age of 18, she played her first starring role in a film, Tenbatsu, released in 2010.^[6] In 2012, she challenged voice acting as Mikoto Urabe, the heroine of the TV anime Mysterious Girlfriend X.^[8] She also sang the opening and ending themes. In an interview with Katsutoshi Kitagawa, who produced the music for the show, Yoshitani said, "When I played Urabe, I tried to keep my voice as it was, rather than trying to do the voice of the anime. I tried to play Urabe as he is, not with the anime voice in mind."^[9] In a TV commercial for BizReach, a website that handles career changes, in which she has appeared since 2016, she played the role of a female employee and became a popular topic of conversation with the question, "Who is the beautiful woman in that commercial?".^[8] In 2017, after auditioning, she appeared as the youngest employee in TBS's Sunday theater Rikuoh starring Koji Yakusho,^[8] and in 2019, she gained attention when she appeared as a female pastry chef in TBS's Sunday theater La Grande Maison Tokyo starring Takuya Kimura.^[10] In 2020 she starred in TV Tokyo's television series Hal and Ao's Lunch Box, in which she played the lead role in a television series for the first time, along with Kai Inowaki.^[11]

Personal life

On January 1, 2024, she reported her marriage to actor Ryutarou Akimoto on her Instagram.^[4]

Filmography (selected)

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2010	Tenbatsu	Yuki Koda	Leading role	[6]
	Kimi ni Todoke	Ayako Kato		[12]
2011	Gantz: Perfect Answer	Hitomi		[6]
2015	Soredake / that's it	Amame Kichijo
2019	The Seven Councils	Nishina		[13]
2024	La Grande Maison Paris	Moe Matsui		[14]

TV series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1996	Family Affair			[15]
1997	Ryoko: Psychosomatic Physician	Chieko		[16]
2001	Hōjō Tokimune	Noriko (Childhood)	Ep.3-5
2002	Toshiie and Matsu	Sho (Childhood)	Ep.15-17
2008	Shikaotoko Aoniyoshi	Shimizu	Ep.4-5	[16]
2010	GeGeGe no Nyōbō	Masako	Ep.32	[16]
2012	Umechan Sensei	Kyoko Nakaguro	Week 1 - Week 3	[12]
2013	Yae's Sakura	Kikuko Yoda	Ep.25-28	[12]
2017	Rikuoh	Misaki Nakashita		[17]
2018	Ossan's Love	Hina Tanahashi	Ep.2	[18]
2019	La Grande Maison Tokyo	Moe Matsui		[19]
2020	The Pride of the Temp 2	Aki Fukuoka		[20]
	Hal and Ao's Lunch Box	Haruna Kino (Haru)	leading role	[21]
2022	Maiagare!	Fuyuko Yura		[22]
2023	Marriage is difficult for a ninja	Sayo Kazetomi		[23]
2024	24 Hours of Love Security	Yuko Tsuda		[24]
	Please be more unhappy than me	Keiko Natori, Keiko Aihara	leading role	[25]
	La Grande Maison Tokyo Special	Moe Matsui		[26]

Animated TV series

• Mysterious Girlfriend X (2012) - Mikoto Urabe

Music videos

• When It Becomes Spring (2011) - Miwa^[27]
• Language of flowers (2016) - A.B.C-Z^[28]