About Shibasaki Kou
Kou Shibasaki (柴咲コウ, Shibasaki Kō), born Yukie Yamamura (山村幸恵, Yamamura Yukie, born on August 5, 1981 in Toshima, Tokyo), is a Japanese singer and actress.

Career
She was discovered at 14 by a star agent, and worked in many TV shows and commercials. Her stage name is taken from the main character of Junko Kawakami's manga Golden Delicious Apple Sherbet.

She became famous outside Japan for her role in Battle Royale (2000), where she performed the cold-hearted Mitsuko Souma; her acting career took off with this movie, and now she is well known in East Asia.

Her performance in the movie Go earned her several awards, among which the Best Supporting Actress Award of Japanese Academy, the Houchi Movie Award, the Kinema Junpou Award.

In 2002, she started her singer career with her first single Trust my feelings, but her singing skills were first recognized with her second single Tsuki no shizuku (used for the movie Yomigaeri), which was one of the best J-Pop hits of 2003.

Her highly anticipated sophomore album turned out to be quite a flop compared to her first album. It lasted only 9 weeks and had a peak position of #5 while her first album earned a peak position of #2 and spent 68 weeks on the Oricon charts.

In 2005, Shibasaki's acting career took a turning point and she began to be taken more seriously as an actress. She appeared in the hugely popular independent Japanese film, Mazon Do Himiko. In this film, she plays Saori, an unhappy young woman whose father is gay. Saori meets her father's boyfriend, and he urges her to come and meet her dying father at a place called Mazon Do Himiko, a place where several aging gay men live together. Still angry that her father abandoned her and mother when she was young, Saori hesitates but agrees on the condition she will be paid handsomely working as a maid. Shibasaki played the character with a break-through performance and helped to make the film one of the most memorable Japanese films. The film opened in various Asian markets earning critical acclaim. With this role, Shibasaki cemented her place in Japanese film industry as a serious contender to lead.

Currently, Shibasaki is filming Dororo in New Zealand. She plays the title character in the film, which is set to release in 2007. Shibasaki's first Christmas song, actuality, was released on December 6, 2006.[edit]Last edit by krazysamurai12 on Wednesday 11 Jun, 2008 at 01:30 +1.6%[/edit]