Marika Itō


Marika Itō is a Japanese idol singer, actress, artist, model and a former member of the Japanese idol group Nogizaka46.

Biography

Itō was born on February 20, 1996 in Osaka, Japan to a fashion designer mother and a graphic designer father.
She began her singing career in 2011 by successfully auditioning for the first generation of Nogizaka46, an idol group created as the official rival of AKB48. As a Nogizaka46 member, Itō appeared in several albums, concerts, short films, music videos and television shows, including the million-selling singles "Influencer" and "Itsuka Dekiru kara Kyō Dekiru". In 2017, at the group's sold-out first Tokyo Dome concert, Itō performed for the last time as a Nogizaka46 member.
Itō's acting career began while she was still a member of Nogizaka46. She had a minor part in the 2013 movie Bad Boys J, but her first major film role was in Eyes, an adaptation of a story by Ring author Koji Suzuki. In 2017 she played a supporting role in Asahinagu, an adaptation of the manga of the same name, for which she had to learn how to use the naginata.
While in Nogizaka46, Itō art directed and styled several of her individual performance videos, which were included in bonus versions of singles and DVDs. Shortly before her graduation from Nogizaka46, Itō's first solo art exhibition was held in October 2017 at GALLERY X BY PARCO and featured photographs of fellow Nogizaka46 members, a room filled with objects meant to represent the contents of Itō's brain, and an original short film playing on a loop. In 2017 she also filmed her first solo commercial, for the app リクポ, based on a character she created and played in a Nogizaka46 music video. In 2018, Itō's photobook Étranger, for which she styled the clothing, was published. She was also selected to be the image model for the MOOSIC LAB 2018 music and film festival.
In 2019, Itō was cast in her first post-Nogizaka46 film role, winning a supporting role in Kakegurui – Compulsive Gambler, a film adaptation of the Homura Kawamoto manga of the same name. Later that year she played the role of Minatsu in the Kansai TV drama , and her solo art exhibition "HOMESICK" was held at Parco Gallery X in Shibuya.

Selected works

Films

Solo art exhibitions