Rina Chinen


Rina Chinen is a Japanese entertainer, former singer and TV actress.

History

Chinen Rina took lessons as a child from the Okinawa Actors School.
Chinen's father relocated for work, but she continued to take lessons at the Okinawa Actors School during the weekend.

Music career

Debuting in 1996 with the Single "Do-Do for Me", Chinen's career transitioned through bouncy pop songs and ballads to rock and then R&B. Chinen had a powerful and versatile voice and could deliver powerful rock ballads such as "In Your Eyes", hard rock "Yes!" or bouncy pop-cum-dance "Baby Love". Her voice is at its best when she sings at lower, throaty pitches. Some earlier songs such as "God Bless the World" and "Wing" sung in a high-pitched voice, perhaps in an attempt to come across as cutesy, are not so pleasant to the ear. Although there are many high-pitched singers in Japan, in Chinen's case this tended to polarise listeners.
Her last album, Breath, was released in 2001. This took on a more R&B flavour which Chinen said on her Sony homepage was more to her interests. At this point her music career seems to have stalled. Unlike her earlier albums, this one was not well promoted. Chinen made only a few media appearances.
Chinen spent the early years of her singing career doubling as on-air talent for the Yoru mo Hippare TV show.

Drama actress

In 2002, Chinen appeared in the Japanese TV drama Yume no California. In 2005, she appeared in the Tokyo production of Les Misérables.

Personal life

On 10 August 2005, Chinen at the age of 24 registered her marriage to model Kentaro Nakamura, aged 22. The couple were expecting a child at the time she was cast in the December musical "Jekyll and Hyde". Her part was consequently reassigned to Ranran Suzuki. Chinen announced she planned on taking maternity leave after the drama finished its season, and would continue working after becoming a mother.
Chinen gave birth to a baby boy on 14 March 2006, and the couple divorced on 15 March 2007.

Discography

Singles