Itō was born on February 20, 1996, in Osaka, Japan to a fashion designer mother and a graphic designer father.[2] She began her entertainment career in 2011 by successfully auditioning for the first generation of Nogizaka46, an idol group created as the official rival of AKB48.[1]
Career
Nogizaka46
As a Nogizaka46 member, Itō appeared in several albums, concerts, short films, music videos, and television shows, including the million-selling singles "Influencer"[3][4] and "Itsuka Dekiru kara Kyō Dekiru".[4][5] In 2017, at the group's sold-out first Tokyo Dome concert, Itō performed for the last time as a Nogizaka46 member.[6] After formally leaving the group, Itō remained on the talent roster of Nogizaka46's management company.[7]
Acting
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,[8] but her first major film role was in Eyes, an adaptation of a story by Ring author Koji Suzuki.[9][10] 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.[11] 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.[12] Later that year she played the role of Minatsu in the Kansai TV drama Junichi (潤一).[13]
Itō's second lead role came in the 2021 film It's a Summer Film, in which she played Hadashi.[14] Her performance earned a nomination for a Hochi Film Award for Best New Artist[15] and a nomination for a Mainichi Film Award for Best New Actress,[16] as well as a Best New Actress prize at the Tama Film Awards, which are part of the Tama Cinema Forum, a "people's choice film festival".[17] The following year she appeared in supporting roles in the films To a More Transcendent Place[18] and Sobakasu,[19] and in several episodes of the Hikari TV series Drawing the Bath (湯あがりスケッチ).[20] She also took on the lead role of Kurumi Enomoto, a food truck owner, in TV Tokyo's Traveling Sandwich (旅するサンドイッチ), a drama produced as part of TV Tokyo's efforts to promote regional revitalization in Takasaki.[21]
Art and modeling
While in Nogizaka46, Itō art directed and styled several of her individual performance videos, which were included in bonus versions of singles and DVDs.[22] 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.[23] In 2017 she also filmed her first solo commercial, for the app リクポ ("requpo"), based on a character she created and played in a Nogizaka46 music video.[22] In 2018, Itō's photobook Étranger, for which she styled the clothing, was published.[24] She was also selected to be the image model for the MOOSIC LAB 2018 music and film festival.[25] In 2019 her solo art exhibition "HOMESICK" was held at Parco Gallery X in Shibuya.[26] Itō also appeared as the sole performer in a 2022 commercial for the candy Puregumi, directed by Santa Yamagishi, who had also directed Itō in To a More Transcendent Place.[27]
^ ab"2017年 ミリオン以上 認定作品一覧" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. December 1, 2017. Archived from the original on January 19, 2018. Retrieved July 1, 2018.