Most or some of you may have been aware of Minami because of her recent Psychological - Romance - Drama with Ryusei Yokohama, Watashitachi wa Douka Shiteiru or WataDou, I hope this guide introduces you to my baby girl, Minami, better.
Minami entered the Japanese Entertainment industry when she won, not the main prize, but the New Generation Award (which was established that year) at the 7th Toho Cinderella Audition. She was just 10 years old. Moka Kamishiraishi was the grand prize winner, the youngest winner of the competition.
Trivia: One of her shoes got removed while walking in the said competition. She's a real-life Cinderella. LOL.
Video here.
Basics
Birth Name: Minami Hamabe (浜辺美波)
Birthday: August 29, 2000
Zodiac Sign: Virgo
Height: 156 cm (5'1″)
Blood Type: B
Hobby: Reading
Special Skills: Calligraphy, Playing Flute
SNS/Websites
Instagram: minami_hamabe.official
Twitter: MINAMI373HAMABE
LINE Blog: hamabeminami
Agency Profile: Minami Hamabe
Website: Link
Trivia: She said that she is not good with using social media, and she has not updated a blog from 2016. She said this during an interview in 2018.
She also just recently opened her IG account (June 2020).
Career
As of writing this, Minami just turned 20 (10 years in the industry), and yet she already has 14 movies,15 dramas and 7 SPs under her belt listed on MDL. There are some movies and dramas that are not widely known and are not on MDL that's mainly what you'd see in this section.
A/N: I will probably add or update the titles in the MDL database once I get the time.
The very first movie she became a part of is Sky Blue Story (空色物語). It seems that the movie is not widely known. She played the lead role in Ari and the Love Letter, it was one of the 4 short stories that made up this movie. This was back in 2011.
In 2012, she played the role of young Maya Fey. The adult Maya Fey was played by Kiritani Mirei.
She played the role of young Oichi in Onna Nobunaga, a TV Movie for Fuji TV back in 2013. The adult Oichi was played by Masami Nagasawa.
She played Mio Tachibana in the 2014 movie 39 Setagaya-Ward, Tokyo. It's a movie about a boy who got lost into a different dimension.
For her very first role in a drama series, she played Hitomi Okumura for Kuruma no Futari - TOKYO DRIVE STORIES. This originally aired back in 2011-2012 on BS12 network.
While she became popular when she played the role of Menma in Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, back in 2015. She has already played other roles, that for me, deserves recognition too. Some of my favorite characters she played were Eto Rika, the young girl in April Fools, and the ballet girl in Yo-Kai Watch. I called her "ballet girl", as I don't believe her name was mentioned, or I could have just missed it.
Awards Won
Here's the list of awards she has won, including the one with the 7th Toho Cinderella Audition:
- The 7th Toho Cinderella Audition New Generation Award (2011)
- 2nd Confidence Award Drama Award New Face Award (2015) for "Mutsu: Mieru Me"
- 42nd Hochi Film Award New Face Award (2017) for "Let Me Eat Your Pancreas"
- 30th Nikkan Sports Film Awards New Face Award (2017) for "Let Me Eat Your Pancreas" and "Ajin"
- 41st Japan Academy Award for Newcomer Actor (2017) for "Let Me Eat Your Pancreas"
- 2017 Japan Internet Film Awards Japan Film New Face Break Award for "Saki", "Let Me Eat Your Pancreas" and "Ajin"
- Best Smile of the Year 2018
- 30th Japan Jewelry Best Dresser Award Teen Category (2019)
Trivia
Here are some trivia about Minami that might interest you:
- She reads a lot. Her favorite author is Higashino Keigo and is a fan of the "Masquerade Hotel".
- She likes to read Mangas too.
- She also likes to watch Anime.
- On the set of Saki, she was taught by a professional Mahjong player how to play (Mahjong).
- Her first radio segment was Cinderella at Midnight in 2018.
- She is a self-confessed Harry Potter series fan.
- She does her sleep exercise before going to bed, a must!
Photo Gallery
Photos! Photos! Photos!
Some you can find when you search for her name in google. Some are screenshots I personally took.
To date, Jabame Yumeko from Kakegurui is my favorite character that she has played.
Who's yours?
Sources: 1, 2 (ENG) 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 (JPN)
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