Sawajiri Erika is a Japanese actress, also active as a model and singer. She became popular after appearing in the nonfiction Japanese television drama "1 Litre of Tears". Erika was born to a Japanese father and an Algerian-born French mother. Her father disappeared from home when Erika was 9 years old, returning when she was in her third year at junior high school, only to die from cancer that year. Her second eldest brother died in a traffic accident when she was in her first year at high school. Her eldest brother is a former actor. In 2009, Sawajiri married media creator Tsuyoshi Takashiro. Tsuyoshi and Sawajiri divorced in 2013.