Mao Inoue

Born	: January 9, 1987 Yokohama, Japan
Occupation	: Actress

Personal Life

Mao Inoue 井上 真央 Inoue Mao born January 9, 1987 in Yokohama, Japan is award-winning Japanese actress. She debuted as a U-15 idol in 1999. She is best known to Japanese television drama audiences as Akane Imai (今井 茜 Imai Akane?) in Kids War (キッズ・ウォー Kizzu Uo?) and Makino Tsukushi in the Hana Yori Dango series, in which she won Best Actress in the 47th Television Drama Academy Awards and received a newcomer award at the 16th Hashida Awards for her performance.

She revealed in one show that her mother encouraged her to join performing acts to learn when she was at the age of 4. She was also learning music and arts. Acting wasn't her priority then but when she received her first fan letter, she decided to continue acting. Despite joining the show business at an early age, she also put priority to her school. In 2004, despite the rise of her popularity from the Kid's War series, she decided to put her acting on hold as she concentrated on graduating from University of Japan and enrolling at Meiji University. In 2005, at 18, Inoue enrolled in Meiji University, majoring in theater and literature; she chose Chinese as her second language elective. In her last year of college, she concentrated solely on her studies. In March 2009, she graduated from Meiji University.

When she was young, Inoue's hobbies include playing badminton and basketball, Japanese dance, music, and oil painting. Now her hobbies centered on listening to music, painting and photography. Her paintings and pictures are mostly nature and her pet dog. She also came to love playing golf in her spare time. She also loves animals; she has a pet Boston Terrier named Hug. Because of her love for animals, she revealed that she plans to be a veterinarian if she is not in the entertainment industry. She is also a big fan of Disneyland.