Sakura Ando

Acting

Sakura Ando

Born 1986-02-18 · Tokyo, Japan

With parents in show business, perhaps it is not surprising that Sakura Ando became an actress and, moreover, later married an actor. She was born to actor/director Okuda Eiji and celebrity Kazu Ando on 18 February 1986. Her great-grandfather was Prime Minister Tsuyoshi. Her older sister is director Ando Momoko. She saw her father on stage at age five and decided to become an actress while in second grade. She was often ill as a child; her illness made her dizzy, caused balance problems, and at times her brain would shut down. She chose her mother's maiden surname for her professional career. Sono Sion cast her in his film Love Exposure and gave her a major break on the big screen. She won Best Supporting Actress for that role at the 31st Yokohama Film Festival. Earlier, her father cast her in his film Kaze No Sotogawa (Outside the Wind) alongside her mother and sister. She has since appeared in multiple films and TV series and won several more awards. She married actor Emoto Tasuku in 2012; they met on a train in 2008 and she had obtained her father's permission to date and marry. She was a boxer in 100 Yen Love, which suited her because she had practiced boxing at age fourteen. She gave birth to her first child, a girl, in 2017. She won Best Actress at the 42nd Japan Academy Prize for her work in 2018's Shoplifters. By then she was considered one of the top young actresses in Japan alongside Yu Aoi, Miyazaki Aoi, and possibly Aso Kumiko. Interestingly, she had earlier decided to retire and focus on raising her child. She is a graduate of Gakushuin Women's College.

Acting credits

Godzilla Minus One poster
7.6

In postwar Japan, Godzilla brings new devastation to an already scorched landscape. With no military intervention or government help in sight, the survivors must join together in the face of despair and fight back against an unrelenting horror.

Godzilla Minus One

2023

Monster poster
7.9

After an outburst at school involving her son, a concerned single mother demands answers, triggering a sequence of deepening suspicion and turmoil.

Monster

2023

Shoplifters poster
7.8

In the outskirts of Tokyo, a poor but close-knit group living on the fringes of society survives through shoplifting and odd jobs. When Osamu and his son take in a neglected young girl, their already fragile existence begins to unravel. As the family grows attached to her, buried secrets surface, forcing them to confront the true meaning of love, belonging, and what makes a family.

Shoplifters

2018

The Imaginary poster
7.6

Amanda and her imaginary friend Rudger go on thrilling make-believe adventures. But when Rudger finds himself alone, he faces a mysterious threat.

The Imaginary

2023

Love Exposure poster
7.9

The story of a teenage boy called Yu, who falls for Yoko, a girl he runs into while operating for the sake of sin as an upskirt photographer in an offshoot of the porn industry. His attempts to woo her are complicated by a spot of cross-dressing - which convinces Yoko that she is lesbian - dalliances with kung-fu and crime, and a constant struggle with the guilt that's a legacy of his Catholic upbringing.

Love Exposure

2008

Godzilla Minus Zero poster
NR

War reduced Japan to zero, and Godzilla plunged it into minus. Two years have passed since then, and the country has faced agonizing struggles to achieve recovery and finally reclaim its daily life. Just as humanity managed to cling to a hard-won peace, a new threat strikes, crushing hope in an instant.

Godzilla Minus Zero

2026

The Great Yokai War: Guardians poster
6.2

Fifth grader Kei Watanabe has inherited the hunter's blood to hunt yōkai. To save the world from destruction, Kei challenges a war against the yōkai.

The Great Yokai War: Guardians

2021

Sound of Waves poster
6.0

Umi’s hearing is so sensitive that even notes played slightly out-of-tune give her a headache. Violinist Yuko arrives from Tokyo to play a concert on Umi’s small island near Okinawa, and gradually befriends the girl. Both struggle with friendships and family relationships, but are brought together by music.

Sound of Waves

2017

A Man poster
7.1

Akira works as a lawyer. One day, he meets with his former client Rie, who asks Akira to perform a background check on her late husband Daisuke.

A Man

2022

Bad Lands poster
7.0

A grifter and her loose-cannon brother get their hands on a massive amount of money, but their ill-gotten gains puts a huge target on their back.

Bad Lands

2023

Out of the Wind poster
6.0

High school student Mariko sings in the choir at the all-girls school she attends, and her biggest dream right now is to go to a music college. One day on her way home from school, she accidentally drops her bookbag into the sea. A man jumps into the water and recovers the bag for her, but all of her score sheets have been ruined. From that day on, Mariko’s new acquaintance becomes her bodyguard, walking her home everyday. But for some reason, he refuses to tell her his name.

Out of the Wind

2007

Destiny: The Tale of Kamakura poster
7.5

Set in an alternate universe, the ancient capital of Kamakura is a vibrant town where fantastical creatures live alongside humans. Akiko is a cheerful publishing assistant who moves into town after marrying Masakazu, a popular mystery writer. Akiko is surprised by the unusual town but enjoys the new curiosities surrounding her. However, just as she was beginning to settle in, a trifling incident sweeps her spirit to the underworld too soon. Convinced that destiny has something else in store for his wife, Masakazu journeys into the underworld to bring back Akiko’s spirit.

Destiny: The Tale of Kamakura

2017

100 Yen Love poster
7.2

Slacker Ichiko gets into a fight with her younger sister and begins to live on her own, working the late shift at a 100 yen shop. On her way home, she passes a gym and meets boxer Kano who trains there in silence...

100 Yen Love

2014

0.5 mm poster
7.4

Sawa Yamagishi worked as a nursing-care helper. The family for an old man asked Sawa to sleep with him, which led her to lose her job. Now, she has nowhere to go. Sawa finds elderly people in trouble and gets involved in their lives. Meeting them, Sawa's own wounds start to heal.

0.5 mm

2014

Torso poster
5.5

Hiroko is a young, alienated woman "in love" with a blow-up male torso. Tension rises when her sister discovers her secret desire.

Torso

2009

A Very Straight Neck poster
6.0

A woman descends into a surreal odyssey of fragmented memories after waking with excruciating neck pain.

A Very Straight Neck

2025

Tornado Girl poster
6.8

Koroki is a 35-year old man who admires Japanese singer-songwriter Tamio Okuda and aspires to live like him. He works as an editor at the lifestyle magazine "Mare," where he meets Akari Amami, a mischievous fashion press writer, and falls in love with her at first sight.

Tornado Girl

2017

Dora poster
NR

A family retreats to the seaside, far from the bustle of Seoul. Their daughter, Dora, suffers from a mysterious illness. Her discovery of love unleashes a force as powerful as it is dangerous, with far-reaching consequences for those around her…

Dora

2026

Climbing to Spring poster
8.4

Toru grew up in alpine countryside around Mount Tate. As a child, he resented the yearly trek up the mountain with his father to prepare their mountain hut for the summer season of climbers. When Toru grows up, he leaves his hometown and enters the working world as a stock trader. One day, Toru receives word that his father has passed away. He returns to Mount Tate once again, and becomes conscious of a new calling. But, does Toru have what it takes to follow in his father’s footsteps?

Climbing to Spring

2014

Penance poster
7.1

The murder of a young girl leaves the inhabitants of a small Japanese village in shock. The body of Emili is found by four classmates with whom she was playing. The murder is never solved. Emili's mother, Asako, is torn by grief and puts a curse on the four girls when they claim not to remember the killer's face. Each of the girls, in their own way, will do penance for their silence.

Penance

2013

The Stork Nest poster
7.0

A small clinic in Kumamoto Prefecture begins accepting anonymous drop-offs of unwanted newborn babies at a residential building. The name of the controversial new program is "Stork Nest."

The Stork Nest

2013

For Love's Sake poster
6.9

Troubled high school student Makoto arrives in Tokyo to exact revenge from a past incident. He then falls in love at first sight with Ai, a daughter raised in a wholesome family. Around Makoto and Ai are Iwashimizu, who has feelings for Ai and Gamuko, a gang member who eyes Makoto.

For Love's Sake

2012

Her Granddaughter poster
5.7

Tsugumi Dozono works at a large electronics company in Tokyo. She likes to spend long vacations at her grandmother’s house in the countryside. When her grandmother dies, Tsugumi Dozono decides to live in the house full-time, and to work from there as well. However, one day she encounters a middle-aged man in the house, who tells Tsugumi that her grandmother gave him a key to the annex house when he was her student. The two share the property, although Tsugumi still does not know the exact relationship that her grandmother had with this man.

Her Granddaughter

2015

Petal Dance poster
6.4

Long-time friends Jinko and Motoko hear that their college friend Miki has jumped into the ocean. They are joined by Haraki, who Jinko happens to meet, and head by car on a journey to see Miki.

Petal Dance

2013