Ayako Fujitani

Ayako Fujitani (藤谷 文子, Fujitani Ayako, born December 7, 1979) is a Japanese writer and actress.[1] She is fluent in English and Japanese.

Ayako Fujitani
藤谷 文子
Born
Ayako Faith Fujitani

(1979-12-07) December 7, 1979
Osaka, Japan
Other namesAyako Seagal
OccupationActress, writer
Height1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Spouse(s)
​
(m. 2016)​
Children1
Parent(s)

Early life

Ayako Fujitani was born in Osaka, Japan. She is the daughter of Steven Seagal by his first wife, aikido master Miyako Fujitani. As a teenager, she also resided in Los Angeles.

Career

Acting

An avid fan of film, she made her screen debut and appeared in the sequels of the Heisei era daikaiju eiga Gamera (1995–1999) series, after a chance meeting at a film festival with director Shusuke Kaneko. She worked again with him on an episode he directed of Ultraman Max.

Other film roles include parts in the French film Sansa (2003) and in Michel Gondry's "Interior Design" segment of Tokyo! (2008).

She also stars in Dave Boyle's 2014 film, Man from Reno as the protagonist, a Japanese crime novelist named Aki. She also appeared in Dave Boyle's film, Daylight Savings as Erika, a love interest of the protagonist, Goh Nakamura.

Writing

After spending a few teenage years in Los Angeles studying acting and English, Ayako began to write for the Japanese magazine Roadshow. Her literary skills became more evident with the publication of her coupled novellas Touhimu (Flee-Dream) and Yakeinu (Burnt Dog). The former is often incorrectly referred to as semi-biographical, though it is a completely fictional story of a young suicidal girl trying to make sense of life, death, family, and love. The latter is the story of the relationship between a man and the girl he has raised in his cellar.

Along with writer and director Hideaki Anno, Ayako co-adapted her novella Touhimu (Flee-Dream) into the film Shiki-Jitsu in 2000. It was the first non-animated feature released by Studio Ghibli under the Studio Kajino label. She also stars in the title role. Shiki-Jitsu won the Artistic Award at the 30th Tokyo International Film Festival and showed at the Hong Kong International Film Festival.

Ayako has established herself as a writer in Japan of both fiction and non-fiction, contributing essays and short stories to various national publications.[2]

In 2014, Fujitani co-wrote an Ermenegildo Zegna-commissioned short film with Park Chan-wook, Chung Chung-hoon and Michael Werwie that Park also directed, and that Clint Mansell scored entitled A Rose Reborn starring Jack Huston and Daniel Wu.[3]

Other pursuits

In 2006, she directed a short drama for TV Tokyo's Drama Factory program.

Ayako has also displayed musical talent, being a member of the band Father's Girls.

Personal life

She has been married to screenwriter Javier Gullón since 2016. The couple have one daughter. She is Jewish.

Filmography

Theatrical works
  • The Black Cat (December 2008)
  • Kung Fu John (2007)
  • ROPE (2006)
  • Hiking For Human Life (2005)

Literary works
  • Touhimu (Flee-Dream) (novella, coupled with Yakeinu ("Burnt Dog"))
  • Hollywood Report column in Roadshow entertainment magazine
  • Expressionist Walking column in Pee Wee fashion magazine
  • Ayako Fujitani's Silver Screen Stuff column in Eiga Hihou entertainment magazine
  • Memos on Life short story column in Re:S arts magazine
  • Guest contributor to Giant Robot (Asian American art and culture magazine)

References
  1. Ordona, Michael (March 19, 2009). "Ayako Fujitani". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 26, 2011.
  2. Hernon, Matthew (November 4, 2013). "Renaissance Woman: Getting to know Ayako Fujitani". Tokyo Weekender. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  3. Akande, Zainab (October 23, 2014). "Watch: Park Chan-wook's Fashionista Thriller Starring Jack Huston and Jason Wu". IndieWire. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
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