Yuna Ito
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Yuna Ito 伊藤由奈 |
||
|---|---|---|
 Ito at the "NANA2" First Screening Event
|
||
| Background information | ||
| Birth name | 伊藤由奈 (Itō Yuna) | |
| Born | September 20, 1983 Los Angeles, California, United States |
|
| Origin | Honolulu, Hawaii, United States |
|
| Genre(s) | Japanese Pop | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, actress | |
| Years active | 2005-present | |
| Label(s) | STUDIO SEVEN, Sony Music Japan | |
| Website | Yuna Web.com | |
Yuna Ito (Japanese: 伊藤 由奈 Itō Yuna), is a half-Japanese- and half-Korean-American Japanese pop music singer, actress and a former Korean model. She was born on September 20, 1983, in Los Angeles and is a citizen of the United States.
Contents |
[edit] Career & Personal life
Yuna Ito was born to a Japanese father and a Korean mother in Los Angeles, California. Three months later, she and her family moved to Hawaii, United States, where she remained until the start of her singing career in Japan. She graduated from McKinley High School in 2001. When Ito was little, she used to sing to songs of both Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson and dreamt of becoming a singer.
In early 2005, Ito auditioned for the role of charismatic vocalist Reira from TRAPNEST and eventually was chosen for the role. She debuted under the billing of "REIRA starring YUNA ITO" with her song Endless Story, which landed on number 2 of Oricon's single ranking. As Reira Serizawa from a very popular manga, NANA, Ito's identity was kept a secret until the end.
When NANA the movie finally released in Japan, people were going crazy about the wonderful, "high-pitched", voice of Ito and the movie song Endless Story ended its first day of sales on number 2 of Japan's Oricon charts. Ito was on magazine covers, posters and eventually had her first TV appearance on MUSIC STATION, performing Endless Story.
It was only in 2006 that her 2nd single, Faith / Pureyes, was put on the market. With Faith being the ending theme to the drama, Unfair, and Pureyes being a song for the Bioclen Zero commercial. This single sold about 50,000 copies which was a disappointment considering "Endless Story" had outsold Mika Nakashima's "Glamorous Sky" with over 450,000 copies.
Yuna's third single was perhaps the biggest hit after the NANA-era. Precious was announced as the theme song for the 2006 movie, "LIMIT OF LOVE ~Umizaru~". The single included two b-sides, I'm Free and Secrets, both co-written by Ito herself. Precious sold over 200,000 copies and was also the 2nd highest downloaded song in the first half of 2006 in Japan.
Sony later announced a 2-month Single Project. She covered These Boots Are Made For Walkin', for the Daihatsu "COO" commercial, featured on her 4th single stuck on you. She recently sang the Japanese ending theme song for TV show Lost. losin' will be her 5th single.
On August 4, 2006, Toho announced the role of Reira Serizawa in the sequel to NANA, NANA 2 will still be played by Ito. A 2nd single for REIRA starring YUNA ITO has been scheduled for December 6, 2006, with NANA 2 opening on December 9, 2006. Truth will be Ito's last single in 2006, and also rumoured last before her debut album comes out. Previews for the song were put on the net on November 8th, 2006, 3 weeks after it first aired on the radio.
Just now, Ito is busy shooting NANA2 and will be promoting the film alongsider her co-stars in December. Toho has stated that this time, the role of REIRA will have a more relevant part.
As of November 8th, Ito is under STUDIO SEVEN Recordings, a sub-label to Sony Music Japan.
On December 4th, sony music released info that Yuna Ito's debut album will be released on January 24, 2007 (CD + DVD).
[edit] Trivia
- Her test scores were always great, which was why her mother never was too fond of her daughter becoming a singer.
- Her parents own several restaurants, the current is in Honolulu, Hawaii- "Aki No No".
- Has more than one relative that attends McKinley High.
- She is a friend with Hawaiian JPop singer melody., Angela Aki and AI
- Angela Aki and Ito attended the same Japanese language school.
- Her favourite music style is R&B, even though she pursues a J-pop career in Japan
- English is her native language, Japanese her 2nd language.
- She can write fluently in Kana.
- Her bloodtype is A.
- J-pop singer Mika Nakashima who starred as NANA wrote a message to Ito, wishing her good luck for the performance and that she herself was sitting in front of the TV to follow her.
- Education: Sacred Hearts Academy (7th-8th grade), McKinley High School (9th-12th grade), Makiki Japanese Language School.
- Even though "stuck on you" failed to enter the TOP10 at the Daily Single Charts, it took over the #1 spot for 3 days in a row at most downloaded song on bitmusic, also in the TOP30 were "These Boots Are Made For Walkin", "Precious", "ENDLESS STORY" and "Faith".
- Yuna's favourite colour is black
- She resides in Tokyo when she's in Japan, and in Honolulu when she's in Hawaii.
- Her star sign is Virgo
- Her name sound like the Japanese word for unite.
- She shares the name Yuna, with a popular game character from the Square Enix RPG Final Fantasy X
[edit] Possible Name Meanings
Ito (伊藤) is the sixth most common Japanese surname. It is formed from the kanji characters for "that one" and "wisteria."[1]
Yuna (由奈) is also a common Japanese given name. The first character in her name, "yu" means "reason" and the second, "na," is a phonetic kanji commonly used in names.[2]
Although "Yuna" happens to be a very common Korean name, the name "Yuna", as given to her by her parents, does not carry any form of Korean origin.[3]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Singles
| Single # | Cover | Information | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st |
 |
ENDLESS STORY
|
467,000 copies sold |
| 2nd |
 |
Faith / Pureyes | 56,000 copies sold |
| 3rd |
 |
Precious | 211,000 copies sold |
| 4th |
 |
stuck on you | 13,000 out of 70,000 copies |
| 5th |
 |
losin'
|
10,072 out of 70,000 copies |
| 6th |
 |
Truth
|
15,893 copies sold |
[edit] Albums
| Album # | Cover | Information | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st |
 |
Heart
|
- Total Sales: 773,500 copies
[edit] Filmography
- NANA -the movie- - as REIRA (芹澤レイラ Serizawa Reira) (2005)
- NANA II - as REIRA (芹澤レイラ Serizawa Reira) (2006)
[edit] Awards
- Best New Artist (Best Hit Kayousai 2005, 21.11.2005)
- Best New Artist (Japan Cable Awards 2005, 17.12.2005)
- Special Award for NANA (47th Japan Record Awards, 31.12.2005)
- Best New Artist (JAPAN GOLD DISC AWARDS 2006, 9.3.2006)
- Gold Artist Award (Best Hit Kayousai 2006, 20.11.2006)
[edit] Radio Program
From October 4, 2005 until March 28, 2006, Yuna was moderator of her own radio show, Journey, that aired on Tokyo InterFM radio station. It was called off because Ito was too busy promoting her songs with television performances and interviews therefore, didn't have enough time to record and moderate the show. In an interview she stated that it was "a weird feeling leaving the radio staff" and that "she would love to have a radio show someday again" hence she "loves to connect with her fans".
[edit] External links
[edit] Official links
[edit] Related links
[edit] Sources
- [Official Site]
- Infos taken from close friends of the artist
- [ORICON STYLE Site]
