SpicyTricks

Born November 15, 1993 (1993-11-15)

Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan

Other names Saaya

Occupation Actress, voice actress, junior idol, singer

Years active 2005 — present

Saaya Irie (入江紗綾, Irie Saaya?, born November 15, 1993, in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan) is a Japanese actress, voice actress, junior idol and singer. Her stage name is simply her given name, Saaya.

She has recently been appearing in
numerous films, radio, and television programs including the recent live
action TV drama adaptation of the Jigoku Shoujo series. She has also
done voice work, appearing in the anime OVA Kyo no Gononi as Chika
Koizumi. She was formerly a member of Japanese musical group Sweet Kiss
before it disbanded on May 12, 2006 to be replaced by the group Chase.

As a gravure junior idol

During her childhood she idolized
Yoshika, a fashion model from Kitakyushu, but she gained fame for her
professional glamour modeling as a U-15 idol. Her bikini pictures soon
received widespread distribution over the Internet.

2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations

In May 2005, during the anti-Japanese
demonstrations in China and Korea, pictures of Saaya taken by Japanese
photographer Garo Aida captioned “Please listen carefully to what I say
my lovely Chinese brothers, please stop the riot!” were posted on a
major Chinese forum by a third party, along with a message pleading for
better bilateral relations between China and Japan.Tabloid stories soon
followed with raunchy headlines like “Busty 11-Year-Old Girl with F Cup
Eases Cross-Strait Relations”. Shuukan Bunshun (週刊文春), a serious and
conservative news weekly, reported that her pictures and words of peace
led to a reduction in anti-Japanese attitude among the Chinese people.
In the aftermath of this incident, Saaya’s manager said they will
refrain from having more bikini photoshoots of her, although she has
done more bikini photoshoots since then.

Personal life

After making her debut as a gravure
idol, she still lived in Fukuoka Prefecture where she attended
elementary school and middle school, but moved to Tokyo when she hit 16.