Ito Yuna
Ito Yuna (伊藤由奈) is a Hawaii-raised Japanese-Korean singer and actress under Sony Music Records. She is most known for her debut single in 2005, ENDLESS STORY, which was featured in a crucial scene in the hit movie NANA. In this same film she played the character Serizawa Reira, the vocalist of the rival band, TRAPNEST. This single would debut at #2 on the charts and eventually sell over 400,000 copies. Ito is also widely known for her third single, Precious, which was used as the movie LIMIT OF LOVE Umizaru's theme song. In 2007 her debut album HEART reached #1 on Oricon charts.
Contents
Profile
- Name: Ito Yuna (伊藤由奈)
- Birthday: September 20, 1983
- Birthplace: Los Angeles, California USA
- Citizenship: American
- Origins: Half-Japanese, half-Korean
- Hair Color: Brown
- Eye Color: Brown
- Current Destination: Tokyo, Japan
- Height: 168cm
- Bloodtype: A
Information
Ito Yuna graduated from McKinley High School in Honolulu. Her parents own a Japanese restaurant in Kaimuki. Ito is half-Japanese, half-Korean as her father is Japanese and her mother is Korean. She speaks English as her native language, and Japanese as a second language. She can also write fluently in kana.
An interesting bit of trivia is that her name, when written in Western form ("Yuna Ito" as opposed to "Ito Yuna") becomes the Japanese pronunciation of the English word "unite".
Ito Yuna got her break acting as Reira in the movie NANA, and released her debut single from the movie, ENDLESS STORY. To make her debut even more exciting Yuna's label SONY BMG JAPAN did everything to keep any information about Yuna a secret. The single reached #2 on the Oricon, just below Nakashima Mika's Glamorous Sky single from the movie. However, Ito's single went on to outsell Nakashima Mika's. This feat put her at #20 on the top 50 singles of 2005 on the Oricon charts.
When finally NANA the movie opened in Japan, people were going crazy about the wonderful, "high-pitched", voice of Yuna. Yuna appeared on magazine covers, posters and eventually had her first TV appearance on MUSIC STATION, singing ENDLESS STORY. Nakashima Mika who was starring as NANA wrote a message to Yuna, wishing her good luck for the performance and that she herself was sitting in front of the TV to follow her!
In 2005 she was voted "Best New Artist" in the Best Hit Kayousai 2005.
Only in 2006 then her 2nd single, entitled Faith / Pureyes should be put on the market. With Faith being ending theme to the drama "UNFAIR" and "Pureyes" being song for the BIOCLEN ZERO CM. This single sold about 50.000 copies which was a dissapointment considering ENDLESS STORY had outsold Mika Nakashima's "Glamorous Sky" with over 500.000 copies. Next should come Yuna's maybe biggest hit after NANA. Her third single, Precious, is the theme song to the movie LIMIT OF LOVE Umizaru.
Riding on the wave of success that Precious got Yuna on with over 150.000 copies sold, Sony announced a 2-Month Single Project. Not just is she singing These Boots Are Made For Walkin' (a Nancy Sinatra cover) for the "COO" CM of Daihatsu that is featured on her 4th single stuck on you, but also is singer of the Japanese ending theme of TV show "LOST", losin', her 5th single song.
Next would come another NANA tie-in. Tjis time with the single Truth, which is Yuna's second single under the name REIRA starring YUNA ITO. Truth as long as the B-side were used in the movie NANA 2 which, again, which starred Ito herself. Along with the jacket cover, the PV for Truth was shot in Scotland.
Discography
Albums
Singles
- [2005.09.07] ENDLESS STORY (REIRA starring YUNA ITO)
- [2006.03.01] Faith / Pureyes
- [2006.05.03] Precious
- [2006.08.09] stuck on you
- [2006.09.06] losin'
- [2006.12.06] Truth (REIRA starring YUNA ITO)
- [2007.03.14] I'm Here
- [2007.06.27] Mahaloha ([Haw]: Thanks and Love) (Ito Yuna with Micro of Def Tech)
- [2007.10.24] Urban Mermaid
- [2008.01.16] Anata ga Iru Kagiri ~A WORLD TO BELIEVE IN~ (あなたがいる限り; As Long as You are Here) (Ito Yuna x Céline Dion)
- [2008.09.03] miss you
- [2008.11.26] Koi wa groovy×2 (恋はgroovy×2; Love is groovy groovy)
- [2009.03.04] trust you
- [2009.11.11] Let it Go
Digital Download
- [2009.03.23] Ima Demo Aitai yo... feat. Spontania (今でも 会いたいよ...; Right Now, I'm Missing You)
Compilation / Other
- [2005.09.28] NANA Original Soundtrack (#16 ENDLESS STORY (SOUNDTRACK VERSION))
- [2006.03.01] THE JAPAN GOLD DISC AWARD 2006 (#12 ENDLESS STORY)
- [2005.12.20] NANA 2 Original Soundtrack (#22 Truth (NANA2 original soundtrack version))
- [2007.09.26] TRIBUTE TO CELINE DION (#1 MY HEART WILL GO ON)
- [2008.04.16] J-MOVIE SONGS (#3 Precious)
- [2008.09.24] Shiawase ni Narou Uta (#1 Precious)
- [2008.10.29] .LOVE (#5 ENDLESS STORY)
- [2009.01.28] Spontania feat. Ito Yuna - Ima Demo Zutto (今でもずっと; Now and Forever)
- [2009.04.01] Mobile Suit Gundam 00 ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK 04 (#30 trust you -Gundam 00 Version-)
- [2009.04.29] Yume ga Kanau Uta (#3 ENDLESS STORY)
- [2009.07.08] Mobile Suit Gundam 00 COMPLETE BEST (#9 trust you)
- [2009.07.22] GATE Original Soundtrack (#8 GATE)
Filmography
External Links
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