As requested per mail, here now an older Golden Eggs feature about young actress Kawashima Umika. I hope that person who requested it will see it on here! ^^

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Golden Eggs Vol. 40 (2008)
Kawashima Umika

Kawashima Umika, she's an active junior high school student who had her dorama debut with her role in the TBS dorama "Dare Yorimo Mama wo Ai su" back in 2006. In 2008 she enthusiastically played the younger sister of actor Miura Haruma in "Bloody Monday" (TBS) and right now you can see her in the Spring dorama "Aishiteru". What is this person that even already released her 2nd photo book really like...?

Profile
- Name: Kawashima Umika
- Born: 1994-03-03
- Birthplace: Saitama
- Height: 152cm
- Bloodtype: O
- Hobbies/Skills: Piano

Character
"Usually it's me who gets taken advantage of..."

In 'Bloody Monday' she played the younger sister Haruka of the protagonist Fujimaru , a senior high school student with incredible hacking skills. She got kidnapped by terrorists and even got a timebomb wrapped around herself by them.

"That was tough (laughs). I fainted and didn't have to say anything, but I had to be tied throughout the whole filming, because the chains were too difficult to take off. I wasn't able to move for 3 hours and got stiff shoulders the next day (laughs)."

She played the younger sister that was all loved by her older brother Fujimaru, but that role was actually difficult for her to play. "It was difficult, because I had to behave like a spoiled child for the first time. I have a younger brother and a younger sister, so it's me who usually gets taken advantage of." Umika-chan is basically a short and lovely person, but she's also calm and strong, all the charms of an eldest daughter.

By the way, Haruka's strong point were here cooking skills, but in Umika-chan's case.. "I can't cook at all," she admits with a bitter smile. "I can light the stove, though (laughs). I once tried to cook with instructions from a book, but when I finished, all I got asked was 'What's this? What did you make?' (laughs)" However, it still was fun for her to try it out.

She also already released her 2nd photo book in 2008. Parts of the photos were done in Amami Ooshima. "The stars were so beautiful at night and I looked out for any shooting stars with a certain wish in mind, but couldn't find any..." Umika-chan really has a problem with her shortness and follows a lot of rules in order to grow taller and that wish she talked about, it actually was nothing more but the wish to grow taller.

Umika-chan got scouted in primary school long before she got interested in the world of show business. Now she already has been a regular in 2-3 doramas. "At first I didn't think I would be able to overcome my shyness, but I gradually was able to change myself in a very big way." This year she became a senior high school student, too. She had very innocent thoughts about that step like, "After school I'd like to go to places like Shibuya with my friends and have a meal with them", but she's also full of sincere ambitions. "At work and in my private life, I can't let my growth come to an halt and because of that I would like to absorb lots of various things."

Breakpoint
"Usually I hold back all my emotions and explode quietly (laughs)"

"Of course there have been a lot of difficult things ever since I started to work, but there also have been a lot of enjoyable things. However, when I appeared in a movie for the first time, I once again experienced all the difficulties of acting." With this she brought up her first and so far only movie role in the 2007 movie 'Life - Tengoku de Kimi ni Aetara'.

Based on a true story, the movie follows the life of 38 years-old Iijima Natsuki, a windsurfer from Japan, as he battles and ultimately loses his life to liver cancer. Umika-chan played the daughter of Iijima. Her role holds a lot of grudge against her father who always used to put the surfer contests above his family. The terrible diagnosis of her father doesn't make her instantly become more obedient either. "Fun, sad, angry... it was really difficult to express all those different emotions."

There is one especially impressive scene where she's windsurfing and falling down. Umika-chan herself wasn't able to practice it a lot, "I was too afraid of falling down." This then develops into a scene where her father comes to help her with the surfing and her feelings simply explode. "Usually I hold down all my feelings and explode quietly, so I had to try really hard to show my emotions in a big way."

As mentioned above, the story of that film is based on a true story and so they even had the chance to meet the real Iijima Natsuki. He gave her a lot of pressure with his words, 'You have to make sure to do it right.' - "It was just 1 line, but it really made me think about my way of speaking, I even had to ask the director for advice... my mind simply went BANG (laughs)."

However, as time passed she was able to calm down herself again by telling herself that 'she should just go out and act.' "I don't think that it has to be absolutely truthful to the original. Is that even possible? I performed with those thoughts in mind. It completely changed my way of thinking when acting (laughs)."

It's a typical movie about 'life and death' and such movies are usually even able to change your own way of living. "I started to realize that you should spend your time carefully. The time I spend in bed during my days off decreased (laughs). It might be an effect of this movie."

Written by: jyoyu.blogspot.com
Please don't post this translation anywhere else!