lead=yes, also known professionally as Sayaka, Lily, and Uehara Jun, was a Japanese actress, singer, and model. She was the only child of actor Masaki Kanda and pop singer Seiko Matsuda.
Early life
Kanda was born at Tokyo Teishin Hospital in Chiyoda, Tokyo. She was the only child of actor
Masaki Kanda and
Seiko Matsuda, a representative idol singer of the 1980s in Japan. Her paternal grandmother Teruko Asahi (1924–2001) was a former actress.
[女優・神田沙也加 ミュージカルで13役に挑戦 葛藤越え野望に邁進(1/3ページ). インタビュアー:平松澄子. 産経ニュースwest.. オリジナルの2011-10-20時点によるアーカイブ]
Career
In 1999, while a student at a Japanese school in
Los Angeles, she appeared in
Bean Cake, a
short film that won the Palme d'Or du court métrage at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. She was quite active as an actress in movies and mostly on stage since her debut.
In 2006, Kanda composed and wrote the lyrics to "Bless You", a song performed by her mother Seiko Matsuda. Kanda was credited under the name "Jun Uehara", originating from two characters from the manga series Good Morning Call, which she had loved at the time.
Kanda made her Kōhaku Uta Gassen debut in December 2011 singing "Ue o Muite Arukō" alongside her mother, Seiko Matsuda.[" 【紅白歌合戦】神田沙也加、松田聖子と親娘で出場 「心強いです」 ." Oricon News. November 30, 2011.]
In July 2012, Kanda debuted as a voice actress on TV animation Good Luck Girl!, which led her to be cast as Mary in The Muppets and Anna in the Japanese language dub of Disney's animated film Frozen.["神田沙也加、声優デビュー「念願かなった!」". SANSPO.COM. (2012年7月4日). オリジナルの2012] She won the Best Lead Actress award for the role in the 9th Seiyu Awards.["第九回声優アワード授賞者発表". 声優アワード.] In 2019, she voiced as Anna once again for Kingdom Hearts III.
In April 2014, she formed the duo Trustrick with guitarist Billy.["『アナと雪の女王』で話題の神田沙也加、新ユニット・TRUSTRICKデビュー!". マイナビ] They released their debut album, Eternity, on June 25 of the same year. They disbanded on December 17, 2016.["TRUSTRICKが活動休止を発表 神田沙也加「ここで一度節目を迎えます」". ORICON STYLE (oricon ME).]
Kanda appeared as a special guest in the Alan Symphony Concert from December 20, 2014, alongside Tibetan Chinese diva Alan Dawa Dolma, and together, they sang a music piece originally performed by Alan titled .
Kanda released covers of Vocaloid songs on her YouTube channel.
Modeling career
While Kanda was on hiatus from her acting career in 2005, she began appearing in
lolita fashion magazines under the name Lily, a stage name that she had chosen from a "dreamy worldview."
Kanda modeled for
,
Gothic & Lolita Bible,
Eternita,
and
Angelic Pretty's catalogs.
In 2012, she collaborated with Angelic Pretty to release the Melt ChocoLapin dress set.
Personal life
In May 2017, Kanda married actor
Mitsu Murata.
Kanda announced their divorce in December 2019.
Kanda was in a relationship with actor
Takahisa Maeyama after co-starring in the stage adaptation of
Crest of the Royal Family in August 2021.
The two dated with the intention of marriage due to their age.
In 2024, Maeyama stated that they only dated for two months and had ended their relationship by the time they had starred together in the Japanese production of
My Fair Lady in November 2021.
Death
On December 18, 2021, Kanda was found unconscious in the outer garden on the fourteenth floor of a hotel in Chūō ward,
Sapporo. She was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
The cause of death was determined to be
Major trauma shock by the Sapporo Central Police Station, which also said that she had fallen from her room in the upper floors of the hotel.
Kanda's remains were cremated and her family kept her ashes at home. A report from
Shūkan Bunshun claimed she committed suicide following vocal cord issues as well as issues with her relationship with Maeyama.
Discography
Singles
-
"Ever Since" (2002)
-
"Garden" (2003)
-
"Mizu Iro" (2004)
-
"Jōgen no Tsuki" (2005)
with TRUSTRICK
-
"World's End Curtain Call -theme of DANGANRONPA THE STAGE-" (2014)
-
"FLYING FAFNIR" (2015)
-
"innocent promise" (2015)
-
"Recall THE END" (2016)
-
"DEAD OR LIE" (2016) duo with Maon Kurosaki
-
"Rainbow Summer" (2019), the theme song of
Digital Singles
-
"LUVORATORRRRRY!" (2018)
-
"Good Morning, Polar Night" (2019)
-
"Roki" (2019)
with TRUSTRICK
as Yuna from "Sword Art Online"
-
"Ubiquitous dB" (2017)
-
"delete" (2017)
-
"Break Beat Bark!" (2017)
-
"longing" (2017)
-
"smile for you" (2017)
Albums
-
Doll (2005)
-
Liberty (2011)
with TRUSTRICK
-
Eternity (2014)
-
TRUST (2015)
-
TRICK (2016)
Extended plays
with TRUSTRICK
-
Mirai-kei Answer E.P. (2015)
-
beloved E.P. (2016)
Cover Albums
-
MUSICALOID #38 (2018)
-
MUSICALOID #38 Act.2 (2019)
-
MUSICALOID #38 Act.3 (2021)
Compilation Albums
as Yuna from
Sword Art Online
-
Sword Art Online the Movie : Ordinal Scale (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2017)
Filmography
Film
-
Bean Cake (1999)
-
Dragon Head (2003) – Ako Seto
-
(2004) – Mitiyo Wada
-
Imadoki Japanese yo (2008) – Kyouko
-
(2008) – Sora
-
Amazing Grace (2011) – Shizuku Asamizu
-
Geki×Cine Bara to Samurai (2011) – Pony de Bribon
-
Real Girl (2018) – Ezomichi (voice)
Television drama
-
Yankee Bokō ni Kaeru / Drop-out Teacher Returns to School (TBS, 2003) – Nanae Koga
-
四分の一の絆 (TBS, 2004) – Maiko Nisio
-
Mito Kōmon (TBS, 2004, 2007) – Kozue, Osaki
-
たった一度の雪 〜SAPPORO・1972年〜 (HBC, 2007) – Chiho Shimomura
-
Omotesando Koukou Gasshoubu! (TBS, 2015) – Emiri Seyama
Theater Performances
-
Into the Woods (2004) – Little Red Ridinghood (credited as SAYAKA)
-
Murasaki Shikibu Story (2006, 2008) – Empress Shōshi
-
The Woman in White (2007) – Laura Fairlie
-
A Midsummer Night's Dream (2007–2009) – Peaseblossom
-
A Midsummer Night's Dream (2008) – Hermia
-
Love Letters (2008–2010) – Melissa
-
Grease (2008) – Sandy Dumbrowski
-
She Loves Me (2009–2010) – Amalia Balash
-
Bara to Samurai〜Goemon Rock OverDrive (2010) – Pony de Bribon
-
Les Misérables (2009–2011) – Cosette
-
Peter Pan (2009–2011, 2017) – Wendy Darling
-
The Fantasticks (2010) – Luisa
-
Endless SHOCK (2012) – Rika
-
(2012) – Anne Shirley
-
Himeyuri (2012–2014) – Kimi
-
Dance of the Vampires (2015–2020) – Sarah
-
(2014–2016) – Mukuro Ikusaba and Junko Enoshima
-
(2015–2017) – Junko Enoshima
-
(2016–2018) – Olympe
-
Legally Blonde (2017–2019) – Elle Woods
-
Fiddler on the Roof (2017) – Hodel
-
My Fair Lady (2018–2021) – Eliza Doolittle
-
SHOW BOY (2019)
-
Rose's Dilemma (2021) – Arlene
-
Crest of the Royal Family (2021) – Carol Reed
Japanese dub
-
Frozen (2013) – Anna
-
Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) – Anna
-
Frozen II (2019) – Anna
Theatrical animation
-
GAMBA (2015) – Shioji
-
(2017) – Yuna
-
(2017)
Television animation
-
Good Luck Girl! (2012) – Nadeshiko Adenokouji
-
Unlimited Fafnir (2015) – Miyako Shinomiya
-
Convenience Store Boy Friends (2017) – Miharu Mashiki
-
Real Girl (2018) – Ezomichi
-
(2020) – Yuna
-
Idoly Pride (2021) – Mana Nagase
Video games
-
(2017) – Kaede Akamatsu
-
Let It Die (2017) – Kiwako Seto
-
Kingdom Hearts III (2019) – Anna
-
(2017) – Yuna
-
(2018) – Yuna
-
Idoly Pride (2021) – Mana Nagase
External links