Actress Sei Ashina found dead in suspected suicide

Japan Times -- Sep 15

Japanese actress Sei Ashina was found dead at her Tokyo apartment by family on Monday morning, her agency said, following what investigative sources believe was a suicide.

The 36-year-old Ashina, who began her career as a fashion model, starred in numerous movies and TV series including the NHK period drama “Yae no Sakura” (Yae’s Sakura) and the police drama “Aibo” (Partner).

The Fukushima Prefecture native also landed a role in the 2007 film “Silk,” an adaptation of an Italian novel of the same name, in which a French silkworm smuggler and his wife, played by Michael Pitt and Keira Knightley, journey to Japan in search of silkworms in the 19th century.

Ashina made her voice acting debut in the Japanese-language version of the 2011 American TV series “Revenge” as the leading character Emily Thorne, and most recently appeared in the TV series “Theseus no Fune” (Ship of Theseus) and the movie “AI Hokai” (AI Amok) released in January.

Sep 15 (ANNnewsCH) - 女優の芦名星さん(36)が東京都内の自宅で死亡しているのが見つかりました。  所属事務所によりますと、14日午前、東京・新宿区にある自宅マンションで芦名さんが死亡しているのを親族が見つけました。死因は調査中だということです。芦名さんは映画やテレビドラマに数多く出演する人気女優です。