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Arts CNN 2010 September

Erika Sawajiri: Inside the head of Japan’s outspoken star

by Robert Michael Poole

“Restricting talented people is the biggest problem in the entertainment business in Japan,” says 24-year-old Erika Sawajiri. “This is the 21st century and it has to change.”

The sheer frankness of the enigmatic model, actress and singer is certainly an unusual, and I must say refreshing, occurrence in conservative Japan. She has gained a reputation as a difficult, thorny character. But now, in her first ever English-language interview, Sawajiri simply comes across as honest, direct and passionate about changing how Japanese entertainers are treated by their agencies.