Shinobu Otsuka

SHE is the first Japanese actress-model to headline the first Japanese-Singapore TV production that will be shown on Channel U here.

Shinobu Otsuka was so serious about her craft that she attended The Central Academy Of Drama in Beijing, China, which produced the likes of Chinese superstars Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li.

Otsuka experienced anti-Japanese sentiment when she was studying in China four years ago and she flinched when she recalled being turned down for many jobs.

The row on the streets was sparked when the then-Japanese prime minister questioned the evidence that Asian women were forced by the Japanese military to work as "comfort women" during the Second World War.

Otsuka, who is in her early 30s, was in town to film the Japanese-Singapore collaboration titled Mooncake, told The New Paper: "I was broken-hearted when I was shunned by classmates and producers." But she didn't give up and managed to win her classmates over in the end.

Having studied at the Chinese language drama school, Otsuka eventually had offers because she had the advantage over other non-Mandarin-speaking Japanese actresses.

In the Channel U one-hour, single-episode drama Mooncake, which will air at 10pm on Dec 25, she plays China-born, Singapore-based actor Qi Yuwu's love interest.

Other cast members include local actors Priscelia Chan, Jerry Yeo and Chen Tianwen and Japanese actresses Yoshie Ichige and Fueki Yuko.

Mooncake is about a former banker (Qi) who meets an enchanting woman (Otsuka) in Singapore before he leaves for Japan to rescue earthquake victims.

Otsuka has herself witnessed tragedy and it was what inspired her to go beyond modelling and into acting, never taking any day for granted.

Otsuka is well-known for playing the assistant of a famous make-up artist in the Japan-China co-production film, TheLongest Night In Shanghai (2007).

We expected the predictable "chilli crab" as her answer to her favourite food here, but Otsuka confessed that she has been living mostly on Western fare here.

He said: "I've worked with actresses from China, Korea and Australia, but this is the first time I'm working with someone from Japan.