Description

Rie Shibata (柴田 理恵, Shibata Rie, born 14 January 1959) is a Japanese actress and comedian who has appeared in a number of television programmes, feature films and stage productions. She is also the special deputy mayor of Toyama, Toyama. She was born on 14 January 1959 in Toyama, Toyama (formerly Yatsuo, Nei District). After going to Yao High School, she went to Meiji University Department of literature. After graduating from university, she joined the Gekidan Tokyo Vodovil Show, but withdrew in 1984, and launched Wahaha-Hompo with Masahiro Sato and Masami Hisamoto. Since then she has broadened her range of activities for films, television dramas, and variety shows. In early days of her career, she appeared as a recurring role in the "Mysterious Comedy Series" produced by Fuji TV and Toei. She made her Hollywood debut playing a high school teacher in the film The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, produced by Universal Pictures in the United States in 2006. At the age of 28, she married a stage director of Wahaha-Hompo. She joined Soka Gakkai in 1987 and later joined the Central Committee of the Arts Department.