Minami Hamabe

Minami Hamabe is a Japanese actress who has starred in numerous blockbusters and television productions since her teenage years, establishing herself as a prominent figure in Japan's modern entertainment industry. Born on August 29, 2000, in Ishikawa Prefecture, Hamabe initially aspired to become a dentist prior to entering the performing arts. She has a younger brother who is seven years her junior. Hamabe completed her high school education at Horikoshi High School, graduating on February 20, 2019.

Hamabe launched her career after winning the New Generation Award at the 7th Toho Cinderella Audition in 2011, subsequently making her feature film debut the following year. Early in her career, she gained fame playing Meiko Honma in the 2015 live-action television adaptation of Anohana. Over the course of her career, many of her projects have involved live-action adaptations of popular manga and video games.

Her major breakthrough came when she played the lead role of a terminally ill student in the romance film Let Me Eat Your Pancreas (2017). The film was the fifth highest-grossing release in Japan in 2017 and was nominated for Picture of the Year at the 41st Japan Academy Film Prize. For her performance, Hamabe was awarded Newcomer of the Year at the same ceremony.

Following her breakthrough, Hamabe appeared in several commercially successful films and series. She starred in the 2019 film The Great War of Archimedes, which grossed over 1.9 billion yen in Japan. In 2020, she co-starred alongside Ryusei Yokohama and Yukino Kishii in the manga adaptation Cursed in Love, and acted in Murders At The House of Death, which grossed over 1 billion yen. In December 2020, she starred in the live-action film adaptation of The Promised Neverland, which achieved over 2.1 billion yen in box office earnings. She also starred in Kakegurui – Compulsive Gambler Part 2 in 2021.

In 2022, Hamabe took on the lead role in the television drama Dr. White, based on novels by Shin Kibayashi, and appeared alongside Sho Hirano in the special drama Seito ga Jinsei wo Yarinaoseru Gakko. That same year, she re-teamed with Yukino Kishii to star in the feature film One Day, You Will Reach the Sea.

Hamabe achieved further national and international prominence in 2023. She was chosen directly by NHK without an audition to star as the heroine in the 108th Asadora drama Ranman, acting opposite Ryunosuke Kamiki as his character's wife. She also starred in Hideaki Anno's live-action superhero film Shin Kamen Rider and reunited with Kamiki in Takashi Yamazaki's kaiju epic Godzilla Minus One. Her work in Godzilla Minus One and Shin Kamen Rider garnered her international recognition and led to a Best Supporting Actress win at the 66th Blue Ribbon Awards.

In her personal life, Hamabe owns a Pomeranian dog named Popu-chan. She is close friends with fellow actors Takumi Kitamura, Kanna Hashimoto, and Elaiza Ikeda.