Anna Sawai

is a New Zealand actress, singer and dancer. She landed her first acting role at age 11 as the titular character in the 2004 Nippon TV production of Annie shortly after moving to Japan. Sawai later made her film debut as Kiriko in James McTeigue's 2009 neo-noir martial arts film Ninja Assassin. Sawai rose to fame in Japan as one of the lead vocalists of the girl group Faky from 2013 to 2018. She made a return to acting with supporting roles in the Japanese mystery series Colors (2018) and the British crime thriller series Giri/Haji (2019). Her international breakthrough came with the role of Naomi in the Apple TV+ drama series Pachinko (2022–present). Early life Anna Sawai was born on June 11, 1992, in Wellington, New Zealand to parents of Japanese descent. Her mother trained in opera performance and later worked as a piano teacher, while her father worked for an electronics company. From age 3, her mother taught her how to play the piano and how to sing. Her family moved frequently while growing up due to her father's job, living in Hong Kong and the Philippines, before settling in Yokohama, Japan at age 10. She has an elder sister, Reina, who is a ballet dancer and coryphée at the Hong Kong Ballet company. Career