Shock and bittersweet sadness doesn’t even begin to encompass my reaction when this news broke yesterday. One of Japan’s most popular and prolific top young actress Horikita Maki has announced her acting career retirement via a handwritten note to the media and her fans. Maki has been making surprising waves since her unexpected and sudden marriage in 2015 to actor Yamamoto Koji, and a few months ago in December 2016 they welcome their first child. Maki revealed in the retirement letter that she’s been thinking hard about her life and she’s decided to retire from acting to become a full time mother and wife. She discussed it with her husband and he’s supportive of her decision, and she wants to nurture and protect her family as her full time priority. This is the second huge J-star abrupt retirement in the last two months after actor Narimiya Hiroki left after being betrayed by close confidantes and harassed by the media. Maki is one of my favorite J-actresses and her best J-doramas remain forever watchable – wishing her well in life and I will miss her dearly.
Maki has such an extensive acting resume of doramas and movies that I’m not even halfway through the selection so there are plenty of her works to check out and oldies but goodies to rewatch. My faves are, of course, Nobuta wo Produce and the original HanaKimi.
i wish her well and i hope that she comes back later when she is ready again to give us more awesome dramas and movies
Wow this is actually really sad.. I did not see that coming at all.. but I also want her to be happy..
Yes, it’s difficult to juggle a career and be a full-time housewife. I hear she has been in the acting industry for 14 years. There are no right and wrong routes, just a personal choice route. Wish her the best in life.
That is a shock to me too. I will miss her. But family comes first for many. She will be a great mum and wife.
Nobuta,nooo. ;_; i was still hoping for another yamapi reunion. She’s definitely more successful than her husband. I really don’t understand. This makes me so sad….
Perhaps it is time for regeneration in jdoramaworld?
So from Matsu Takako, Tokiwa, and Nanako era, then new generation like Inoue Mao, Juri, and Hikari made a big name, now it’s time for Fumi Nikaido, Gakki, and Takei Emi to shine (well, the latter may not as good as the other two, but she’s everywhere!)
Gakky is the same era as mao and juri.
they are, but mao and juri make it big before her. even when mao and juri already took demanding role, she still has mediocre career. It’s not that Gakki not good (boy, even back then she’s better than masami in dragon zakura), but may be she’s just not lucky with her earlier project.
One of favorite J-actresses! Will miss her dearly but as long as she knows what her priorities are. 14 years of being in the Industry seems long enough for me. Btw, I still miss not seeing Narimiya Hiroki on my screen. Love them to pieces!
Maki is still young so this came as a surprise to me as well but I wish her the best because children do grow up fast so I understand that she doesn’t want to miss any moment with her child. Hm, with Maki and Eikura Nana being married I guess it won’t take long time until Masami Nagasawa, Erika Toda and Aragaki Yui are settling down and once they do then it is really a generation shift to the younger one, Suzu Hirose, Tao Tsuchiya etc.
This is making me so sad BUT I’m very happy for her and wish her and her family all the best! 🙂
well, its quite sad to hear such news but who knows. She may just want to give more personal time to their kid. in 5 to 6 years, the acting bug in her might still want to breath the showbiz air.
Oh retirement of jap actor and actress at their pick , only in japan i think will miss her just like i still misses the others
NOOO MAKI!!!!! I wish her the best and I will surely miss her presence on the Jdorama scene!! Damn you J-Ent, first you take away my Narimiya Hiroki and now Horikita Maki!
her husband look like a sadistic psycho
really? i find her husband to be very handsome! he has jang dong gun’s cow eyes. lol
Sigh, 2017 clearly hates me. I really adored her even though all her projects weren’t always very good.
But I still have hope, she never used the word to retire (Intai suru) but basically to that she would distance herself for the moment from acting. Also her contract with Sweet Power was ending I believe now in march so some in the industry are thinking that she’ll take a break and then when things cool down return to work under her husbands independent company.
I think if she’ll be able to more freely choose her work that might get her back (especially since she said that after having kids she didn’t want to fully retire from acting)
She is practically the embodiment of what I spent my teenage years. I’ve enjoyed every one of her dramas (to a certain extent). I hope she reconsiders her decision in the future once her children have grown.
bet her husband tell her to quit. she would not quit on her own. he the kind of guy that dont want her near any single man.
She was an A lister and he was a D lister taking smaller side roles. So it’s normal if he feels insecure. However I’m bothered by Japanese trend of women quitting their career to be a full time housewife/mom. Why can’t men and women share the duties to make it less burdensome for women. Especially since both are in same industry..