Name: Horikita Maki
Birth Name: Hara Marina
Birthdate: 6th October 1988
Birthplace : Tokyo Prefecture
Blood Type: B
Height: 160cm
Horikita Maki was born the eldest of three girls on the 6th of October 1988 in Kiyose, Tokyo, Japan. She tends to be boyish during her childhood days, like in middle school, she enjoyed playing basketball or baseball with her friends on holidays. While she was in junior high, she preferred to play Dragon Ball with the boys more than playing with the girls. This was because with the girls, she couldn’t play the princess the way she wanted in the princess make-believe games.
In her junior high years, she served as student council vice-president and vice-captain of the basketball club. She was also described as the “Boss of 3-C” in a number various writings. This was in recognition of her status as class leader. As she became more active in the entertainment industry, she put her club and council activities on hold. Being unable to meet her many commitments, she finally withdrew from her school activities after much deliberation, concentrating plainly on her studies and career.
Later in 2003, Horikita started to model for various advertisements and star in TV dramas and films in supporting roles. She gained much recognition from her back to back TV dramas, Densha Otoko and Nobuta wo Produce in 2005.
Her exemplary portrayal in Nobuta wo Produce as the shy Nobuko Kotani, bagged her a Best Supporting Actress award in a Japanese award-giving body. On the other hand, the chemistry between her character, Nobuko, commonly called as Nobuta, and Kusano Akira, played by Japanese male idol Yamashita Tomohisa, was recognized as well, leading both of them to star in another drama, Kurosagi, in which Horikita bagged another Best Supporting Actress award from the same award-giving body.
She is very much into reading too, having served as a special judge in a children's literature contest on March 2007 where Japanese idol Ueto Aya was the previous special judge from the said event. Horikita was also applauded by about 2,000 attendees of her movie's, Argentine Hag, premiere screening after reading an excerpt from the original novel by Banana Yoshimoto .
Currently, Horikita is a well adored U-20 Japanese idol, constantly appearing as a cover girl in numerous teenage magazines.
