Rola

Biography

Rola (ローラ, Rōra; born Eri Sato (佐藤えり, Sato Eri) on March 30, 1990) is a Japanese-born fashion model, TV personality, actress and singer of Japanese, Russian and Bangladeshi descent. As a model, she is known for her regular appearances in the Japanese fashion magazine Vivi and in numerous commercials. Since 2011, Rola has also become widely known as a tarento (TV personality) appearing on Japanese television regularly and has one of the largest social media followings of any Japanese celebrity. Rola was previously represented by the management agency Libera in Japan.

== Early life and education == Rola was born in Tokyo, Japan. Her biological mother is Japanese with a quarter Russian heritage and her father is Bangladeshi. She moved to Bangladesh at the age of one where she attended an American international school. At the age of nine, she returned to Japan after her parents were divorced, then she was primarily raised by her step-mother, who is Chinese. She has a twin brother, Ryo, with whom she is said to get along well, and has a younger half-brother and half-sister who are twins. She and her brother were raised as Muslims by their father, but he allowed them to eat pork due to its prevalence in Japanese culture.

== Personal life == Her father, Jurip, was arrested on July 26, 2014, after turning himself in at a police station in Suginami Ward, Tokyo. He had been put on Interpol's wanted list a year earlier for scamming and defrauding Japan's national health insurance system.

== Activism == Rola has become an outspoken advocate for environmentalism and animal welfare on her social media, where she has posted about plant-forward diets, preserving wildlife reserves, and adopting rather than shopping for companion animals. She has also been a pescatarian since 2019.

== Career == Rola's modelling career began when she was a high school student after being approached by a scout while walking down the street in Shibuya, Tokyo.

=== In modelling === After making several appearances in the Japan's Popteen magazine, Rola began appearing in the fashion magazine Vivi in 2008. She has since been active in runway modeling, making numerous appearances in shows such as Tokyo Girls Collection, Shibuya Girls Collection, and Girls Award. Rola's first appearance on the cover of Vivi magazine was the August 2012 edition, and her first fashion book, "The Rola!!", was published the same month. An additional fashion book, Rola's Closet, was released in June 2014 and contains photographs taken by Rola on the photograph-sharing service instagram. In August 2014, she began modelling for the fashion brand Beams, making her first appearance in the brand's 2014 autumn/winter catalogue. Rola has appeared in the following runway shows: Kobe Collection (2008) and Tokyo Girls Collection (2009 Autumn/Winter).

=== As a TV personality === Rola's career as a tarento (a television personality in Japan) began in June 2010 when she made her first appearance on Nihon TV's variety show Shabekuri 007 alongside fellow models Lena Fujii and Mitsuki Oishi. Rola was named the number four "rising TV-star in 2011", with 200 appearances on Japanese TV shows. She appeared as a weekly regular on Fuji TV's Waratte Iitomo! variety show from April 2012 until the program ended in March 2014. Rola's television persona comprises distinctive characteristics, exuding an overall childlike naiveté, innocence, and playfulness. Signature affectations such as puffing her cheeks in embarrassment, holding an "OK" hand gesture over her cheek, and curling her tongue over her upper lip make Rola a common subject for Japanese impersonators, who also mimic her ditzy responses and constant giggles. She falls within the model-idol category of Japanese "talent" (tarento) as not actually possessing any particular talent, but Rola also presents comic possibilities by her mere presence. In the wake of Rola's popularity, aspiring talent Arie Mizusawa began appearing on Japanese television sporting cute affectations nearly identical to Rola, to an extent that entertainment media referred to Mizusawa as "Rola 2" and both she and Rola as "twins". In April 2014, Rola acquired her first presenting role on the Fuji TV quiz show Danketsu Seyo Quiz 30 in which she presents alongside veteran TV presenter and comedian Atsushi Tamura. In 2017, there were reports that she may be locked into a ten-year "slave-like" contract with her talent agency.

=== Music === In October 2011, Rola made her musical debut as a featured vocalist on Issa (of Da Pump) and SoulJa's song "I hate u". She made her solo debut in July 2012 with the song "Memories", the theme song for the Pokémon anime film Kyurem vs. the Sacred Swordsman: Keldeo, in which she also has a cameo voice appearance. It peaked at number 14 on the Oricon Chart in its first week of release. In September 2012, Rola met with Canadian singer Carly Rae Jepsen in Tokyo following her own lip-dub version of Jepsen's hit "Call Me Maybe", and expressed her intention to master English in order to broaden her horizons.