Masayuki SHIONOYA：Ota

Born in 1953, he entered the acting company Ryūzanji Jimusho in 1984, and he still acts with them today.
He tread the boards all over the world with various plays, like “Macbeth” and “High Life”.
In 2006, his performance of “High Life” in China won various prizes and high praises in the theater world.
He performed also in a number of films, such as the Lucas and Coppola’s 1985 production MISHIMA, Dying at a Hospital (Byōin de shinu to iu koto, Ichikawa Jun, 1993), Charisma (Kurosawa Kiyoshi, 1999), Pulse (Kairo, Kurosawa Kiyoshi, 2001), Will to Live (Ikitai, Kaneto Shindou, 1999) among the others. He is considered one of the most active Japanese actors.
In Aria, he express wonderfully, without relying excessively on words, the complex sensibility of the leading character.

Mariko TAKAHASHI：Kako

She was born in San Francisco in 1984 from an American father and a Japanese mother. Since elementary school, she began working as a model.
Her beautiful looks and her candid expression earned her many fans.
In 2001 she made her film debut, with Sekai no owari to iu na no zakkaten, where, despite the fact it was her first time, she played the leading role, winning the praise of critics.
After that, while continuing her job as a model, she performed in a number of films.
In 2007 she is scheduled to appear in the Japanese-Australian co-production ACADEMY. She is considered a very promising young actress.

Shojiro KATAOKA：Senju

Born in 1962, from the ‘80s he performed in theaters with different acting companies. In 1998 he founded, together with film director Tsubokawa Takushi, the band Kumonosu Quartet, where he is in charge of violin and vocals. With the band he traveled not only all around Japan, but also to Italy, France and Belgium, meeting with outstanding success.
Since the first feature film of director Tsubokawa, Utsukushiki Tennen – Nuages d’Hier, he became an irrepleacable presence in his films.
Aria also features his skills with the musical saw.

Masao KOMATSU：Kuzo

Born in 1942, he is one of the most widely known comedians in Japan.
He performed also in a large number of stage productions and films. He is considered a master in bringing the sadness of life into comedy.
Recently he is also performing in one-man producitions he writes by himself.
His ardent performance of the benshi role in the previous director Tsubokawa’s film, Utsukushiki Tennen – Nuages d’Hier, contributed to win the film the praises of critics.
In Aria he plays the role of the old puppetteer Kūzō, and he expresses beautifully the passion and devotion of a man who lives for his art.

Yotsuya SIMON：Kojima

Born in 1944, from the ’60s he began performing as an onnagata, a man who plays the role of a woman, in the legendary Kara Jurō avant-garde acting company, Jōkyō Gekijō (the Situation Theatre). He became very famous for his performance of singing like a fool, while spitting on the public.
From the ‘70s he devoted himself in the manufacture of dolls, an art he appreciated since he was a child.
In 1973 he held his first personal exhibition, and began to be known as an exponent of the Japanese manufacture of dolls.
In 1978 he opened the École de Simon, a school for dolls, and began to train a lot of people. Since then, he held a huge number of exhibitions all over the world.
As an actor, as he still performs only in productions of particular directors, he is still considered a legendary performer.

Hideko YOSHIDA：the pawn shop lady

Born in 1944, she established with Kushida Kazuyoshi and others the acting company Jiyū Gekijō (the Freedom Theatre) in 1966. Until the dissolution of the company in 1996 she performed as leading actress in a number of stage productions. Meanwhile, she performed also in many films.
In 1989 she won the prize for the best supporting actress in the 14th Hōchi Film Award and the following year in the Japanese Academy Awards for her role in Company Sponsored Funeral (Shasō, Masuda Toshio,1989).
In 1995 she performed in Peter Greenaway’s The Pillow Book and in 1999, when the film Will to Live (Ikitai, Kaneto Shindou) won the Golden St. George at Moscow International Film Festival, her talent was finally recognised internationally.
She acted the leading role in the first feature by director Tsubokawa, Utsukushiki Tennen – Nuages d’Hier.

Koji WAKAMATSU：the master of Shinto music

Born in 1963, he is an internationally acclaimed Japanese director.
He debuted in pink film world in 1963 with Amai Wana.
Then, he established his own production company, the Wakamatsu Production, and produced the legendary Empire of Senses (Ai no koriida, Ōshima Nagisa, 1976).
His films, that are now more than a hundred, always raise crucial questions to the human society, through the analysis of man’s original instincts (eros and violence).
In recent years his popularity in Europe and the States grew even more, and a lot of events were dedicated all over the world to his work. He met director Tsubokawa during the 2005 Torino Film Festival and agreed to play a role in Aria, which he performed in a very mysterious and personal way.In these days he is filming Jitsuroku – Rengousekigun, a film about the Japanese Red Army.

Utae SHOJI：the hitch-hiking old lady

Born in 1929 from two traveling artists, she stood on the stage very early.
In 1951 she founded with her sisters the comedy and music trio Kashimashi Musume (the Noisy Girls) and they soon became very popular all over the country.
She has always been active as an actress both on stage and film productions. In her long career she challenged every kind of art, from acting to writing, to singing.
She performed also in Lily Festival (Yurisai, Hamano Sachi, 2001), that won the second prize at the 9th Torino Women International Film Festival, and was shown in the States, Canada, France and Germany.
Aria also features her skills in shamisen and singing.

Mickey Curtis：the master in restaurant

Fujio TOKITA：Principal

Shinichiro UCHIDA：the master in pawnshop

Toshiyuki KITA：the master of bar