Rola (ãƒãƒ¼ãƒ©, RÅra, born Eri Sato (ä½è—¤ãˆã‚Š, Sato Eri) on March 30, 1990) is a Japanese-born Bangladeshi fashion model, TV personality, actress and singer of Russian, Bangladeshi and Japanese descent, as her mother is Japanese with a quarter Russian heritage and her father is Bangladeshi. 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 for a Japanese celebrity. Rola is represented by the management agency Libera.
PERSONAL LIFE
Rola was born in Tokyo, Japan. She was raised primarily in Bangladesh until she was 9 years old where she attended an American international school. Her mother is of Russian and Japanese descent and her father is from Bangladesh. Her parents were divorced and 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. 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.
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.
CAREER
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.