【Full Text】Saki Aibu on Overcoming Role Barriers as a Mother of Two

He gave strong performances in hit dramas such as WATER BOYS, Attention Please, and Buzzer Beat.
In April, he starred in a serial drama for the first time in 10 years, and in June, he reached the milestone age of 40.

“When I compare myself now to when I started in show business at 16, of course I’ve gained more knowledge—but my attitude toward acting hasn’t changed at all.”

Actress Saki Aibu (40) smiled, her signature dimples showing. She made her acting debut in 2003 at the age of 18, playing an artistic swimming athlete in the Fuji TV drama WATER BOYS. More than 20 years later, this April she returned as the lead in a serial drama for the first time in about a decade, starring in Otto yo, Shinde Kurenai ka (Husband, Won’t You Die?) on TV Tokyo.

Now the mother of two, she says her performances have gained greater depth, supported by the tremendous backing of her family.

“I’d always carried this desire to star in a serial drama again. When I read the script this time, I shared that feeling with my family. My husband checked the kids’ schedules and said, ‘If we can manage the timing, I think we can make it work,’ and gave me a push. During the three months of filming, he completely took over caring for the children, so I was able to immerse myself in the role.”

This period, she recalls, not only marked her own growth but also her children’s.

“The kids, who used to cling to me saying ‘Mommy, Mommy,’ started doing more on their own and even voicing their own opinions. I was a little surprised, but I think it led to a really positive outcome for our whole family.”

Admiration for Aya Ueto and the Pressure of Leading Roles

With a career spanning more than 20 years, Saki Aibu continues to bring charm to numerous works. One turning point for her was the 2006 Fuji TV drama Attention Please, in which she played a character aspiring to become a flight attendant alongside the protagonist. The greatest inspiration she received came from the lead actress, Aya Ueto (39).

“Aya-chan has been amazing since way back—she never changes! Even though her schedule must have been jam-packed, she was always calm and truly enjoying acting. Seeing that up close made me realize there really are extraordinary people in this world. Among our generation, she was like someone up in the clouds, and I admired her, thinking, I want to be that kind of actor.”

The drama was a major hit, and Aibu herself was chosen as the face of JAL in its advertisements. But admiration soon turned into pressure.

“Next time, I felt like I had to be the lead myself. But I kept thinking, there’s no way I can handle such a huge responsibility, and I hit the wall of being a leading actress.”

This struggle overlapped with the exhausting days of her mid-20s.

“From my debut until I was about 21 or 22, I honestly have almost no memory of that time. I’d head to the set around five in the morning and often wouldn’t return home until after midnight. Sometimes I’d go home just to take a shower, then head straight to the next set. I really had stamina back then (laughs). But being thrown into the rough waters of the industry without much knowledge or experience toughened me. Thanks to that, I feel like no hardship now could ever be worse than what I went through then.”

The Inner Conflict of Playing a Villain in Buzzer Beat

This feeling has become the foundation of who she is today. And the 2009 Getsu-9 drama Buzzer Beat: Gakeppuchi no Hero (Fuji TV), which she appeared in at the age of 24, marked the second major turning point in her career. Taking on a heel role that overturned her pure and wholesome image brought with it deep inner conflict.

“The character I played, Natsuki, was a bad girl who cheated on her boyfriend with another man and interfered with the protagonist’s romance with her ex. Every time I played her, it hurt my heart, and I’d worry, ‘Won’t people hate me for being mean?’ On set, I chatted with co-stars Keiko Kitagawa (38) and Tomohisa Yamashita (40), but I even wondered if, for the sake of the role, maybe I shouldn’t get too friendly.”

One moment that stood out in particular was a smoking scene the director requested.
“That was an unknown challenge for me. I was told to actually smoke starting a month before filming, and I practiced everything thoroughly—from how to light a cigarette to how to inhale smoke. I heard from actual smokers that you can tell right away whether someone is really inhaling into their lungs or not. At the time, that kind of method acting was considered normal. But because of that, I was able to gain all kinds of valuable experience.”

This daring role also dramatically changed the way audiences responded to her.
“Until then, it was mostly men who approached me, but around the middle of the drama, I started getting more cheers from older women. They’d say, ‘I’m watching the drama, you’re great!’ or ‘I like Natsuki.’ Support from women gave me huge confidence. I really felt the power of girls’ solidarity.”

Study abroad or retire?

Yet, despite what seemed like smooth sailing in her mid-20s, Saki Aibu says she felt burned out. She struggled with the conflict of “I don’t want to quit acting, but I just can’t go on like this.” Her choice was to reset everything by studying abroad in the United States.

“Without speaking a word of English, I dove into life in San Francisco. Hearing gunshots just a block away or seeing a jewelry store nearby get robbed—it was one culture shock after another. But little by little, I gained confidence—like when I finally managed to order properly at Starbucks, or when I became friends with a clerk. Those small successes made me stronger.”

Later, she switched to a backpacking lifestyle to further improve her language skills.
“Using Boston as a base, I met friends from all sorts of countries and, for the first time, really came to know myself. When people asked me, ‘What do you like?’ I realized, ‘I don’t actually have any hobbies’ It was a period of facing myself.”

She cast aside the image of actress Saki Aibu and lived overseas simply as one individual among others—a shift in environment that transformed her values. As she now laughs, “If I hadn’t studied abroad, I probably would have retired from show business when I got married.” In that sense, the experience may well have been the key to the person she is today.

Marriage, Motherhood, and a Major Transformation

In 2016, at the age of 30, Saki Aibu married a businessman, and today she is the mother of a 7-year-old son and a 5-year-old daughter. Motherhood, she says, has been the single greatest change in her life.

“Children never go the way you expect, so you have to stay flexible. Studying abroad helped me become more forgiving of myself, and that’s allowed me to extend that same tolerance to others. Having someone more important than myself changed the way I see things. Work, too, doesn’t have to be all or nothing—I now think about how I can enjoy myself while getting through it.”

This June, as she celebrated turning 40, her outlook is bright. She has moved past the admiration and struggles she once felt toward top stars, realizing now that it’s most important to walk at her own pace. Recently, she has become fascinated with color studies, even earning a certification as a color concierge—a sign of her ever-active spirit of challenge.

“I want to enjoy life just as I am, without trying to look cool. I think that’s my strength—not putting on a front. It makes me happy to not only play leading roles but also to portray characters that support others and make a story more interesting. Going forward, I want to keep finding my own balance, cherry-picking the good parts of work, and selfishly living life my own way (laughs).”

Having returned to the spotlight with her first leading role in a serial drama in years, the popular actress has once again rekindled her passion for acting.

From the September 5, 2025, issue of “FRIDAY”