<figure id="attachment_452168" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-452168" style="width: 3648px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="72ef1217"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/386d8dbc802876210d439224bd81ed82-rotated.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-452168" class="wp-caption-text">Kaede Aono, a beautiful woman in the &#8220;Anshin Matsuri&#8221; commercial. She is also a black belt in karate.</figcaption></figure>
<p> There is a commercial that I can&#8217;t seem to get out of my ears.</p>
<p> It is a commercial for the funeral service brand &#8220;Anshin Matsuri&#8221; (Gojyoire Co., Ltd.), in which a beautiful woman puts her hands on both sides of her chest to the rhythm of the waltz song, &#8220;Moshi moshi moshi: Anshin matsuri. When the commercial began airing in May of this year, it ranked first among all 3,856 commercials for women aged 60 or older in the CM Research Institute&#8217;s &#8220;August &#8217;25 CM Favorability Survey. This was the first time for a commercial for a wedding or funeral service.</p>
<p> Who is this &#8220;CM beauty&#8221; who has become the talk of the town?</p>
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<h2> I couldn&#8217;t get the melody out of my head for a while.</h2>
<p> She is Kaede Aono, 33, a model and actress. After graduating from high school, she moved to Tokyo from Hyogo Prefecture to become a model. In 2012, while working for an entertainment production company, she was selected as an &#8220;Imadoki Girl&#8221; for the &#8220;Imadoki&#8221; corner of &#8220;Mezamashi TV&#8221; (Fuji Television Network), which introduces trendy things and activities. In January this year, she appeared in the drama &#8220;Private Banker&#8221; (TV Asahi) starring Toshiaki Karasawa (62).</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I have never seen my commercials on TV because we don&#8217;t have a TV at home,&#8221; she said. So I didn&#8217;t really feel like it was me. &#8230;&#8230;</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> But I sang that song so many times during the shoot that for a while after it was over, the melody was stuck in my head (laughs). I got a lot of calls from friends saying, &#8220;I saw it! I was honestly happy to hear from so many of my friends.</span></p>
<p> When asked if the commercials have made her more &#8220;recognizable,&#8221; she shook her head.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I don&#8217;t get approached on the street. &#8230;&#8230; (laughs) &#8220;In the commercials, I have a cheerful atmosphere that matches the melody, but usually my mood is a little more subdued, almost the opposite, so I don&#8217;t think people know who I am.</span></p>
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<p> As she smiles calmly in the commercial, her clear white skin and jet-black hair are impressive. Aono has an air of &#8220;the Japanese beauty&#8221; about her.</p>
<p> However, Aono actually has a surprising side to her: she is a full-contact black belt in karate. Speaking of full-contact karate, it is literally a style of &#8220;direct blows,&#8221; which may sound unsettling. &#8230;&#8230;</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> When I was in the first grade, in order to win a fight with a boy my age, I said to my father, who was a karate instructor, &#8220;I want to go to a karate dojo to observe! I told my father, who was a karate instructor, that I wanted to visit a karate dojo to win a fight with a boy my age. I was so excited that he immediately prepared my karate uniform (laughs), and I entered the dojo where my father was the instructor. At the dan promotion examination, I managed to pass the &#8220;Jyunin Gumite&#8221; test, in which 10 people in a row do kumite, with my nose bleeding. I earned my black belt at the age of sixth grade. However, I was addicted to softball for three years in junior high school, so I had to stay away from karate.</span></p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" A powerful photo of his signature move, the upper-level spinning kick."></div>
<p>Despite his fresh smile, Aono talks passionately about karate. When I told him that I would like to see what a black belt in karate can do, he readily agreed. He readily agreed. After returning to the waiting room and changing from his casual clothes to a dojo uniform, Aono demonstrated his signature move, the &#8220;upper-level spinning kick,&#8221; as if he had become accustomed to doing it.</p>
<p> The kick from his 171cm height was artistic and without waste. The flexibility of his body and the strength of his core were evident. The way Aono folds his leg back up to just below the knee is as beautiful as a Samurai quietly sheathing his sword.</p>
<p> Aono&#8217;s upper-level spinning kick has a &#8220;beauty that attracts,&#8221; not only as a technique for actual combat. When Aono was selected to appear in the movie &#8220;High Kick Angels,&#8221; which was released in 2002, she trained for a year to hone her skills.</p>
<figure id="attachment_451629" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-451629" style="width: 3648px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="48eac30f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/a28182590787163cb330150d3e119694-rotated.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-451629" class="wp-caption-text"> She showed us a splendid &#8220;upper-level spinning kick&#8221; against a karate expert.</figcaption></figure>
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<h2> Before she knew it, she was out of position. &#8230;&#8230;</h2>
<p> She has been going to the batting center on the side of her job for the past two years and was looking for a team that she could play on, when she found out that a grass baseball team started by a friend was looking for members.</p>
<p> Even more surprisingly, she is actually from the same elementary school as Masahiro Tanaka (37) and Hayato Sakamoto (37), both members of the Yomiuri Giants. She even played grass baseball with Tanaka a few years ago during the off-season. She has been in contact with baseball since she was a child, &#8220;not too close, but not too far away,&#8221; and now she feels the passion of the game again.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Since the team had just been established, I was able to play regularly at first,&#8221; she said. But gradually, players of a higher level began to gather, and I found myself moving from the infield to the outfield and farther afield. Now I have more opportunities to warm the bench. &#8230;&#8230; (laughs). I want to win games, so I can&#8217;t help it, but it&#8217;s a little frustrating.</span></p>
<p> His dream is to pitch the first pitch at a big baseball stadium. Last June, he appeared as a catcher in a special first pitch ceremony for pinball comedian Kota Okada (35). Like this year&#8217;s commercial, her appearance attracted a lot of attention on the Internet and social networking sites, with people asking, &#8220;Who the hell is this beautiful woman? and &#8220;Who is this beautiful woman?</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Only players are allowed to play in the big professional baseball stadiums. The only chance for a non-player to take the mound is to throw out the first pitch. I would like to stand on the mound not as a catcher, but as a pitcher. I don&#8217;t want to hit 100 km/h or anything like that. I just want to get a strike right down the middle!&#8221;</span></p>
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<p> His skills are not limited to karate and baseball.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I&#8217;m good at &#8216;tori nori&#8217; (laughed)!　Ever since I was a little girl, I&#8217;ve always loved nori &#8230;&#8230;, especially seasoned nori. When I started working part-time in high school, I used the money from my part-time job to buy all kinds of laver, saying, &#8216;This laver is better than that one,&#8217; or &#8216;This laver is cheaper!　Even now, my family and friends give me laver as gifts (laughs). (Laughs.) It&#8217;s gotten so good that when I eat it, I can tell &#8220;this is the seasoned laver from there &#8230;&#8230;&#8221;. Even when I go to a sushi restaurant, I always order a nori maki without any ingredients in order to taste the nori. It&#8217;s a pity that these days, with all the talk about the &#8220;poor catch&#8221; of nori, it&#8217;s not so easy to buy it anymore.</span></p>
<p> Finally, when asked about his future aspirations, he thought for a moment and then spoke.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> My title is &#8216;model. There are models with children at my agency. There must be different ways of working and modeling for different age groups. I hope to find a job that suits me and keep doing it for a long time to come!</span></p>
<p> According to the manager, &#8220;There are many offers for models with acting experience, and job requests for Aono are uninterrupted.</p>
<p> It seems that, like the commercials, Aono&#8217;s future is as &#8220;secure&#8221; as ever.</p>
<figure id="attachment_451630" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-451630" style="width: 3639px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="f91ea2e5"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/3fd552ae94e9f1684298a75413020e4a-rotated.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-451630" class="wp-caption-text"> During the interview, Aono responded politely with a smile.</figcaption></figure>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" [Image] Amazing &amp; Kawaii ......　Photo of Aono&#39;s true face"></div>
<figure id="attachment_451628" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-451628" style="width: 3648px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="45701efc"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/48492d3dab9b95e933e7546c325c9883-rotated.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-451628" class="wp-caption-text">Aono became a black belt in karate in the 6th grade. He only spent three years away from karate in junior high school.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_451631" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-451631" style="width: 3648px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="834f3a9d"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/539b550f7f1704afa4830c362b978716-rotated.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-451631" class="wp-caption-text"> Aono is also a versatile athlete who plays karate, softball, and baseball.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_451647" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-451647" style="width: 3648px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="4000b23c"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/f55a2c5def6b83dabd1c95831914e471-rotated.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-451647" class="wp-caption-text"> She is active as a model and actress!</figcaption></figure>
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 Takehiko Kohiyama

 Kaede Aono is a well-known commercial beauty for "Anshin Matsuri", a funeral service brand. She is an actress and model, but she also has a surprising side: she is a black belt in karate.

Interview with “CM beauty” Kaede Aono of “Anshin Matsuri”: “I’ve never seen my own CM on TV.

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