Maju Ozawa

Noriko Hijikata, better known by her stagename Maju Ozawa is a Japanese actress.

Early life and career

Maju Ozawa was born Noriko Hijikata in Tokyo's Kagurazaka, Shinjuku Ward. She attended Oyu Gakuen Girls' Junior and Senior High School where she became a basketball athlete for three years.
When she was in elementary school, she was scouted many times by entertainment agencies, though she could not pursue a career in show business at that time due to her strict household. However, during highschool her desire to "try it after all" grew stronger. In the spring of 1993, in her second year of high school, she was scouted in Shibuya on her way home from school and joined an agency. There, her stage name was decided by the agency's president after her large, shining eyes were described as "pearl-like". Her first project was her gravure photoshoot that were published in a Seinen manga magazine.
Ozawa made her television debut in Kamisama no Tsumiboshi in September 1993, and her film debut in Rokudenashi Blues in 1996. A year later in 1997, she appeared in the drama series Amakara- shan. In 1998, she made her stage debut in Nakajima Ramo's Kodomo no Issho.
In 2000, she appeared in a photobook called "GO MAJU GO". Ozawa also received offers to appear in gravure photos after appearing in a Hong Kong film.
In 2004, She appeared in the television drama Peony and Rose, where she gained widespread attention for her role as a bully.

Personal life

On January 31, 2014, Ozawa announced her marriage to a dentist, who is eight years her junior. They also revealed that they were expecting their first child. She gave birth to her first child, a daughter, on August 28 of that year.
On June 15, 2016, she announced that she was pregnant with her second child and gave birth to her second daughter on October 26.