Rola (model)

Early 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 father is from Bangladesh and her mother is of Japanese and Russian descent. Her parents were divorced and she was primarily raised by her step-mother, who is Chinese. She has a twin brother, with whom she is said to get along well, and a younger half-brother and half-sister who are also 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.

Father's arrest

In June 2013, it was revealed that the Tokyo Metropolitan Police had issued an arrest warrant for Rola's father, Jurip Al-Asa, for conspiring with another Bangladeshi to defraud the national health insurance system out of 875,000 yen (approximately $9000 US) in payment for an operation he had supposedly undergone overseas. Rola publicly apologized on her blog on July 1, 2013. Al-Asa was arrested by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police on July 26, 2014 having presented himself to the Suginami police department. At the time, he denied any attempt to defraud the national health insurance system and was released without charge on August 15, 2014 on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him. Al-Asa was later rearrested in October.

Al-Asa was formally prosecuted with a preliminary hearing in late December where he admitted to the entirety of the prosecution's account of events. He stated that his original denial of the charge was due to not wanting his children to be "a child of a criminal".

Although some media commentators claim that the Al-Asa's arrest warrant and subsequent prosecution directly led to a reduction in Rola's television appearances, other commentators claim this is due to a change in strategy; her continued appearance in commercials (more than any other Japanese celebrity in 2014) is cited as evidence for this.

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.

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 naivete, 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" where she presents alongside veteran TV presenter and comedian, Atsushi Tamura.

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 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.

Twitter

Rola joined the social media site Twitter on February 29, 2012. After three days, she gained over 190,000 followers. After two weeks, the number had risen to over 430,000, the largest number amongst Japanese models, followed by Tsubasa Masuwaka and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. It reached over 670,000 by April 13, 2012, and 1,000,000 in October 2012. In June 2014, she became the fourth Japanese celebrity to exceed two million followers. As of January 2015, she has the third highest number of followers (over 2.5 million) for a Japanese celebrity, second amongst Japanese female celebrities.

Advertising work

In 2009, as an exclusive Vivi model, she became the model for "Vivifleurs" women's suits following a joint enterprise between Vivi and Haruyama Trading Co.,Ltd.. In 2011, along with Mizuki Yamamoto, Yuri Ebihara, Jessica Michibata, Tomomi Itano, Hazuki Tsuchiya and Taylor Momsen, Rola became a model for the fashion label Samantha Thavasa, appearing in television commercials and catalogues. Modeling for the cosmetics brand Brigitte in January 2012, Rola appeared in television commercials, which targets the early-twenties market. That April, Rola also signed a contract with Fujiya Co., appearing alongside the brand's mascot "Peko-chan"; a new brand of sweets featuring Rola on the packaging was released by the company in September of that year. Mail-order retailer for young women's lingerie Peach John was represented by Rola in May 2012, where she appeared on the front cover of the brand's catalogue. As of August 2014, she continues to represent the brand in television commercials. In August 2012, Rola represented the takoyaki restaurant chain HotLand corporation appearing in television commercials and on posters for the company. In 2013, Rola appeared on television commercials for: beauty-products specialists "Tsuyamote Beauty", foot care brand Dr. Scholl's, soft drinks company "Momo no Ten-nensui" and Mitsui Outlet Park. Alongside Girolamo Panzetta, Rola also appeared in a television commercial for day spa company TBC.

In 2014, she featured in another commercial for TBC and an advertisement for the mobile news application "Antenna". Rola was announced as the image character for Bandai's handheld digital pet, Tamagotchi 4U, in July 2014. A limited-edition "pet" based on Rola herself was released in September 2014. In December 2014, it was revealed that Rola had advertising contracts with fifteen companies: more than any other Japanese celebrity in 2014.

2012

2013

2014