Actress Announces Her Retirement, Hints At Family Member’s Controversy

A multi-talented star will be leaving the entertainment industry after her contract with her agency expires this month.

Nishiuchi Mariya is a Japanese actress, model, and singer-songwriter, as well as the younger sister of Nishiuchi Hiro (also known as Nishiuchi Hiromi), a model and former member of the Japanese girl group BeForU. Mariya debuted as a model in 2007, as an actress in 2008, and as a singer in 2014. Since then, she has appeared in over a dozen films and series, including Netflix‘s The Naked Director in 2021.

Throughout her modeling career, Mariya modelled for major brands alongside some K-Pop idols, such as Yves Saint Laurent and BVLGARI.

On May 15, Mariya announced her retirement, which will begin after her contract ends on May 30, in a statement on X (formerly Twitter). In it, Mariya said that she stopped updating her social media at the beginning of 2025 and hasn’t been able to answer job offers or supportive messages.

Her decision to retire stems from trouble with an unnamed family member, who could be Hiro, according to Japanese media reports. “While I will refrain from going into detail, earlier this year it came to light that a member of my family was involved in a certain incident,” Mariya wrote. “Although I was not involved, I felt there was a risk that it could develop into a larger issue and cause inconvenience to many parties, so I voluntarily suspended my activities.”

ご報告です pic.twitter.com/zADMoTUp7s

— Mariya Nishiuchi (@Ma_realife) May 15, 2025

In 2019, Hiro’s male acquaintance caused trouble for the Nishiuchi family with his investment scam. The acquaintance reportedly convinced Mariya’s mother to invest 50 million yen (approximately $342,612 USD), and after she saw some returns on her investment, she encouraged friends to also invest, believing it was legitimate. This ultimately resulted in unwitting investors, including some celebrities, being scammed out of their money after the scammer suddenly disappeared.  Following the controversy, Mariya deleted photos of her and her sister from her Instagram account.