Best known for her role of Kiyomi Nagashima/Mitochondria Eve in Parasite Eve (1997), Riona Hazuki, born under the name Mai Yamada, moved to Chicago when she was nine years old and lived there until 1992. At that point she was discovered by a Japanese talent scout who was impressed by the 17 year old girl. Shortly afterwards, Hazuki flew back to Japan to begin an acting career. She started off as a regular in several Japanese television shows before making the jump to the big screen in 1995 with the film Sharaku. Two years later, she got the role of the antagonist in the film Parasite Eve (1997).

Unfortunately, Hazuki has a larger reputation outside of the screen rather than on it, making headlines for her book, featuring numerous shots of her nude, and her habit of having relationships with married men, such as actor Hiroyuki Sanada who was later divorced by his wife (Satomi Tezuka) as a result of the affair. As a side note, Hazuki has two different spellings for her name, 葉月里緒奈 and 葉月里緒菜. Both are pronounced the same way, though, and the reported reason for the difference is that one was intended for the Korean market.

Other names: Mai Yamada (山田麻衣), Riona Hazuki (葉月里緒菜)