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15 May – Japanese actress Kikuchi Rinko has reportedly ended her relationship with director Spike Jonze, after being separated by their busy lifestyles.
According to Tokyo Hive, the 31-year-old Academy Best Supporting Actress nominee for "Babel" had told her close acquaintances that she has ended the two-year relationship at the end of 2011, which was later confirmed by her agency.
Kikuchi and the 42-year-old renowned director had met while Jonze was in Japan promoting his film adaptation of the recently belated Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are" in 2009.
Soon after in September 2010, the pair was seen holding hands at the Venezuela Film Festival for the screening of "Norwegian Wood", which starred Kikuchi.
"We met through a film festival. We are properly seeing each other. I want to take care of him," Kikuchi said at the time.
Although Kikuchi has since moved to New York during their relationship, their busy lifestyles were to be blamed for growing them apart until they decided to break it off. However, Kikuchi has said that she has no plans of returning to Japan and would be making New York her base.
She is expected to appear alongside Keanu Reeves and Akanishi Jin in the upcoming film "47 Ronin".
