Uki Satake, one of the founding members of the Japanese idol group 9nine, is celebrating her 20th year as an idol in 2025. While 9nine is currently on hiatus, Satake has continued to thrive in her career, branching out into acting, voice acting, and hosting her own radio program. She appeared in the Japanese dramas Koizora and Kaibutsu-kun and made her breakout in voice acting with her role as QT in Space Dandy. Since then, she has taken on key roles such as Tsubomi Takane in Mob Psycho 100 and, most recently, Kiri Goshima in the anime adaptation of Junji Ito’s Uzumaki.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Uki Satake about her impressive career as a Japanese idol, her voice acting roles in anime, and her experiences meeting American fans.

Uki Satake, founding member of J-Pop idol group 9nine and Japanese actress and seiyuu

LastLooks: I know you’re coming up on 20 years as an idol, which is an incredible achievement!

Uki Satake: Thank you!

LastLooks: How do you feel you’ve grown over the years as a person and as an artist?

Uki Satake: It has been a long career as an idol, and I’ve had some incredible experiences I know are unique because of my time as an idol, so being able to live as an idol has been very enjoyable! Throughout, I’ve experienced a lot of emotions, sad moments, and many happy moments, but I’ve done it together with my members, so it’s been a very good experience!

LastLooks: I know you get an opportunity this weekend to meet fans. What’s it like to meet your international fans vs. those in Japan?

Uki Satake: In Japan, people tend to be pretty quiet, especially when they meet a celebrity, while here everyone has big reactions like yelling, “I love you!” and they’re quite emotional. I’ve been able to meet people before that have known me for my entire career in Japan, but I’ve never been able to meet them here before. It’s cool how they’ll bring memorabilia from those early days of my career to show me, which is impressive!

LastLooks: One interesting thing is idol culture has had an impact on anime conventions. They’ll cover your songs and dances. Have you had the opportunity to watch any group perform your music in America?

Uki Satake: Yes! My group has been able to create quite a number of anime songs, so I’ve been able to see some of those covered and performed.

LastLooks: I have to imagine that’s rather incredible, witnessing those and knowing you’ve helped inspire that in some way.

Uki Satake: Yes, it’s not something I regularly see, but when I do, it’s a treasure!

LastLooks: When you started out as a young idol, did you have any idea of where the future might take you? Is it a treat, still, all these years later, where your career continues to evolve?

Uki Satake: Back then, I never could’ve pictured one day I’d be here in America!

LastLooks: Has the culture of being an idol in Japan changed over the past decades?

Uki Satake: So I think it’s mostly myself who has changed, as I started out as a “baby” idol. I had to meet a lot of people and work hard, and I had to build up courage along the way. That made me feel like I could grow and present myself as I am now to an international audience.

LastLooks: You’ve transitioned into more voice acting, particularly in Japanese anime. What’s that been like?

Uki Satake: Yes, I’ve had the opportunity to act in a bunch of anime, and the most important thing I’ve seen is it’s not just a Japanese audience, but it’s an international one that’s watching. So I keep that in mind while working hard as an actor.

LastLooks: I know a breakout moment for you in anime was your role as Q.T. in Space Dandy.

Uki Satake: [Lights up] Oh, thank you!!

LastLooks: Can you talk about how that came about, and what the role of Q.T. means to you?

Uki Satake: I had to audition for the role, and I played my hardest once I got the role. I was thinking it would be the kind of show that everyone would watch, but I knew for sure that was true when coming here and meeting so many incredible fans here in America who know me as Q.T. and shared how much they loved the character and loved my acting. I’ll always remember that, and thanks so much to you too for taking the time to get to know me.

LastLooks: Of course! I’m one of those longtime fans of your work, so I’ve been excited to see your growth and evolution. I appreciate you taking the time to speak with me today, and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your convention here at Anime Weekend Atlanta!

Uki Satake: Thank you so much!!

Just ahead of Anime Weekend Atlanta, Japanese idol and 9nine member Uki Satake teamed up with K-Pop artist U_Chae (formerly of PIXY) to release their new single, ‘Morning Call.’ You can listen to the track below and learn more about the song in our recap of U_Chae’s panel at Anime Weekend Atlanta.