Rinko Kikuchi was born on January 6th, 1981 in Kanagawa. She started her modeling and acting carrer from the age of fifteen with her real name Yuriko Kikuchi. She made her film debut in Ikitai in 1999, which was directed by Kaneto Shindo. She has since added more than a dozen Movies and TV-Commercial films to her credit. She gave particularly strong performances in Hole of the Sky, which was directed by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri and in Tori / Kokorono Katana, directed by Tadanobu Asano.

Kikuchi also she appeared in Taste of Tea, directed By Katsuhito Ishii, which was selected by The 57th Cannes film festival in 2004. She changed her name Yuriko to Rinko for her screen name in May of 2004