Araki was scouted on Takeshita Street in Harajuku when she was in the fifth grade by her agency, Stardust Promotion.[3][4] She initially worked as a model for children's clothing catalogues[5] before making her on-screen debut in May 2008 with a main role in Ikari o Nagero.[1][6][7] She subsequently had minor roles in films such as Aoi Tori, Confessions, and Usotsuki Mii-kun to Kowareta Maa-chan.[6]
Even up until high school, Araki struggled to pass acting auditions. Upon entering university, she decided that if she did not achieve results within the next four years, she would give up on acting.[8] She would experience a breakthrough in her career in 2014 when she became an exclusive model for the magazine Non-no, making her a flagship model.[7] She then began appearing in commercials, signing contracts with major companies, such as Skylark Holdings' restaurant Gusto.
In 2015, she was chosen as the 8th CM girl for wedding magazine Zexy [ja], which increased her public recognition. Her modelling work increased her public profile, which helped her get more acting jobs. Despite being in the entertainment industry since the age of 10, she was frequently introduced as a "new actress", so she began to devote herself to acting as if she were a newcomer.[8] She secured her first leading television drama role in the Fuji TV drama Love Love Alien in 2016.[9]
In 2017, Araki had supporting roles in the shows Crisis: Special Security Squad[10] and Code Blue Season 3.[11] In July, she released her first photo book, "Girlfriend".[12] In August, she was selected as the model for fashion brand SLY's 2017-18 fall/winter campaign.[13]
In January 2019, she played the leading role in Trace: Kasouken no Otoko.[14] On July 12, 2019, with the film's release, she made her voice acting debut as Gabby Gabby in the Japanese dub of Toy Story 4.[15] In October, she co-starred with Kora Kengo in the Fuji TV Thursday drama Motokare Mania, marking her first lead role in a terrestrial TV drama.[16]
In February 2020, Araki was appointed as a Japanese brand ambassador for the French luxury fashion brand Dior, with whom she had frequently been affiliated with, attending their fashion shows since 2018.[17] In October of the same year, she starred in her first drama as a solo lead in the Wowow drama series The Confession of the Sirens.[18]
Araki graduated from her position as an exclusive model for Non-no in their December 2021 issue, which was released on October 20, 2021.[19]
On March 26, 2022, she launched her official YouTube channel.[20]
^小栗旬×西島秀俊、新火9ドラマに田中哲司、野間口徹、新木優子ら出演決定 [Oguri Shun and Nishijima Hidetoshi will appear in the new Tuesday 9pm drama with Tanaka Tetsuji, Nomaguchi Toru, and Araki Yuko]. Oricon News (in Japanese). January 28, 2017. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
^新木優子:「トイ・ストーリー」新作で声優初挑戦 子供に愛されたことがない人形役 [Yuko Araki takes on voice acting for the first time in the new "Toy Story" movie, playing a doll who has never been loved by a child]. Mantan-web (in Japanese). May 30, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
^新木優子『non-no』モデル卒業へ「感謝の気持ちでいっっっっぱいです!!」 [Yuko Araki graduates from "non-no" modeling: "I'm filled with gratitude!!"]. Oricon News (in Japanese). October 1, 2021. Retrieved November 25, 2024.