Takeuchi was born on April 1, 1980 in Urawa, Saitama, Japan. She was “discovered” during spring break in Harajuku after junior high school.

Takeuchi was married to Shidō Nakamura II (who had co-starred with Takeuchi in the film Be With You) from May 10, 2005, until their divorce on February 29, 2008. She had a son with Nakamura who was born in November 2005. Prior to the couple’s divorce, Nakamura had apologized for a drunk driving incident where he was with actress Aya Okamoto and later seen with actress Saki Takaoka. After the drunk driving incident, Takeuchi reportedly moved to live in her management office shortly before filing for divorce in October 2006.

In 2010, Takeuchi appeared on the science fiction American TV serial FlashForward, in two episodes (as a character portrayed in five). Director Michael Nankin called her “Japan’s answer to Audrey Hepburn”. Takeuchi’s dialogue was in Japanese, but she said the experience caused her to make it a goal to master English, as she wished she had been able to communicate better with other the cast members and crew.

Takeuchi’s earlier films include Hoshi Ni Negaiwo, Yomigaeri and Be with You (Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu). Her performances in Yomigaeri (2003), Be With You (2004) and Spring Snow (2005) were recognized by the Japanese Academy Awards. She later won the Best Supporting Actress Award at the Japanese Academy Awards for her role in the 2014 film Cape Nostalgia.

In 2018, Takeuchi portrayed the titular character in Hulu/HBO Asia series Miss Sherlock, an adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes detective stories.

Takeuchi married actor Taiki Nakabayashi on February 27, 2019. Her son, in junior high school at the time, was reported to have actively encouraged her second marriage. In November 2019, she announced she was pregnant, and gave birth to her second son in January 2020.

On September 27, 2020, at 2 am (JST), Takeuchi was found hanged at her home in Shibuya, Tokyo. She was taken to a hospital, but died shortly afterwards. No suicide note has been found. She was 40 years old.