Tomohisa Yamashita
Tomohisa Yamashita 山下 智久 | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Yamapi (山P), Pi (ぴー) |
| Origin | Funabashi, Chiba, Japan |
| Genres | J-pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, actor, idol |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Labels | Johnny's Entertainment |
| Website | www |
Tomohisa Yamashita (山下 智久, Yamashita Tomohisa, born April 9, 1985), also widely known as Yamapi,[1] is a Japanese idol, actor, and singer.[2]
Yamashita joined the Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates in 1996 at the age of 11 and made his official CD debut with NEWS in 2004.[2] He debuted as a solo artist in 2006 with the hit single "Daite Senorita".[3] Yamashita graduated from Meiji University's faculty of commerce in the fall of 2008 with a degree in marketing.[4]
His first solo album, Supergood, Superbad, was released on January 26, 2011. Like all of his previous releases, the album debuted on top of the Oricon weekly charts.[5] On October 7, 2011, Johnny & Associates announced that Yamashita was no longer a member of NEWS and would continue on as a solo artist in the agency.[6]
His recent works as an actor include the 2011 movie Ashita no Joe, the winter 2010 series Code Blue 2, and the Summer 2009 series Buzzer Beat. Code Blue 2 and Buzzer Beat aired in Fuji TV's prestigious getsuku (Monday 9 p.m.) time-slot in Japan, making Yamashita the first person to have starred in two Monday night dramas with only a single drama season in between.[7] Yamashita will be returning to the small screen with the winter 2012 drama serial Saikō no Jinsei no Owarikata: Ending Planner.[8]
From January 12, 2012, NTV will begin airing Yamashita Tomohisa Route 66: Tatta Hitori no America (山下智久・ルート６６～たったひとりのアメリカ), a weekly documentary featuring his cross-country trip across the historic Route 66.[9]
Background
Personal life
Yamashita was born in Funabashi, Chiba. Yamashita's parents separated when he was very young and both Yamashita and his younger sister were raised mainly by his mother.[10][11] He moved from Chiba to Tokyo during his middle school years due to the demands of his career.
Yamashita graduated from Horikoshi Gakuen's performing arts course for high school students in 2004. At Horikoshi, he shared a classroom with celebrities such as Koki Tanaka, and Koike Teppei, along with Yu Shirota who would go on to become one of Yamashita’s closest friends. After graduating from high school, Yamashita was accepted into Meiji University's School of Commerce. He graduated with a Commerce degree (major in marketing) in autumn 2008, a semester late, because he could not fulfill attendance requirements for his final semester courses.[4]
Pre-debut
Yamashita was motivated to send in his application to the talent agency Johnny & Associates after watching one of Takizawa Hideaki's dramas and aspiring to appear on television.[2][12] He sent in applications to many agencies but only Johnny & Associates called him for an audition.[12] He joined the agency in August 1996 and became part of the Johnny's Jrs. As a Junior, Yamashita was often partnered with Toma Ikuta as they were both members of the groups Jr.Boys, B.I.G, and 4TOPS.
During his time as a Junior, Yamashita participated in concerts and television performances as a back dancer for groups such as V6 and Kinki Kids. He also took part in variety programs such as Shownen J, Music Jump, Gakibara Teikoku 2000! and USO!Japan. Notably, he was an emcee on the NHK's Shounen Club from its inception in 2000 till his debut in 2004, and has continued to make infrequent guest appearances on the program.
Moreover, the members of Yamashita's group B.I.G (Bad Image Generation), which included Ikuta, Jun Hasegawa, Shunsuke Kazama, Koki Tanaka and Koichi Goseki, served as the main personalities on the TV Tokyo television show I Love B.I.G (愛ラブB.I.G, Ai Love B.I.G) from October 1998 to April 1999. Soon after the show's run, B.I.G was reduced to just Yamashita and Ikuta. Then, in 2002, 4TOPS was formed with former B.I.G members Yamashita, Ikuta, Hasegawa, and Kazama to lead the Juniors after the debut of Tackey & Tsubasa.
Yamashita began to appear in television dramas soon after he became a Junior. His first major recurring role was a part in the 2000 TBS drama Ikebukuro West Gate Park at the age of fifteen, which earned him a Nippon Sports Grand Prix award for "Best New Comer". That same year, he won a number of magazine awards such as "Best Boyfriend" and "Most Beautiful" for the first time.
Acting & music
In September 2003, Yamashita and eight other boys from Johnny's Juniors were chosen to form the group NEWS. NEWS made its formal debut on May 12, 2004. Yamashita was often referred to as the leader[13] of NEWS but members of the group, including Yamashita himself, have stated at times that he was not the de facto leader.[14][15]
In October 2005, Yamashita and Kazuya Kamenashi from KAT-TUN formed the temporary unit Shuuji to Akira (Shuuji and Akira) to promote their television show Nobuta o Produce which also starred Maki Horikita. (Shuuji and Akira are the characters they portray in the drama.) They also released a single, "Seishun Amigo", under the name Shuuji to Akira, which sold over a million copies in four weeks. "Seishun Amigo" topped the Oricon Yearly Single Rankings for 2005.
In spring 2006, Yamashita recorded Kurosagi: The Black Swindler, a drama based on the manga of the same name. "Kurosagi" is basically about the art of swindling. For this purpose, Yamashita recorded his single "Daite Señorita" which reached number 1 in the Oricon ranking. Maki Horikita also starred with Yamashita in this drama.
In the latter half of 2006, Yamashita joined a Thai duo called Golf&Mike, who are brothers, to form a temporary unit called Kitty GYM along with Hiromitsu Kitayama (Kis-my-ft2), Kei Inoo (J.J. Express), Shota Totsuka (A.B.C.), Hikaru Yaotome (Ya-Ya-Yah). The unit was created to cheer on the Japan Women's Volleyball team and they released a single in August called "Fever and Future" under the name GYMwhich stands for Golf, Yamashita and Mike, respectively. Yamashita returned as a member of NEWS on December 31, 2006 on Johnny's Countdown 2006–2007.
Yamashita, along with KAT-TUN's Koki Tanaka and Kis-my-ft2's Taisuke Fujigaya, then starred in Byakkotai, a mini-drama in two parts that aired in January 2007. The drama special featured the story of Sakai Mineji one of the members of Byokkotai.
In April 2007, Yamashita was cast as Ken Iwase in a romance drama series called Proposal Daisakusen (Operation Love) alongside Masami Nagasawa. This was his first lead role in a Fuji TV primetime drama. The drama gained a strong following which resulted in the production of a special the following year.
In July 2008, Yamashita starred in the medical drama Code Blue, playing flight doctor in training Kosaku Aizawa, alongside actresses Yui Aragaki and Erika Toda. The Code Blue special was later broadcast in January 2009. Yamashita and the main cast revived their roles for Code Blue 2. The time slot of the series changed to Mondays at 9pm marking Yamashita's third time in the popular time slot.
Industry watchdog Nikkei Entertainment placed him at the top of their annual ranking of under-30 celebrities in 2008 due to his achievements in multiple entertainment fields that year.[16] Nikkei later christened him the 'twenty-something ratings man', singling him out as one of the rare young actors who could successfully lead romance dramas and who possessed a stable ratings record despite the declining drama industry.[17]
In the summer of 2009, Yamashita starred as the leading actor in a sports/romance drama called Buzzer Beat alongside Keiko Kitagawa who played an aspiring musician. On 30 August, NEWS hosted NTV's 24 Hour Television event for charity.
Following the release of his second solo single, "Loveless", Yamashita held his first solo concert, "Short but Sweet" at the Yokohama Arena in November 2009. Encore shows for "Short But Sweet" were held at the Osaka Jo Hall in January 2010.
During the early months of 2010, Yamashita starred in Code Blue 2. Days after filming for Code Blue 2 was wrapped up, Yamashita began filming for Ashita no Joe, a live-action adaptation of the manga of the same name. In July 2010, Yamashita released his third solo single "One in a Million" which debuted atop the Oricon charts.[18]
Yamashita returned to the big screen as Yabuki Joe in the live adaptation of Ashita no Joe in February 2011. The movie also starred Karina as Yuko, Yusuke Iseya as Rikiishi, and Kagawa Teruyuki as Tange Danpei.
His first full fledged solo tour, "Supergood, Superbad: Asia Tour 2011" kicked off on January 29 in Hong Kong.[19] The tour included stops in the Asian cities of Hong Kong, Taipei, Seoul and Bangkok, as well as the Japanese cities of Tokyo, Osaka, Hokkaido and Fukuoka. Johnny's Junior group A.B.C-Z supported Yamashita during the overseas stops and the Tokyo concerts. The Hokkaido and Taipei shows were postponed due to the Great Tohoku Earthquake and the tour eventually concluded in Hokkaido on May 31, 2011.
On October 7, 2011, Johnny & Associates announced that Yamashita and Ryo Nishikido were no longer members of NEWS, and Yamashita would henceforth be concentrating on his solo projects.[6] Yamashita later published a message through the Johnny's web (Jweb) subscription service stating that this was a decision taken after much consideration on his part, and he was grateful to the members of NEWS for being understanding.[20]
It was revealed on November 9, 2011 that Yamashita has been cast in the TBS drama Saikō no Jinsei no Owarikata: Ending Planner as the second of five siblings who reluctantly inherits a funeral service dealing with bodies brought in by the police. Saikō no Jinsei is described as a family drama with mystery and romance elements. According to Producer Iyoda Hidenori, Yamashita wanted to appear in a drama dealing with the warmth of a family.[21]
Composing & song-writing
 |
| Song | Single/Album | |
|---|---|---|
| Composer; Lyricist | Love Song | Touch album – NEWS |
| Lyricist | Colorful (Dragon Zakura OST) | Seishun Amigo single – Shuuji to Akira |
| Composer; Lyricist | Yubiwa | Daite Senorita single – Tomohisa Yamashita |
| Composer; Lyricist | Houkago Blues | Fever to Future single – GYM |
| Composer; Lyricist | Gomen ne Juliet | Pacific album – NEWS |
| Co-Lyricist (Rap) | Fight All Night | cartoon KAT-TUN II You album – KAT-TUN |
| Lyricist (Rap) | Snow Express | color album – NEWS |
| Lyricist | Moonlight | Loveless single – Tomohisa Yamashita |
| Composer; Lyricist | World is Yours | One in a million single – Tomohisa Yamashita |
| Co-Lyricist; Co-Composer (with NEWS) | Share | Live album – NEWS |
| Composer; Lyricist | Ao | Supergood, Superbad album – Tomohisa Yamashita |
| Lyricist | Friday Night | Supergood, Superbad album – Tomohisa Yamashita |
| Co-Lyricist (with R.wolf) | Party Don't Stop | Supergood, Superbad album – Tomohisa Yamashita |
| Co-Lyricist (with R.wolf) | Tomo | Supergood, Superbad album – Tomohisa Yamashita |
| Composer; Lyricist | Time | N/A (Performed on Shounen Club, April 2004) |
| Lyricist | Pain | N/A (NEWS Nippon 0304 DVD) |
| Co-composer; Co-Lyricist (with Kato Shigeaki) | Ashita E | N/A (Performed on Shounen Club, December 11, 2005) |
| Composer; Lyricist | Let Me | N/A (Performed on Shounen Club, May 2006) |
| Co-Composer; Co-Lyricist (with Kato Shigeaki) | Road | N/A (Performed on NEWS Spring Concerts, April 2006) |
| Composer; Co-Lyricist (with Tanaka Koki) | Kiss de Tsutaete | N/A (Performed on Shounen Club, January 2007) |
| Co-Lyricist (with Koyama Keiichiro) | Ginza Rhapsody | N/A (NEWS Live Diamond DVD) |
Discography
- For NEWS, Shuuji to Akira and Kitty GYM-related releases, please see NEWS' Discography, Shuuji to Akira's Single and Kitty GYM.
Albums
| Release Date | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 26 January 2011 | Supergood, Superbad | Johnny's Entertainment |
Singles
| Release Date | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 31 May 2006 | Daite Señorita (抱いてセニョリータ, Daite Senyoriita) | Johnny's Entertainment |
| 18 November 2009 | Loveless | Johnny's Entertainment |
| 28 July 2010 | One in a million | Johnny's Entertainment |
| 19 January 2011 | Hadakanbō (はだかんぼー) | Johnny's Entertainment |
Filmography
Television Dramas
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Shounentachi (NHK) | Kakuda Shinya | Tanpatsu (Short Series) |
| 1999 | Nekketsu Renaido (NTV) | N/A | Episode 7 |
| 1999 | P.P.O.I (NTV) | Amano Taira | Tanpatsu |
| 1999 | Kowai Nichiyobi (NTV) | N/A | Episode 13 |
| 1999 | Kiken na Kankei (Fuji TV) | Miyabe Satoshi | Episodes 10-11; Renzoku (Regular Series) |
| 2000 | Ikebukuro West Gate Park (TBS) | Mizuno Shun | Renzoku |
| 2000 | Shijo Saiaku no Date (NTV) | Okumura Yuki | Episode 1 |
| 2000 | All Star Chushingura Matsuri (TBS) | Asano Takumi | Special |
| 2001 | Kabachitare (Fuji TV) | Tamura Yuta | Renzoku |
| 2001 | Shounen wa Tori ni Natta (TBS) | Nagashima Ken | Special |
| 2002 | Long Love Letter (Fuji TV) | Ootomo Tadashi | Renzoku |
| 2002 | Lunch no Joou (Fuji TV) | Nabeshima Koshiro | Renzoku |
| 2003 | Stand Up!! (TBS) | Iwasaki Kengo | Renzoku |
| 2003 | Budou no Ki | Shindo Yosuke | Special |
| 2004 | Engimono 9: Kuruizaki Virgin Road (Fuji TV) | Hajime | Tanpatsu; Stageplay made for TV |
| 2004 | Sore wa, Totsuzen Arashi you ni (TBS) | Fukazawa Takuma | Renzoku |
| 2005 | Dragon Zakura (TBS) | Yajima Yuusuke | Renzoku |
| 2005 | Nobuta wo Produce (NTV) | Kusano Akira | Renzoku |
| 2006 | Kurosagi (TBS) | Kurosaki | Renzoku; First Lead Role |
| 2007 | Byakkotai (TV Asahi) | Sakai Shintaro; Sakai Mineji | Two-part Special; Lead |
| 2007 | Proposal Daisakusen (Fuji TV) | Iwase Ken | Renzoku; Lead |
| 2008 | Proposal Daisakusen SP (Fuji TV) | Iwase Ken | Special; Lead |
| 2008 | Code Blue (Fuji TV) | Aizawa Kousaku | Renzoku; Lead |
| 2009 | Code Blue SP (Fuji TV) | Aizawa Kousaku | Special; Lead |
| 2009 | Buzzer Beat (Fuji TV) | Kamiya Naoki | Renzoku; Lead |
| 2010 | Code Blue 2 (Fuji TV) | Aizawa Kousaku | Second season; Renzoku; Lead |
| 2012 | Saikō no Jinsei no Owarikata: Ending Planner (TBS) | TBA | Renzoku; Lead |
Film
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Shinrei no Surfer Shi | Extra |
| 2008 | Eiga: Kurosagi | Kurosaki |
| 2011 | Ashita no Joe | Yabuki Joe |
References
- ^ "Shōnen Club". (in Japanese). May 18, 2003. NHK.
{{cite episode}}: Missing or empty|series=(help) - ^ a b c "Shōnen Club Premium". (in Japanese). February 18, 2007. NHK.
{{cite episode}}: Missing or empty|series=(help) - ^ 山下智久、首位でジャニーズ勢快挙！！, Oricon, 2006-06-07. Retrieved on 2010-06-18. Template:Ja icon
- ^ a b ＮＥＷＳ山下智久が晴れて明大卒業, Nikkan Sports, 2008-09-19. Retrieved on 2009-01-09. Template:Ja icon
- ^ 山下智久のアルバム売り上げランキング, 2011-01-26. Retrieved on 2011-02-20.
- ^ a b "山Ｐ, 錦戸が ＮＥＷＳ 脱退!". Sponichi (in Japanese). Japan. 7 October 2011. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help); Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - ^ Code Blue gets second season in Fuji TV's Monday night time slot, TokyoGraph. Retrieved on 2010-06-18.
- ^ "Yamashita Tomohisa to star in drama series "Saikou no Jinsei no Owarikata". 9 November 2011.
- ^ language = japanese "山下「ルート６６」一人旅！アメリカ横断３７５５キロ走破". Yomiuri. Japan. 9 December 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
{{cite news}}: Check|url=value (help); Missing pipe in:|url=(help) - ^ Yamashita, Tomohisa (2004), Yamashita Tomohisa's Diary (in Japanese)
- ^ "Jounetsu Tariku (Passionate Continent)". (in Japanese). March 2, 2008. TBS.
{{cite episode}}: Missing or empty|series=(help) - ^ a b "Asaichi". (in Japanese). February 4, 2011. NTV.
{{cite episode}}: Missing or empty|series=(help) - ^ OHT1T00016.htm "ビッグＮＥＷＳ！山Ｐ交際３か月！モデル・加賀美セイラと：芸能：スポーツ報知". Sports Hochi (in Japanese). Yomiuri Shimbun. 2009-09-16. Retrieved 2010-06-24.
{{cite web}}: Check|url=value (help)[dead link] - ^ Yamashita, Tomohisa; Koyama, Keiichiro (July 2004), "NEWS FRESH 2x4", デュエット(Duet). (in Japanese)
- ^ "Hanamaru Cafe". (in Japanese). August 10, 2007. TBS.
{{cite episode}}: Missing or empty|series=(help) - ^ 日経エンタテインメント(Nikkei Entertainment) (in Japanese), January 2009
{{citation}}: Missing or empty|title=(help). - ^ 日経エンタテインメント (Nikkei Entertainment) (in Japanese), August 2009
{{citation}}: Missing or empty|title=(help). - ^ 山下智久ソロ新作、初回盤DVDには横アリソロコン50分, 2010-06-22. Retrieved on 2010-06-30.
- ^ "Yamashita Tomohisa announces solo tour in Asia". 17 November 2010. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
- ^ Yamashita, Tomohisa (October 14, 2011), Yamashita Tomohisa's Diary - Vol. 2604 (in Japanese)
- ^ "山P ＮEWS脱退後初ドラマ 2年ぶり主演作で葬儀屋". Chunichi Sports (in Japanese). Japan. 9 November 2011. Retrieved 10 November 2011.