| Kamenashi Kazuya |
|
Kamenashi Kazuya (亀梨 和也) |
| Born |
February 23, 1986 (age 27) |
| Origin |
Edogawa, Tokyo, Japan |
| Genres |
J-pop |
| Occupations |
Singer–songwriter, actor, TV host, producer, radio host, model |
| Instruments |
Vocals, guitar |
| Years active |
1998–present |
| Labels |
J Storm |
| Associated acts |
KAT-TUN, Shūji to Akira, Tomohisa Yamashita, Kōichi Dōmoto |
| Website |
www.j-storm.co.jp/kattun |
Kazuya Kamenashi (亀梨 和也 Kamenashi Kazuya?, born February 23, 1986) is a
Japanese idol,
singer–songwriter,
actor,
television personality,
producer,
radio host, and occasional
model. Born and raised in
Edogawa, Tokyo, he joined the Japanese talent agency,
Johnny & Associates, at the age of 12 and was drafted as a member and co-lead vocalist of the popular J-pop group
KAT-TUN
in 2001. The group officially debuted in 2006, and has since achieved a
string of chart successes with all six albums and 18 singles reaching
number 1 on the
Oricon charts.
[1][2] He is also one half of the temporary group,
Shūji to Akira, whose only single, "Seishun Amigo", became the best-selling single of 2005 in Japan.
Kamenashi has also established himself as an actor with award-winning roles in
Nobuta wo Produce, the second season of
Gokusen,
Kami no Shizuku,
Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge and has regularly appeared in various
television dramas since 2005.
Early life [edit]
Born in
Edogawa, Tokyo
on February 23, 1986, Kamenashi is the third child of his parents. He
has two older brothers, Yūichirō and Kōji, and one younger brother,
Yūya. He also has two sisters-in-law and a niece from his second
brother's marriage and a nephew from his first brother's marriage. His
given name comes from a character from the manga,
Touch, written by a Japanese
manga artist,
Mitsuru Adachi.
[3] Coincidentally, bandmate
Tatsuya Ueda was also named after the twin brother of Kamenashi's namesake.
[3]
An avid baseball fan and player like the character he was named after,
Kamenashi once represented his country in the junior world league as
shortstop though he had to give up the sport professionally due to lack of spare time after he was accepted into
Johnny's Entertainment despite having the support of
Johnny Kitagawa, the agency's president, to pursue both careers.
[4]
Recording career [edit]
Pre-debut [edit]
During the audition stages for the agency, he was in the same interview group as
KAT-TUN bandmate,
Yuichi Nakamaru and former member
Jin Akanishi.
[4]
Solo ventures [edit]
In 2005, Kamenashi co-starred in the television school drama,
Nobuta wo Produce, with
Tomohisa Yamashita of
NEWS. The opening theme for the show, "Seishun Amigo
(青春アミーゴ?)", was released as a single under the name
Shūji to Akira
("Shūji and Akira"), after the names of their respective characters.
"Seishun Amigo" was a massive hit debuting at number 1 upon its release
on November 2, 2005 and sold more than 1 million copies in less than 4
weeks. It went on to spend 34 weeks in the
Oricon
weekly singles chart and became the best-selling single of 2005 in
Japan. The song also continued its lengthy chart run into early 2006 and
became the third best-selling song of 2006.
Though not a consistent lyricist, Kamenashi has written several songs often under the
pen name "K²". He wrote and performed a song entitled "Kizuna" for the second season of
Gokusen
which was one of the B-sides on the "Seishun Amigo" single and penned a
song called "Special Happiness" and recorded it as a duet with
bandmate, Junnosuke Taguchi.
Commercial success with KAT-TUN [edit]
KAT-TUN's vast fanbase made it one of Japan's most prominent
J-pop idol groups by 2006 and the group officially debuted on March 22, 2006 with their single "
Real Face", which debuted at number 1 on the
Oricon
weekly singles charts selling over more than 700,000 copies before
going on to sell more than a million units by the end of the year. Their
debut album,
Best of KAT-TUN,
featuring songs made popular during their live performances and some
which were written for the album, sold more than 500,000 copies in its
first week and also topped the Oricon album chart.
The group's seventh and eighth singles, "
Don't U Ever Stop" and "
White X'mas"
continued their success on the music charts when it both debuted at
number 1 selling 381,672 and 250,106 copies respectively. Their next two
singles, "
One Drop" and "
Rescue" also debuted at number 1 in February 2009 and March 2009, respectively, as did their fourth studio album,
Break the Records -by you & for you-. As of May 2009, KAT-TUN has sold over 6 million records in just over three years.
Acting career [edit]
Kamenashi only returned to the small screen as an actor four years later in 2005 starring opposite
Yukie Nakama and former bandmate
Jin Akanishi in the second season of
Gokusen
as Ryū Odagiri, a troubled high school student. The show remained
popular with viewers finishing its run with an average viewership rating
of 27.8% and was awarded "Best Drama" while Kamenashi was awarded "Best
Supporting Actor" at the 44th Television Drama Academy Awards.
Additionally, he also won "Best Supporting Actor" for his performance at
the 8th
Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix. He also co-starred with
Juri Ueno the same year in the special television movie of
Kinda'ichi Shōnen no Jikenbo taking over the role of Hajime Kinda'ichi from
Jun Matsumoto who last portrayed it in 2001. Kamenashi capped the year with his lead role of Shūji Kiritani in
Nobuta wo Produce which won him further acting accolades when he was named "Best Lead Actor" at the 47th Television Drama Academy Awards.
In 2009, Kamenashi was cast in a live-action adaptation of a
wine-themed manga,
Kami no Shizuku, as the leading actor.
[5] Voters awarded him, his co-stars (
Riisa Naka and
Seiichi Tanabe) and the drama a near clean sweep of the winter edition of the Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix Awards in March 2009.
[6] He made a guest appearance as a doctor on the third episode of
TBS drama series,
Mr. Brain, opposite
senpai Takuya Kimura.
[7] Kamenashi also made his film debut on July 11, 2009, reprising his role of Ryū Odagiri, now a trainee teacher in
Gokusen The Movie.
[8][9]
The movie earned half a billion yen in its opening weekend landing at
the top spot of the box office and stayed in the top ten for six
consecutive weeks.
[10] It later ranked at number 16 on Japan's 2009 yearly box office results raking in 33,963,369 USD at the end of its run.
[11]
In 2010, he was cast in the leading role of Kyohei Takano for a live-action adaptation of popular manga,
Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge,
which aired on NTV. It was named Best Drama by voters of the 13th
Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix Awards in March 2010 while Kamenashi and
his co-star,
Aya Omasa, were also awarded Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress respectively.
[12]
Other endeavors [edit]
Modeling & Fashion [edit]
Kamenashi walked the runway in 2008 for
Hermès' men's autumn/winter 2008 collection in Tokyo.
[13]
In 2010, Kamenashi won the annual Best Jeanist award with more than
29,000 votes in the men's category, almost triple that of second
runner-up,
Masaki Aiba.
This is his fifth consecutive win and is thus promoted into the hall of
fame, making him Eternal Best Jeanist and ineligible for future runs.
[14]
Baseball [edit]
Kamenashi threw the first pitch at the
Pacific League opening ceremony for the 2009 baseball season at a match in
Chiba City featuring the
Chiba Lotte Marines against the
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks on July 19, 2009.
[15][16]
Kamenashi participated in the
Central League's
Yomiuri Giants 23rd FanFiesta 2009 on November 23, 2009 and led his
team to victory. He participated during the 1st innning as short stop
and for the 2nd & 3rd innings as pitcher. He belonged to the Black
Rose Variety Team led by SMAP's Nakai Masahiro against the Giants Select
Members Team.
[17]
Discography [edit]
Filmography [edit]
| Year |
Title |
Role |
| 2007 |
Yuuki |
Yuuki |
| 2009 |
Gokusen: The Movie |
Ryū Odagiri |
| 2012 |
Yokai Ningen Bem: The Movie |
Bem |
| 2013 |
Ore Ore (It's Me, It's Me) |
Hitoshi Nagano |
Television [edit]
Awards [edit]
| Years |
Awards |
| 2005 |
- 44th Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor - "Gokusen 2"[18]
- 8th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix: Best Supporting Actor - "Gokusen 2"[19]
|
| 2006 |
- 47th Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Actor - "Nobuta wo Produce"[20]
- Japan Gold Disc Awards: Song Of The Year - "Seishun Amigo"[21]
- 23rd Best Jeans Award: Best Male Jeanist[22]
|
| 2007 |
- 24th Best Jeans Award: Best Male Jeanist[22]
|
| 2008 |
- 25th Best Jeans Award: Best Male Jeanist[22]
|
| 2009 |
- 26th Best Jeans Award: Best Male Jeanist[22]
|
| 2010 |
- 13th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix: Best Actor - "Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge"[23]
- 27th Best Jeans Award: Best Male Jeanist[22]
|
References [edit]
- ^ Charts: KAT-TUN, GReeeeN still hot, Tokyograph
- ^ Charts: Johnny's all around, Tokyograph; retrieved on May 31, 2009
- ^ a b Cartoon KAT-TUN Episode 43; aired on NTV on 2008-01-30.
- ^ a b Shōnen Club interview: Kazuya Kamenashi
- ^ Kamenashi leads "Kami no Shizuku" drama adaptation, Tokyograph, Sports Hochi; retrieved on November 13, 2008.
- ^ Drama Grand Prix: "Kami no Shizuku" wins winter, Tokyograph; retrieved on May 31, 2009.
- ^ Kamenashi given guest role on "Mr. Brain", Tokyograph; retrieved on June 10, 2009.
- ^ Kamenashi comes back for "Gokusen", Tokyograph; retrieved on June 10, 2009.
- ^ More "Gokusen" cast details, Tokyograph; retrieved on June 10, 2009.
- ^ "Gokusen" movie earns half a billion in opening weekend, Tokyograph; retrieved on July 14, 2009.
- ^ 2009 Japan Yearly Box Office Results, Box Office Mojo; retrieved on December 27, 2010.
- ^ Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix, Nikkan Sports; retrieved on January 13, 2011.
- ^ Men's Non-No magazine, published by Shueisha, December 2008 issue, page 83.
- ^ Koda, Kazuya Kamenashi enter Best Jeanist "hall of fame"
- ^ (Japanese) ＫＡＴ－ＴＵＮ・亀梨、始球式で西岡と対決, Sankei Sports; retrieved on July 20, 2009.
- ^ [1], Tsuyoshi Nishioka's official blog; entry dated 2009-07-19; retrieved on July 22, 2009. (Japanese)
- ^ (Japanese) 巨人が亀梨打てず、ＳＭＡＰ中居軍に黒星, Nikkan Sports; retrieved on November 23, 2009.
- ^ 「三つどもえの混戦を抜け亀梨和也が初受賞」, Television Drama Academy Awards; retrieved on June 21, 2011. (Japanese)
- ^ 「第8回日刊スポーツ・ドラマグランプリ（ＧＰ）」, Nikkan Sports; retrieved on July 1, 2010. (Japanese)
- ^ 「アカデミー史上に残る接戦を制して亀梨がV」, Television Drama Academy Awards; retrieved on June 21, 2011. (Japanese)
- ^ THE 20th JAPAN GOLD DISC AWARD 2006, Japan Gold Disc Award; retrieved on June 21, 2011. (Japanese)
- ^ a b c d e Past Records for Best Jeanists Award, Best-Jeans.com; retrieved on June 21, 2011. (Japanese)
- ^ Hall of Fame for Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix Award, Nikkan Sports; retrieved on June 21, 2011. (Japanese)
External links [edit]
Male
.[3]
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