, known by the stage name Akira, is a Japanese actor and dancer. He is also a member of the all-male J-Pop groups Exile and

Exile The Second Exile The Second (stylized as EXILE THE SECOND, formerly known as THE SECOND from EXILE), or simply The Second, is a Japanese music group comprising Exile members Kenchi, Keiji, Tetsuya, Nesmith, Shokichi and Akira. Formed in 2012, the grou ...

Participating Groups

Life and career

Akira was born in

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kanag ...

, Japan. He moved to

Iwata, Shizuoka former Mitsuke School in Iwata is a city located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 169,897 in 68,215 households and a population density was 1,000 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Iwata i ...

, at the age of three. Akira started dancing at the age of 16, at dance club events around the Shizuoka area. He then moved to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

and went on to find the talent agency Makidai & USA. In December 2004, he debuted as a performer in ''Rather Unique''. In June 2006, he joined the group Exile as a performer. He began working as an actor in March 2006, appearing in the "No.1 Attack" stage troupe Gumi Honan. Since then, he has acted in a number of TV dramas in Japan, including the 2012 remake of the ''

Great Teacher Onizuka ''Great Teacher Onizuka'', officially abbreviated as ''GTO'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tooru Fujisawa. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from January 1997 to February 20 ...

'' series, which has been broadcast on Fuji TV since July 2012. In 2015, Akira provided the voice of

Mad Max ''Mad Max'' is an Australian post-apocalyptic action film series and media franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It began in 1979 with '' Mad Max'', and was followed by three sequels: ''Mad Max 2'' (1981, released in the Unite ...

in the Japanese dub of the film '' Mad Max: Fury Road''. In September 2016, was announced that he was joining the group

as a performer. In June 2019, he announced that he will marry

Lin Chi-ling Lin Chi-ling (born 29 November 1974) is a Taiwanese model, actress, singer and television host. Early life Lin Chi-ling was born on 29 November 1974 in Taipei, Taiwan. Lin's father, Lin Fan-nan (), and her mother, Wu Tzu-mei (), are both from ...

, a Taiwanese supermodel and actress. Lin gave birth to a son on 31 January 2022.

Works

TV Drama

* ''Around 40 - Chuumon no Ooi Onnatachi'' (TBS, April 2008-), role of Tatsuya Ogata * ''Toomawari no Ame'' (NTV, 2010-Mar-27 start), role of Yasushi Kikuchi * ''Tumbling'' (TBS, 2010-Apr-17 start), role of Yutaka Kashiwagi * ''Gou - Himetachi no sengoku'' (NHK, 2011-Jan-09 to 2011-Nov-27), role of Hidekatsu Toyotomi * ''GTO'' (Fuji TV, July 2012 - September 2012), role of Eikichi Onizuka * '' Biblia Koshodō no Jiken Techō'' (Fuji TV, January 2013 - March 2013), role of Daisuke Goura * ''Honey Trap'' (Fuji TV, October 2013 - December 2013), role of Yuuichi Miyama * ''GTO'' (2nd season) (Fuji TV, July 2014 - September 2014), role of Eikichi Onizuka * ''HEAT'' (Fuji TV, July 2015 - September 2015), role of Tatsuya Ikegami * ''High & Low - The Story of S.W.O.R.D.'' (NTV, October 2015 - December 2015), role of Kohaku * ''High & Low - The Story of S.W.O.R.D.'' (2nd season) (NTV, April 2016 - June 2016), role of Kohaku

Film

* ''Hana Yori Dango Final'' (2008), Sunny * ''Yamagata Scream'' (2009), Santaro * ''Properly convey'' (2009), North Shiro * ''Legend of the Fist：The Return of Chen Zhen'' (2010), Sasaki * ''Hanjiro'' (2010), Yaichiro Nagayama * ''Working Holiday'' (2012), Yamato Okita * ''Kusahara no Isu'' (2013), Kagiyama * ''Unfair: the end'' (2015), * '' High & Low: The Movie'' (2016), Kohaku * ''

High&Low The Red Rain ''High&Low The Red Rain'' (stylized as ''HiGH＆LOW THE RED RAIN'') is a 2016 Japanese action film directed by Yūdai Yamaguchi. As the first spin-off of the High&Low franchise, it focuses on the story of the Amamiya Brothers, one of the stronge ...

'' (2016), Kohaku * ''

High&Low The Movie 2 / End of Sky ''High&Low The Movie 2 / End of Sky'' (stylized as HiGH&LOW THE MOVIE 2 / END OF SKY) is a 2017 Japanese action film directed by Shigeaki Kubo and Tsuyoshi Nakakuki. It's the third film of the High&Low franchise, and the second film focusing on ...

'' (2017), Kohaku * ''

High&Low The Movie 3 / Final Mission ''High&Low The Movie 3 / Final Mission'' (stylized as HiGH&LOW THE MOVIE 3 ／ FINAL MISSION) is a 2017 Japanese action film directed by Shigeaki Kubo and Tsuyoshi Nakakuki. It's the fourth film of the High&Low franchise, and as the final episode ...

'' (2017), Kohaku * ''Tatara Samurai'' (2017) * ''This Old Road: Konomichi'' (2019), Kosaku Yamada * ''The Pass: Last Days of the Samurai'' (2022), Yamamoto Tatewaki

Short film

* Cinema Fighters "Kimochirabo no Kaihō"(2018) * Cinema Fighters Project "Beautiful" (2019)

TV Show

* ''Exile Generation'' (NTV, January 2009 - March 2010) * ''EXH: Exile House'' (TBS, April 2009 - March 2010) * ''Hiruxile'' (NTV, April 2010 - March 2011) * ''EXE'' (TBS, April 2010 - September) * ''Exile Tamashii'' (MBS TV MBS, TBS, October 2010)

Radio

* ''Sessions Four'' ( FM North Wave) * ''Radio Mashup'' MASHUP ( Yokohama FM radio, October 2010 -)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akira 1981 births Living people Japanese male dancers Japanese male film actors Japanese male television actors 21st-century Japanese male actors Male actors from Yokohama LDH (company) artists