, is Japanese actor, singer, and entertainer. Hailed from Osaka, Takigawa graduated from the law department of Kounan Daigaku (Konan University) at Kobe, before he pursued his career in the entertainment industry. On March 9, 2020, he announced his retirement from the entertainment industry.

Career

He made his first big break on 2002, as the official icon of the energy drink, Lipovitan D, along with long-time icon,

Kane Kosugi Kane or KANE may refer to: Art, entertainment and media Fictional entities *Kane (comics), the main character of the eponymous comic book series by Paul Grist * Kane (''Command & Conquer''), character in the ''Command & Conquer'' video game series ...

, the son of the legendary martial art actor,

Sho Kosugi is a Japanese actor with extensive training in Shindō jinen-ryū Karate, Kendo, Judo, Iaido, Kobudo, Aikido and Ninjutsu. A former All Japan Karate Champion, he gained popularity as an actor during the 1980s, often playing ninjas. He starre ...

. The company which produces LipoD felt that Takigawa offered the right aspects for the younger target market for the drink: passion, determination, cheerfulness, youth and intelligence. He graduated as the Lipovitan D icon on 29 March 2007.

As Kunimitsu Tezuka in the ''Prince of Tennis'' musicals

Takigawa is probably best known for originating the role of Kunimitsu Tezuka, the stoic captain of the

Seigaku ''The Prince of Tennis'' manga and anime series has a large cast of fictional characters created by Takeshi Konomi; many have appeared in the musical and film adaptations. The cast of the series is largely made up of the members of the variou ...

Middle School's tennis club, in the '' Prince of Tennis'' musical series,

Tenimyu , also known as for short, is a series of live action stage musicals directed by Yukio Ueshima based on the manga series ''The Prince of Tennis'' created by Takeshi Konomi and serialized by Shueisha in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump''. The first music ...

, as part of the first generation Seigaku cast. He first appeared in the series in 2003, and ended on the graduation show, ''Side Fudomine'', in the beginning of 2005. He did not appear in the ''More Than Limit St. Rudolph Gakuen'' musical as he was in America at the time, so

Kengo Ohkuchi is a former Japanese actor born in Kagoshima Prefecture. He is 180 cm tall and weighs 62 kg. He specializes in Shorinji Kempo. Ohkuchi is best known for playing Emperor Z, the main villain of the Tokusatsu series '' Ressha Sentai ToQg ...

played the role. Since his graduation, the role of Tezuka has been played by

Yuu Shirota is a Japanese-Spanish actor and singer, most known for his role as Kagurazaka Makoto in the Japanese television drama live action adaption of ''Hanazakari no Kimitachi e, Hana-Kimi'', Kunimitsu Tezuka in the ''Tenimyu, Prince of Tennis Musicals' ...

Keisuke Minami (born 3 July 1985) is a Japanese actor and singer. He is best known for his role as Kunimitsu Tezuka in the ''Prince of Tennis'' musical series, Tenimyu, of the third generation Seigaku cast, Tsurugi Ohtori/HououSoldier in '' Uchu Sentai Ky ...

Daisuke Watanabe is a Japanese video game writer employed by Square Enix. He is mostly known for his work on the role-playing video game series ''Final Fantasy'' and the action RPG series '' Kingdom Hearts''. Career Watanabe first became interested in writ ...

, and by Ryoma Baba. Takigawa reprised his role as Tezuka and reunited with the first Seigaku cast to perform in Tenimyu's ''Dream Live 7th'' to celebrate the end of Tenimyu's first season.

Other work

Takigawa released a DVD called Treasure of Age (and some sites also call it as 'Treasure of Eiji') on 2004, which was produced by Marvelous Entertainment. He reunited with Tenimyu castmates

Kimeru Kimeru (most often written either in Romaji (Kimeru) or with Katakana (キメル), but has been written as きめる (Hiragana) and (決める) (Kanji), born June 17, 1980) is a Japanese pop musician, singer, and stage actor. He is most famo ...

, Sota Aoyama, and

Naoya Gomoto is a Japanese actor. He originated the role of Kaoru Kaidoh as part of the first generation Seigaku cast in ''The Prince of Tennis'' musical series (commonly called ''Tenimyu''). He also played Shūhei Hisagi in '' Rock Musical Bleach''. He a ...

to appear in the PV of Kimeru's single, ''TIMELESS'', on 4 October 2006. The PV is only on the Type A Limited Edition of the single. There's also a short movie, TIMELESS ~The Movie, that was released on DVD on 18 November 2006. On TeniMyu Supporters DVD vol. 5 that was released on 28 April 2007, Takigawa appeared along with his first generation Seigaku castmates. He then went on to play the role of Hidemi Tsukamoto on the live-action movie adaptation of the manga series '' Fujoshi Rumi'' by Natsumi Konjo. On 27 January 2008, Takigawa took on the part of Riki in ''

Kamen Rider Kiva is the 2008 ''Kamen Rider'' Japanese ''tokusatsu'' television series produced by Toei Company and Ishimori Productions. It is the series' ninth series in its Heisei era, and 18th series overall since the debut of ''Kamen Rider'' in 1971. It pre ...

'', the human form of Dogga, the Frankenstein's monster that assists Kiva in fighting the enemies. Since 1 April 2008, Takigawa's career is being managed by Shochiku Entertainment, the talent, stage-play, and actors' subsidiary of Shochiku. He participated in the Opening Ceremony of the

2020 Paralympic Games The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralympi ...

in Tokyo on August 24, 2021.

Injury

On September 20, 2017, Eiji had an accident while filming the second season of the live-action drama adaptation of the manga Yowamushi Pedal. He lost control of his bicycle during filming and hit a curb on the road which sent him flying off his bike. The crash resulted in a severe spinal injury and Eiji was rushed to the hospital by helicopter.

Filmography

Film

* '' Fujoshi Rumi'' – Hidemi Tsukamoto (2007) * '' Kamen Rider Kiva: King of the Castle in the Demon World'' – Riki / Dogga (2008) * '' Cho Kamen Rider Den-O & Decade Neo Generations: The Onigashima Warship'' – Riki / Dogga (2009) * '' Asura Girl: Blood-C Another Story'' – Kisaragi Tadayoshi (2017) * ''

The Blood of Wolves is a 2018 Japanese crime and yakuza film directed by Kazuya Shiraishi. Plot 1988, Hiroshima, Japan. Shūichi Hioka ( Tori Matsuzaka) gets assigned to the second investigative unit under Shōgo Ōgami (Kōji Yakusho), a detective rumored to have m ...

'' – Katsushi Mori (2018)

Television

* ''

'' – Riki (2008–2009) * '' Yowamushi Pedal Live Action'' – Juichi Fukutomi (2016)

Stage work

Musicals

Tenimyu: The Prince of Tennis Musical series (as Kunimitsu Tezuka) * ''The Prince of Tennis Musical'' (2003) * ''The Prince of Tennis Musical'': Remarkable 1st Match Fudomine –

Ryoma Echizen is a fictional character and the protagonist of the manga and anime series ''The Prince of Tennis'' created by Takeshi Konomi. In the series, Ryoma is portrayed as a twelve-year-old tennis prodigy who won four consecutive Junior Tennis Tournam ...

(2003–2004) * ''The Prince of Tennis Musical'': Dream Live 1st (2004) * ''The Prince of Tennis Musical'': Side Fudomine ~Special Match~ (In Winter of 2004–2005) * ''The Prince of Tennis Musical'': Dream Live 7th (2010)

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Takigawa, Eiji Japanese male film actors Japanese male models Japanese male musical theatre actors Japanese male singers Japanese male television actors Living people Male actors from Osaka Prefecture Models from Osaka Prefecture Musicians from Osaka Prefecture 1979 births 21st-century Japanese male actors 21st-century Japanese male singers 21st-century Japanese singers