is a Japanese singer-songwriter, musician, actor, and writer.

Career

Music

Since 2000, Hoshino has led the

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

band Sakerock, where he plays

marimba The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...

and guitar. They released over ten albums before disbanding in 2015. As a solo artist, he debuted with his first album '' Baka no Uta'' on June 23, 2010. His first physical single, "Kudaranai no Naka ni" was released on March 2, 2011 and peaked at number 17 on the

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track download sales. In J ...

. The subsequent singles – "Film", "Yume no Soto e", "Shiranai" (2012), and "Gag" (2013) – all charted in the top 10. His second album, ''

Episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a series intended for radio, television or streaming consumption. The noun ''episode'' is derived from the Greek term ''epeisodion'' (), meaning t ...

'', released on September 28, 2011, peaked at number five. His third album, ''

Stranger A stranger is a person who is unknown to another person or group. Because of this unknown status, a stranger may be perceived as a threat until their identity and character can be ascertained. Different classes of strangers have been identified ...

'', released on May 1, 2013, peaked at number two on the

Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon Albu ...

and was certified gold by the

Recording Industry Association of Japan The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include pr ...

. Since 2011, he's been co-hosting a

Ustream IBM Watson Media (formerly Ustream and IBM Cloud Video) is an American virtual events platform company which is a division of IBM. Prior to IBM acquisition, it had more than 180 employees across San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Budapest offices. ...

program called together with

Ichirō Yamaguchi , is a Japanese musician. He is the vocalist, guitarist and songwriter for the Hokkaido rock band Sakanaction. Biography Ichiro Yamaguchi was born in Otaru, Hokkaido in 1980. He grew up listening to a wide variety of music, as his father ran a ...

Sakanaction , stylised as sakanaction, are a Japanese rock band from Sapporo, Hokkaido. Their music is a fusion of alternative rock, electronic, pop, and new wave styles. The band consists of five members: Ichiro Yamaguchi, Motoharu Iwadera, Ami Kusakari, ...

. In 2014 the program officially changed its name to ''Yoru no Television''. His fourth album, ''

Yellow Dancer ''Yellow Dancer'' is the fourth studio album by Japanese singer-songwriter Gen Hoshino. It was released on 2 December 2015 in Japan on Victor Entertainment, Speedstar Records. It reached the first place on the Oricon music charts and was certifie ...

'', was released on December 2, 2015 in Japan on Speedstar Records, and debuted atop the Oricon and ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Album charts. ''Yellow Dancer'' was certified platinum by the

RIAJ The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include p ...

for physical shipments, and became one of the few albums to receive a gold certification for digital downloads. His fifth album, '' Pop Virus'', was released on December 17, 2018. It topped the Oricon Album charts four weeks in a row and was certified double platinum by the

one month after its release. The commercial success of the album, within a couple of months, earned him a Best Album prize at the 33rd

Japan Gold Disc Awards The is an award presented by the Recording Industry Association of Japan The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Associa ...

, alongside a Best Song prize for the digital success of the single, and ''

asadora , colloquially known as , is a serialized, 15 minutes per episode, Japanese television drama program series broadcast in the mornings by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. The first such series aired in 1961 with the black-and-white , starring Take ...

'' theme song, "Idea". He also became the first artist to win a total of four trophies at the

Space Shower Music Awards Space Shower Music Awards (old name: SPACE SHOWER Music Video Awards, abbr. to SPACE SHOWER MVA) are an annual set of music awards sponsored by Japanese Space Shower TV is a Japanese music television channel operated by Space Shower Networks, In ...

of 2019. On August 30, 2019, all of his music was made available on streaming services. On February 18, 2018, Hoshino uploaded a music video of his song "Doraemon", which served as a tribute song for the Japanese franchise of the same name. It was used as the theme to the 38th ''Doraemon'' movie, ''Nobita's Treasure Island'', and, since fall 2019, has been used as the current opening theme of the ''Doraemon'' anime. On April 9th, 2022, the anime series, ''

Spy x Family Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...

,'' aired, and the song, "

Comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

", by Gen Hoshino was used as th
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song. His most recent song, " I Wanna Be Your Ghost", was use in 'Yokaipedia' as its main theme.

Acting

Hoshino's movie debut, Lee Sang-il's '' 69'', was an

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...

of the

Ryū Murakami is a Japanese novelist, short story writer, essayist, and filmmaker. His novels explore human nature through themes of disillusionment, drug use, surrealism, murder, and war, set against the dark backdrop of Japan. His best known novels are ''Al ...

novel of the same name. He previously acted in various television dramas and

stage play A play is a work of drama, usually consisting mostly of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and intended for theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Reading (process), reading. The writer of a play is called a playwright. Pla ...

s. In 2012, he debuted as a voice actor, voicing Buddha in the

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...

(OVA)

Hikaru Nakamura Christopher Hikaru Nakamuramanga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

'' Saint Young Men'', and also provided a theme song called "Gag" for its 2013 theatrical version, where he reprised his role. In 2013, he played the lead character in Masahide Ichii's alongside Kaho, and starred in the

Sion Sono Sion may refer to * an alternative transliteration of Zion People * Sion (name) or Siôn, a Welsh and other given name and surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Shion or Sion, a Japanese given name Plac ...

film ''

Why Don't You Play in Hell? is a 2013 Japanese film directed, written and scored by Sion Sono. The movie is an action film based on a screenplay written by Sono fifteen years earlier. North American distributor Drafthouse Films announced its acquisition before it made it ...

''. In 2016, Hoshino starred in TBS's ''

The Full-Time Wife Escapist is a Japanese romance manga, romance ''Josei Manga, josei'' manga series written and illustrated by Tsunami Umino. The original title is from a Hungarian language, Hungarian proverb: "Running away is shameful, but useful" (, ). It was publish ...

''. With

Yui Aragaki is a Ryukyuan Japanese actress, model, singer and occasional radio show host. She has been selected several times as the most desired girlfriend and the most desired female celebrity face in Oricon's yearly survey. Early life She was born on J ...

as his co-star, he portrayed a salaryman named Hiramasa Tsuzaki. The drama achieved steadily rising ratings, with a real-time viewership peak rating of 20.8% on the final episode, and an overall rating of 14.5%. Hoshino's performance earned him several Best Supporting Actor awards. He also provided the theme song for the drama, titled "

Koi or more specifically , are colored varieties of the Amur carp ('' Cyprinus rubrofuscus'') that are kept for decorative purposes in outdoor koi ponds or water gardens. Koi is an informal name for the colored variants of ''C. rubrofuscus'' ke ...

". Gen Hoshino created the parody character "Akira Nise" (ニセ明, ''Nise Akira'', literally ''Fake Akira'') as a tribute to

Akira Fuse is a Japanese singer and actor. He debuted in 1965 with the single . Career His greatest hits are and . He currently makes consistent appearances on television, performs occasional seasonal tours, hosts a late night talk show, and is involve ...

. In 2017, Hoshino lent his voice to the main character of award-winning animated film ''

Night Is Short, Walk On Girl is a 2017 Japanese animated romantic comedy film directed by Masaaki Yuasa. The film is based on the 2006 novel ''The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl'' written by Tomihiko Morimi and illustrated by Yusuke Nakamura, who also served as the film's o ...

''. He also became the voice of the Father in

Mamoru Hosoda is a Japanese film director and animator. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Animated Feature Film at the 91st Academy Awards for his eighth film '' Mirai''. Life and career Early life and initial work at Toei Animat ...

's '' Mirai'', which was released into theaters in Japan on July 20, 2018. '' Idaten'', NHK's 2019 Taiga drama, chosen for the theme to encourage the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Hoshino portrayed Kazushige Hirasawa, who delivered the persuasive speech that helped determine the venue for the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games. On April 30, 2018, it was announced that Hoshino will star in ''Samurai Shifters'', the film adaptation of Akihiro Dobashi's historical novel ''Hikkoshi Daimyo Sanzenri'', set to premier on August 30, 2019. In the movie, he plays a bookworm samurai called Harunosuke Katagiri, who receives the mission to help a daimyo move. It will be Hoshino's first lead role in a live-action movie since ''Blindly in Love'' in 2013.

Personal life

On December 22, 2012, Hoshino was diagnosed with a

subarachnoid hemorrhage Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is bleeding into the subarachnoid space—the area between the arachnoid membrane and the pia mater surrounding the brain. Symptoms may include a severe headache of rapid onset, vomiting, decreased level of consci ...

and underwent surgery. He officially returned to public life on February 28, 2013 with his appearance at the Tokyo

J-Wave J-Wave is a commercial radio station based in Tokyo, Japan, broadcasting on 81.3 FM from the Tokyo Skytree to the Tokyo area. J-Wave airs mostly music, covering a wide range of formats. The station is considered the most popular among FM broad ...

Awards. In 2021, Hoshino married actress

, his co-star in the television series ''

''.

Discography

*'' Baka no Uta'' (2010) *''

'' (2011) *''

'' (2013) *''

'' (2015) *'' Pop Virus'' (2018)

Filmography

Film

Television

Television drama

Variety shows

TV commercials

* NTT DOCOMO, "ZeniCrazy Ver1.0" (February 2019) * NTT DOCOMO, "ZeniCrazy Ver2.0" (March 2019) * Nintendo, "Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary" (September 2020)

Original video animation

* ''

Onna no Sono no Hoshi is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yama Wayama. It has been serialized in Shodensha's ''josei'' manga magazine ''Feel Young'' since January 2020, with its chapters collected into three ''tankōbon'' volumes as of December ...

'' (2022), Hoshi

Concerts and tours

;Headlining tours *Baka no Uta Hatsubai Kinen no Live (2010) *Hoshino Gen no Aisatsu Mawari Tour (2010) *Hoshino Gen no Betsu Episode: Heya (2011) *Episode Hatsubai Kinen Tour: Episode 2 Ikou (2012) *Hoshino Gen One-Man no Aki (2012) *Hoshino Gen no Fukkatsu Live Tour (2014) *Hoshino Gen Live Tour 2016: Yellow Voyage (2016) *Hoshino Gen Live Tour 2017: Continues (2017) *Hoshino Gen Dome Tour 2019: Pop Virus (2019) ;Concerts *Live in Japan 2018 Gen Hoshino &

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbi ...

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Official website

Official Youtube Channel
at Speedstar Records * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoshino, Gen 1981 births Japanese male actors Japanese male pop singers Japanese male singer-songwriters Japanese singer-songwriters Living people People from Saitama Prefecture Musicians from Saitama Prefecture 21st-century Japanese singers Amuse Inc. artists 21st-century Japanese male singers