is a
Japanese idol
An is a type of entertainer marketed for image, attractiveness, and personality in Japanese pop culture. Idols are primarily singers with training in acting, dancing, and modeling. Idols are commercialized through merchandise and endorsements b ...
, singer, actor, radio host, artist, dancer, and choreographer. He is the lead vocalist and leader of the
boy band
A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform Love song, love songs marketed towards girls and young ...
Arashi
is a Japanese boy band consisting of five members formed under the Johnny & Associates talent agency. The members are Satoshi Ohno, Sho Sakurai, Masaki Aiba, Kazunari Ninomiya, and Jun Matsumoto. Arashi officially formed on September 15, 1999 ...
, hence his nickname .
Ohno began his career in the entertainment industry when he joined the Japanese talent agency
Johnny & Associates
is a Japanese talent agency, formed by Johnny Kitagawa in 1962, which trains and promotes groups of male entertainers known as .
History 1962–1989
In 1962, Kitagawa launched his first group, Johnnys. In its early days, Kitagawa's agency rente ...
in 1994 at the age of 13. He started an acting career in 1997 when he was cast to be part of the stage play ''Kyo to Kyo''. In 2008, Ohno became the first and the only artist from Johnny's to hold his own art exhibition, titled "
Freestyle", and also received his first starring role in a
Japanese television drama
, also called , are television programs that are a staple of Japanese television and are broadcast daily. All major TV networks in Japan produce a variety of drama series including romance, comedy, detective stories, horror, jidaigeki, thriller ...
, ''
Maō'', for which he earned a handful of ''Best Actor'' awards. Since then, he has continued to star in numerous dramas and movies, receiving a number of
awards and nominations
An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration.
An award ...
for his roles. For his work as an artist, a singer, and an actor in ''Kaibutsu-kun the Movie'', Ohno became one of the recipients of
GQ Japan's Men of the Year Award in 2011.
Early life
Ohno was born in Mitaka, Tokyo as the youngest child of his family. He has one older sister. During middle school, his mother sent in his application to Johnny & Associates without his knowledge.
An invitation to audition was sent back to Ohno, and he subsequently became a
trainee
A trainee is commonly known as an individual taking part in a trainee program within an organization after having graduated from higher and technical courses.
A trainee is an official employee of the firm that is being trained to the job they wer ...
in October 1994. To focus on the stage play ''Kyo to Kyo'', which ran from 1997 to 1998 during his trainee days, he withdrew from high school and moved to
Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...
.
Music career
Before his music debut with Arashi, Ohno wanted to resign from Johnny & Associates. However, then-president
Johnny Kitagawa
John Hiromu Kitagawa (Japanese name ; October 23, 1931 – July 9, 2019), known professionally as , was an American-born Japanese businessman and talent manager. He was the founder and president of Johnny & Associates, a production agency for nu ...
asked him to help out with a song recording and to pack up for a trip to Hawaii, which turned out to be the place where the press conference announcing the formation of Arashi was held. With Ohno at the age of at the time, Arashi was officially formed on September 15, 1999 and made their
CD debut on November 3, 1999. Since much of his trainee days were spent in Kyoto, he was the least known member during Arashi's early days.
Ohno is the lead vocalist of Arashi. Although his music career is primarily with Arashi, he had a solo concert called ''3104'' (which can be read as his name ''Satoshi'' in Japanese) in 2006 and in 2009, became the first and only member in Arashi to release a solo single. It was a soundtrack for his drama ''Uta no Onii-san'' titled by
Yano Kenta starring Satoshi Ohno. Ohno also provided the vocals to the insert song , which was released as a single on July 7, 2010 for the drama ''Kaibutsu-kun'' and sold around 59,000 copies on the first day.
Choreography
Ohno began his work as a choreographer in 2004 for his solo "Top Secret" during Arashi's
2004 Iza, Now Tour and in 2006, began to work as a choreographer for the group. Since then, he has choreographed numerous solo and group dances. Some of his notable choreography work for Arashi includes "
Zero-G
Weightlessness is the complete or near-complete absence of the sensation of weight. It is also termed zero gravity, zero G-force, or zero-G.
Weight is a measurement of the force on an object at rest in a relatively strong gravitational fie ...
", the live performance for "
Bittersweet", the interlude for the "
Kokoro no Sora" music video, "
Tsunagu
"Tsunagu" is the 52nd single by Japanese boy band Arashi. It was released on June 28, 2017 under their record label J Storm. "Tsunagu" is the theme song for the film ''Shinobi no Kuni'' starring Arashi member Satoshi Ohno. The single sold over 380 ...
", and "
Do You...?".
Acting career
Stage
In 1997, Ohno was a cast member of ''Kyo to Kyo'' with
Musical Academy (MA) leader Shingo Machida and continued to act in other stage productions such as
Koichi Dōmoto's ''Mask'' and Shōnentai's ''Playzone'' after ''Kyo to Kyo'' was over.
Since then, he has done a number of stage plays such as ''True West'' with
Masahiro Matsuoka
is a Japanese drummer and actor. He is a member of Tokio, a Johnny Entertainment musical group. His nicknames are Mabo and Maa-kun. He starred as Shinichi Ozaki in '' Godzilla: Final Wars'', and comedy series ''Yasuko to Kenji''.
Career
As a ...
and ''West Side Story'' with bandmates
Sho Sakurai
(born January 25, 1982) is a Japanese singer, songwriter, rapper, actor, news anchor, host and former radio host. He is a member of the boy band Arashi.
Sakurai began his career in the entertainment industry when he joined the Japanese talent ...
and
Jun Matsumoto
Jun or JUN may refer to:
People and anthroponymy
* Jun (given name), a common Japanese given name
* Jun (singer), a member of South Korean boy band U-KISS
* Tomáš Jun, Czech footballer
* A spelling of common Korean family name Jeon (Korean surn ...
.
The series that Ohno starred in spanned from 2003 to 2008, consisting of , , , and . In ''Tensei Kunpū'', Ohno portrayed a man named Kaoru Kazamine who was accidentally sent back to the
Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...
of Japan through a system malfunction.
Drama
In 1999, Ohno made his TV drama debut in the volleyball-centered short drama , which was Arashi's first drama together.
In 2008, Ohno was given his first starring role in the suspense drama ''
Maō''. He co-starred with
Toma Ikuta
is a Japanese actor. Ikuta is known for his roles in '' Hanazakari no Kimitachi e'', ''Honey & Clover'', '' Sensei!'', '' Maō'' and '' Ouroboros''. He also stars in feature films, notably ''Hanamizuki'', '' Ningen Shikkaku'' and ''Brain Man'' ...
and portrayed a two-faced lawyer who sought for revenge against the person who murdered his brother years ago.
In 2009, he starred in his first comedy drama . With
Kanjani Eight
is a five-member Japanese boy band from Japan's Kansai region. They are managed by the multimedia talent agency Johnny & Associates and signed to Infinity Records. The group was formed in 2002 and made their CD debut in 2004 as "Johnny's modern ...
member
Ryuhei Maruyama
is a Japanese idol, singer, actor and radio host. He is a member of Japanese male idol group Kanjani Eight, which is under the management of Johnny & Associates. He is also the group's bassist and one of its main rappers. He was a morning sho ...
as his co-star, Ohno played a musician who unexpectedly becomes a singing character for a children's program after being dumped by his girlfriend, kicked out of his band, and labelled useless by his family. Ohno also took part in a television mini-drama project titled , which aired from October 2009 to April 2010 and starred a select number of different artists from Johnny's. Ohno was the lead actor in the first story of the project called , which ran for four episodes in total. The story was about a salaryman and a
club hostess visiting a strange "Room 0" that can reveal anyone's "grade" as a human being.
In January 2010, Ohno co-starred with the other members of Arashi in the human suspense drama special . Ohno portrayed Satoru Mashiko, a 28-year-old employee of a cleaning company who is caught up in a building hijack. Beginning in April 2010, Ohno starred in the live-action adaptation of the
manga
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 ...
and
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
''
Kaibutsu-kun''. Ohno played Tarou Kaibutsu, the prince of Kaibutsu Land who is ordered by the king to go to the world of humans for training as he is deemed unfit for the succession of the throne. He then reprised his role of Kaibutsu-kun for the ''Kaibutsu-kun'' special which aired on June 26, 2010. Ohno also starred in the second story, , of the Fall 2010 special that aired on October 4, 2010.
In October 2011, Ohno once again reprised his role of Kaibutsu-kun for another ''Kaibutsu-kun'' special, leading up to the story of the 3D movie version.
On January 3, 2012, Ohno starred in the drama special . He played the role of Shotaro Tarui, a freeter who can't forget his childhood dream of being a hero. However, he finds himself planning a fake kidnapping after he receives a request from the daughter of a boss of racketeers, played by co-star
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 ...
. Beginning in April 2012, Ohno co-starred with
Erika Toda
is a Japanese actress.
Career
Toda has starred in many Japanese television dramas, including ''Liar Game'', ''Code Blue'', '' Ryusei no Kizuna'', and ''Keizoku 2: SPEC''. She has also had supporting roles in many other popular TV dramas, such a ...
in his first
Getsuku
is a Japanese abbreviation for {{nihongo, ''Getsuyō kuji'', 月曜9時, , Monday at 9 pm. This is traditionally the time when the most popular TV dramas air in Japan.
History
Fuji TV, one of the major broadcasting companies in Japan, ...
drama, . He played the lead character, Kei Enomoto, an employee at a major security firm who has an obsession with keys and locks. Enomoto works with a pair of attorneys, solving mysteries that fall under the "locked room" genre, in which seemingly impossible crimes are committed.
On August 24, 2013, Ohno starred in the drama special which aired as part of the annual ''24 Hour Television'' telethon in Japan. Ohno plays a 29-year-old man named Kouta who is diagnosed with malignant lymphoma. Given three months left to live, he makes a resolve to accept his fate and face death properly.
On January 3, 2014, Ohno reprised the role of Enomoto Kei for the Kagi no Kakatta Heya special. He also starred in the live-action adaptation of the manga ''
Shinigami-kun
is a Japanese television drama series based on the manga of the same name by Koichi Endo. The screenwriter is Hiroshi Hashimoto who is known for '' Thermae Romae 2'' (2014) and '' Flying Colors'' (2015). Satoshi Ohno, who is a member of the Japan ...
'' beginning in April 2014. Ohno portrayed Shinigami-kun (Shinigami No.413) whose job is to pronounce death to expected people and take their souls to the spiritual world. As a rookie reaper, he tends to make biased decisions towards the human side which always causes him to be reprimanded by his boss.
Beginning in April 2016, Ohno starred in a drama titled . Ohno played Reiji Samejima, a company president in the hotel industry. Despite his success at work, he knows little about love. This romantic comedy follows Samejima as he pursues Misaki Shibayama, his very first love interest.
Film
In 2002, Ohno made his motion picture debut in Arashi's first movie together, . He portrayed Haru, a bizarre high school student who gets swindled during his trip to
Harajuku
is a district in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Harajuku is the common name given to a geographic area spreading from Harajuku Station to Omotesando, corresponding on official maps of Shibuya ward as Jingūmae 1 chōme to 4 chōme. In popular refer ...
. Two years later in 2004, Ohno reprised his role for the sequel . Ohno reprised his role as Haru once again in 2014 in a spin-off of the two previous films, titled .
In 2007, the group came together once again to act in their third movie together, , with Ohno acting as an oil painter.
In 2011, Ohno returned to the big screen starring as the lead actor in the film ''
Kaibutsu-kun the Movie''. His character, Tarou Kaibutsu, is about to be crowned king, but is met with unexpected booing. Trying to escape to the human world, Tarou and his three henchmen accidentally find themselves in a place known as the Curry Kingdom where he is mistaken as a legendary hero. The cast went overseas to India to shoot parts of the film. He became the first member in Arashi to star in a 3D film.
In May 2016, it was announced that Ohno will star as the lead actor in the film , set to premier in summer 2017. Mumon: The Land of Stealth illustrates the epic battle between the
Oda clan
The is a Japanese samurai family who were daimyo and an important political force in the unification of Japan in the mid-16th century. Though they had the climax of their fame under Oda Nobunaga and fell from the spotlight soon after, several ...
and the
Iga ninja. Ohno plays Mumon, an Iga ninja renowned to be a deadly assassin with unmatched battle strength, but who is also equally lazy and only seeks to earn money to make his wife, Okuni, happy. In preparation for the film, Ohno underwent intensive training in sword fighting.
Other ventures
Radio
Ohno had his own radio show called ''Arashi Discovery'', which aired every weekday from Monday to Friday on
FM Yokohama
FM Yokohama 84.7 is a radio station based in Yokohama, Japan owned by the Yokohama FM Broadcasting Company, a joint venture of Nippon Broadcasting System, Kanagawa Prefectural Government and Bank of Yokohama. This station was featured in the Xbox ...
from October 1, 2002, to March 31, 2017.
Art
When Ohno was in the third grade, he was inspired by his classmate's ''
Dragon Ball
is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The Dragon Ball (manga), initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 individual chapters colle ...
'' illustration to start drawing. Since then, he has been drawing his own artwork and making original
figurine
A figurine (a diminutive form of the word ''figure'') or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with cl ...
s.
In 2008, he held an art exhibition called ''Freestyle'', making him the first artist in Johnny's to hold one. In 2015, it was announced that Ohno would be holding a second art exhibition called ''Freestyle II'' in Tokyo from July 24 to August 23. In addition, Ohno held an art exhibition the same year in Shanghai from July 9 to 29, showcasing artwork from his first art exhibition, ''Freestyle''. A new version of ''Freestyle'', called ''Freestyle 2020'' opened on September 9, 2020, and had pieces from his previous exhibitions, as well as new ones, including the cover art for
Arashi
is a Japanese boy band consisting of five members formed under the Johnny & Associates talent agency. The members are Satoshi Ohno, Sho Sakurai, Masaki Aiba, Kazunari Ninomiya, and Jun Matsumoto. Arashi officially formed on September 15, 1999 ...
's single "
Kite
A kite is a tethered heavier than air flight, heavier-than-air or lighter-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create Lift (force), lift and Drag (physics), drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. ...
".
Because of his talent in the field of art, Ohno was appointed to host a four episode documentary for
NHK
, also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee.
NHK operates two terrestr ...
entitled "Jakuchu Miracle World" starting on April 25, 2011. The documentary focused on analyzing artwork by a famous Edo era artist named
Itō Jakuchū
was a Japanese painter of the mid-Edo period when Japan had closed its doors to the outside world. Many of his paintings concern traditionally Japanese subjects, particularly chickens and other birds. Many of his otherwise traditional works dis ...
. On August 22, 2012, Ohno hosted another documentary for NHK entitled "Everything Is for the Sake Of Delivering Dreams ~Walt Disney Trajectory of Creation~". In commemoration of
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
's 110th anniversary, the documentary explored and revealed the secrets behind the origins and processes of Walt's creations.
As of 2019, Ohno has designed the charity T-shirt for NTV's 24-hour television telethon four times, making him the first artist to do so. He was in charge of designing the T-shirt for the first time in 2004. In 2012, Ohno collaborated with Japanese artist
Yoshitomo Nara
is a Japanese artist. He lives and works in Nasushiobara, Tochigi Prefecture, though his artwork has been exhibited worldwide. Nara has had nearly 40 solo exhibitions since 1984. His art work has been housed at the MoMA and the Los Angeles Coun ...
and their design sold 764,198 copies, setting a new record. In the following year, Ohno collaborated with Japanese artist
Yayoi Kusama
is a Japanese contemporary artist who works primarily in sculpture and installation, and is also active in painting, performance, video art, fashion, poetry, fiction, and other arts. Her work is based in conceptual art and shows some attributes ...
to design the T-shirt for that year's telethon. It sold 1,244,469 copies, making it the most successful in the history of the telethon. 2019 was the 2nd time he designed it by himself (
各回の色とデザイン).
Commercials
大野智#CM
*
Kentucky Fried Chicken Japan
**Red Hot Chicken (2010-2011)
**Habanero Boneless (2010)
**Jalapeno Boneless (2011)
* Kracie Home Products "Naive" brand skin care
*
Morinaga Confectionaries and Health Foods Industry
** Morinaga small chocolate biscuit (October 2011-March 2014)
** Bake creamy
(October 2012-March 2014)
** Baked chocolate "Bake" series (April 2014-May 2016)
** Morinaga Milk Cocoa (October 2014-September 2016)
* Lawson
** Onigiri-ya (November 2012-May 2015)
** Handmade pasta (October 2014-May 2015)
** Golden chicken umami salt (October 2014-May 2015)
* Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical
, headquartered in Saga and Tokyo, is a Japanese multinational pharmaceutical corporation that develops and markets prescription and over-the-counter drug (OTC) products, especially external pain relieving products such as the transdermal patc ...
Allegra FX (January 2013- )
* Kirin Company, Ltd.
** Kirin Beverages Company, Ltd.
*** "Mets Cola", with Masaki Aiba
(born December 24, 1982) is a Japanese singer, actor, television personality, radio host and dancer. He is a member of the boy band Arashi.
Aiba began his career in the entertainment industry when he joined the Japanese talent agency Johnny & ...
(December 2013-February 2016)
*** "Mets", with Masaki Aiba and Jun Matsumoto
Jun or JUN may refer to:
People and anthroponymy
* Jun (given name), a common Japanese given name
* Jun (singer), a member of South Korean boy band U-KISS
* Tomáš Jun, Czech footballer
* A spelling of common Korean family name Jeon (Korean surn ...
(March 2016-November 2016)
* Ajinomoto
is a Japanese multinational food and biotechnology corporation which produces seasonings, interlayer insulating materials for semiconductor packages for use in personal computers, cooking oils, frozen foods, beverages, sweeteners, amino acids, an ...
** J-Oil Mills' Ajinomoto extra virgin olive oil (February 2017- )
* McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
(September 2019-December 2019)
* Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd.
** Asahi Soft Drinks
is a soft drink company founded in 1982 and headquartered in the Azuma-bashi district of Sumida, Tokyo, Japan. It is a subsidiary of Asahi Breweries. The company sponsors the Asahi Soft Drinks Challengers, an American football team in the Japan ...
"Mitsuya Cider
is a Japanese carbonated soft drink, created in 1884 and acquired by Asahi Soft Drinks in 1972.
While branded as a "cider", the Cider#East Asia, East Asian use of "cider" refers to a very different drink from that typically referred to in Eng ...
" (2020) with Arashi as a group, including a video of Sho Sakurai
(born January 25, 1982) is a Japanese singer, songwriter, rapper, actor, news anchor, host and former radio host. He is a member of the boy band Arashi.
Sakurai began his career in the entertainment industry when he joined the Japanese talent ...
with audio from him
Discography
Singles
Other charted songs
Publications
* ''Freestyle'' (published on February 8, 2008 by M.Co.)
* ''Freestyle II'' (published on July 24, 2015 by M.Co.)
* ''Freestyle 2020'' (published on September 20, 2020 by M.Co.)
Filmography
TV dramas
Films
Documentaries
* ''Jakuchu Miracle World'' (NHK, 2011, navigator)
* ''Subete wa yume o todokeru tame ni ~ Walt Disney sōzō no kiseki ~'' (NHK, 2012, navigator)
Stage
Awards and nominations
Notes
References
External links
J Storm Profile
Satoshi Ohno , Johnny's Net Profile
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ohno, Satoshi
1980 births
Living people
Arashi members
People from Mitaka, Tokyo
Male actors from Tokyo
Musicians from Western Tokyo
Japanese male pop singers
Japanese idols
Japanese male film actors
Japanese male stage actors
Japanese male television actors
Japanese male dancers
Japanese choreographers
Johnny & Associates
20th-century Japanese male actors
20th-century Japanese male singers
20th-century Japanese singers
21st-century Japanese male actors
21st-century Japanese male singers
21st-century Japanese singers