is a Japanese-Spanish actor and singer, most known for his role as Kagurazaka Makoto in the

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, thrill ...

live action adaption of ''

Hana-Kimi , is a shōjo manga series written by Hisaya Nakajo. The manga was serialized in Japan in Hakusensha's semi-monthly shōjo manga magazine, ''Hana to Yume''. The series was concluded with the Japanese release of volume 23 in August 2004. ...

'', Kunimitsu Tezuka in the '' Prince of Tennis Musicals'',

Tuxedo Mask Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal element f ...

in the

Sailor Moon Musicals The , commonly referred to as , are a series of live theatre productions based on the '' Sailor Moon'' manga by Naoko Takeuchi. The series consists of 31 musicals which have had more than 800 performances since the show opened in the summer ...

and as Kei Shinjo in '' Rookies''. In 2009, he was named one of the most promising actors and actresses, placing 8th in a poll conducted by Oricon. He is a former member of the Watanabe Entertainment group,

D-BOYS D-Boys (stylized as D-BOYS) is a young male actors group affiliated with Watanabe Entertainment. The ''D'' in the group's name stands for "Drama" (acting work), "Dream", "Debut", "Discovery" and "Development" (growth and advancement). Although ...

Early life

Shirota was born on December 26, 1985, to a Spanish mother, Pepi ( née Fernandez) and a Japanese father, Shirota Mitsuo (城田光男). Shirota lived in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, Spain from when he was three to about seven years. He returned to Japan for elementary school and can still speak Spanish in ordinary conversation. He attended high school at Horikoshi High along with

NEWS News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to events. N ...

member

Tomohisa Yamashita , also widely known as , or Tomo, is a Japanese singer, actor, and TV host. Yamashita joined the Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates as a trainee in 1996 (age 11) and made his small acting debut for NHK's ''Shonentachi'' (1998) and has be ...

WaT A wat ( km, វត្ត, ; lo, ວັດ, ; th, วัด, ; khb, 「ᩅᨯ᩠ᨰ」(waD+Dha); nod, 「ᩅ᩠ᨯ᩶」（w+Da2)) is a type of Buddhist temple and Hindu temple in Cambodia, Laos, East Shan State, Yunnan, the Southern Provi ...

Teppei Koike is Japanese actor and singer associated with Burning Productions. After appearing in the television drama ''Tentai Kansoku'' in 2002, Koike began appearing in several other films and dramas, notably as Atsushi Otani in '' Love Com''. At the sa ...

, Japanese actor

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

KAT-TUN is a Japanese boy band formed under Johnny & Associates (Johnny's) in 2001. The group's name was originally an acronym based on the first letter of each member's family name: Kazuya Kamenashi, Jin Akanishi, Junnosuke Taguchi, Koki Tanaka, ...

Jin Akanishi is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter and actor. He has been active since 1998 as one of the two lead vocalists of the J-pop boy-band KAT-TUN before starting a solo career in 2009. Akanishi has also acted in several films and dramas. Biog ...

and

Koki Tanaka is a Japanese singer–songwriter and actor. He was a member of Jpop idol boy band KAT-TUN from their debut until September 30, 2013 when his contract with Johnny & Associates (the company that manages KAT-TUN) was terminated. When he was a me ...

. According to Shirota, when he was little, his family liked to sing songs, so he would borrow his older sister's keyboard, while his mother taught him piano. Thus spawned Shirota's love for composing. He composed his first piece when he was in the fourth grade, titled "The Tear".

Career

Yu Shirota's acting career began from 2003 to 2004, when Shirota became the 7th actor to play Tuxedo Kamen (Tuxedo Mask) in the

. His first official performance as Tuxedo Kamen was on January 2, 2003, in the ''2003 Winter Special Mugen Gakuen – Mistress Labyrinth (Kaiteiban)''. He also demonstrated his ability to play acoustic guitar on stage live, during the ''Starlights – Ryuusei Densetsu'' performances. The ''2004 New Legend of Kaguya Island'' was Shirota's last performance as Tuxedo Kamen. That night, on September 5, 2004, after he performed his final rendition of "Prince of Earth", he announced his graduation from the role and received flowers from

Kousei Amano is a Japanese actor. In 2008 he changed his name to , maintaining the kanji in his name. In 2013, he married actress Akiko Hinagata. Filmography Television Films Stage Video games Music videos Discography * ''Eikyu Hozon Ba ...

who had previously played Tuxedo Kamen in the original ''1999 Kaguya Island'' musical. He also began working for a year on the Japanese program, ''Hanamaru Cafe'', as part of the Hanamaru apron team, often leaving set for locations and displaying prizes for viewers during game corners. During this time, Shirota won the role of Kunimitsu Tezuka, the stoic captain of

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'' musicals 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 ...

''. From 2005 to 2006, he became the third actor to play Tezuka as a member of the second-generation Seigaku cast. He made his debut as Tezuka on January 8, 2005, in the ''Side Yamabuki'' performance in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

. That same year, his role as Tezuka was carried into the live adaptation film of the manga and marked his first major film appearance. He also released a Best Actor's album in 2005, for his role as Tezuka. On March 29, 2006, in the Dream Live 3rd Live concert, he along with the majority of the second generation Seigaku cast, graduated from their roles. Through 2006, Shirota began appearing in a couple dramas and movies including the 2005 Watanabe net drama, ''Hice Cool'', the

TV drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-ge ...

special, ''The Hit Parade'', portraying the real-life Mickey Curtis and the ''June Bride'' movie in which he played the title character, Natsumi, based on the original manga ''Jyun Bride'' by Satoshi Yoshida, resulted in a made for DVD release sequel, ''Zoku June Bride''. In 2007, after nearly a year away from musicals, Shirota returned to stage and starred as Anthony Hope, the cheerful young sailor, in the Japanese stage production of ''

Sweeney Todd Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the penny dreadful serial '' The String of Pearls'' (1846–47). The original tale became a feature of 19th-century melodrama and London legend. A barber from Fleet Stre ...

''. The musical opened on January 5, 2007 and ran through January 29, 2007, at the Nissay Theatre with additional performances during February in Osaka. Shirota then began appearing in a string of dramas, the first being the

, ''Dignity of Haken'', featured Shirota as the half-Spanish Ryuto Amaya, premiered on January 10, 2007, on

NTV NTV may refer to: Television * NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh * NTV (India), Telugu regional channel * NTV (Kenya) * NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia * NTV (Newport Televis ...

and ended its run on March 21, 2007. Shirota next appeared in his second

appearance, in the April 2007 drama, ''

Seito Shokun! is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Yōko Shōji. It is serialized in Kodansha's ''Shōjo Friend'' from 1977 to 1984. The individual chapters were published into 24 ''tankōbon'' by Kodansha between February 1978 and June 1 ...

'', which is an adaptation of the manga series, ''Seito Shokun''. He played Ken Mizuhara, a physical education teacher. In his third

role of the year, Shirota appeared in the popular adaptation of ''

Hanazakari No Kimitachi e , also known by the abbreviation IkePara, is a teen romantic-comedy Japanese television drama planned by Hiroyuki Gotō for Fuji TV and Kyodo TV, based on the ''shōjo'' comic series of the same title by Hisaya Nakajo. Filming locations inc ...

'', which began on July 3, 2007, playing the character of Kagurazaka Makoto, a high-jumping rival to Sano Izumi. Shirota also appeared in a string of films in 2007. The first being ''Arakure KNIGHT'', the live-action movie adaptation of the 1982 to 1988 manga series, ''Aratanaru Shobaku'' by Satosi Yoshida. The film opened in limited release, premiering at Cinema GAGA on April 28, 2007. The second of his three films, Shirota played a main supporting actor in the film adaptation of Gettsu Itaya's semi-autobiographical novel, ''Waruboro'' and was released on September 8, 2007, as principal filmography began on September 20, 2006. Before October 2006, Shirota finished filming for his third movie, ''Heat Island'', which was released on October 20, 2007, and is based on the book of the same title written by Kakine Ryuosuke. Shirota played Aki, a street gangster who moves around Shibuya (a district in Tokyo) causing trouble and accidentally obtains a large sum of money that belongs to a crime group; however, the money once belonged to an illegal casino operated by the

Yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the ter ...

and both groups are after the money. After Shirota's run as

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

in the 2007 year-end Japanese production of the ''Take Flight'' musical, Shirota starred in the January 2008

, ''Koshonin – The Negotiator'', portraying Mariya Kyousuke, a condemned criminal. Next, Shirota starred in '' Rookies'', the successful baseball drama based on the manga of the same name by Morita Masanori, playing Kei Shinjo. The series first aired on April 19, 2008, and ended July 26, 2008. after 11 episodes. He would reprise his role as Kagurazaka Makoto in the 2008 '' Hana Kimi'' special episode. In 2009, Shirota starred in the made-for-television movie, ''Go Ape'', reprised his role as Shinjo Kei in the feature film for '' Rookies – Sotsugyou'', and co-starred with

Haruma Miura was a Japanese actor and singer. He made his acting debut in the television drama ''Agri'' (1997) and rose to popularity after starring in the film '' Koizora'' (2007), winning Newcomer of the Year at the 31st Japan Academy Prize. In the foll ...

in ''

Samurai High School was a Japanese television series. Synopsis Mochizuki Kotaro is a mild-mannered, unmanly high school student. One day, he visits a library and meets the mysterious librarian Himiko, who recommends to him an ancient book about a heroic general fr ...

'' as the soft-spoken, Nakamura Tsuyoshi. He also reprised his role as Mariya Kyousuke for the second season of ''Koshonin – The Negotiator'' and the 2010 feature film release of ''Koshonin – The Movie''. He is also set to be in the Japanese stage production of ''Elisabeth'' as Der Tod from August 2010 to October 2010. He also played Ryuji Danma in the 2012 live-action version of ''

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 ...

''. Shirota made his solo singing debut as "U" in May 2011 under Avex Trax, releasing his debut triple A-side single, " U/Heart of glass/Sisyphus". His first album is called ''UNO''. For the Japanese edition of his solo debut album, BACK TO ME,

Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson. Lou Pearlman formed the group in 1993 in Orlando, Florida. The ...

member Howie D (aka Howard Dorough) sought out Japanese idol Shirota for one of the bonus tracks, "If I Say" which was digitally released as a single on October 12, 2011.

With the D-BOYS

Shirota joined the Watanabe Entertainment group, the

in October 2004. As a member, he participated in photobook releases, stage performances, radio show hosting, event and meeting greetings, and filming variety shows. With the D-BoYS, he was featured in their first two photobooks, the self-titled ''D-Boys'' and the second called ''Start''. He hosted a radio show called ''"Marvelous Radio Vibration"'' with fellow D-BOYS member

Kotaro Yanagi is a Japanese actor. Early life Yanagi was born on December 21, 1985, in Berlin, Germany. He lived in Germany for three years before moving back with his family to Japan. His family moved to India for work, and he lived there for three years. ...

and Yukki. The show aired on May 5, 2005, and ended its run on April 1, 2006. The D-BOYS then starred in their own drama documentary variety show called, ''DD-Boys'' in which Shirota's appeared in multiple episodes as himself. The show was 23 episodes long and ran from April 10 to September 25, 2006. In June 2007, the D-BOYS starred in their first musical together called, ''D-BOYS STAGE'', which ran from June 3 to 10 at the Space Zero theater in Tokyo. Shirota appeared in the musical only as a guest performer, making select appearances on June 3, June 8 and 10, due to his busy schedule. The D-BOYS then starred in their 2nd musical, ''The Last Game'' to which on June 27, 2008, Shirota announced his graduation during the encore of the play while assuring the media that he would still remain under the Watanabe Entertainment management and still participate in certain D-BOYS projects and events. He officially graduated from the group on July 6, 2008. Despite having graduated from the D-BOYS, in December 2009, he was featured in both the sixth DVD release of the D-BOYS' Boy Friend series, called ''YU Channel'' and their "Kotoshi no Natsu wa Mainichi Dokoka de D-BOYS ☆Uki-uki♪Yatta♪Hohohoy♪" performance events, resulting in appearances in all three ''Natsu Doko 2009'' CD and DVD releases, as well as appearances for promoting their second tour, ''Fuyu Doko 2009''.

Personal life

In April 2006, Shirota experienced language study studying abroad for 1 week in the Australian Gold Coast. His experiences were recorded in the Language Study studying abroad 2007 journal series and covered in detail over 13 pages of his thoughts after the experience and the return home. In June 2006, he then visited New York to see five Broadway musicals: '' The Producers'', ''

Rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

'', '' Spelling Bee'', ''

'', and ''

The Phantom of the Opera ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pier ...

''. Shirota appears regularly in many magazines and journals. In January 2007, Wink up Magazine (Wanibooks) started a monthly column written by Shirota. This column is titled "How are you?" and usually features one picture taken by Shirota. He, with

Hirofumi Araki is a Japanese actor and singer associated with Watanabe Entertainment. He is a member of the acting troupe D-Boys and the leader of its pop unit D-Date. As an actor, Araki has been involved in many theater and television projects, notably s ...

, also attended the opening night for the ''Advancement Side Rokkaku feat. Hyotei Gakuen'' of Tenimyu on August 3, 2006, to support

Hiroki Aiba is a Japanese actor associated with Grand-Arts. He debuted as an actor in 2005 as Shusuke Fuji in '' Musical: The Prince of Tennis'' and also reprised his role in the live-action film '' The Prince of Tennis''. Since then, he has appeared in ot ...

and Kousuke Kujirai. Shirota has dated " Seventeen" model

Keiko Kitagawa is a Japanese actress and former model. She was an exclusive model for the Japanese '' Seventeen'' magazine from late 2003 to mid-2006, and quit modeling when she left the magazine. Her first acting role was Sailor Mars in the Sailor Moon live ac ...

and actress Misako Yasuda. In October 2011, he became an honorary fan of

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

. Shirota has an older brother named Jun Shirota, who is also an actor and a singer. His other siblings are Maria, Rina and Dai.

Selected filmography

Film

Television

Japanese dub

Music videos

Stage

* March 22 and 23, 2007, as a guest performer in the ''Out of Order'' Live Entertainment Show Japanese Original Musicals/Plays SERAMYU: Sailor Moon Musical Series (as Chiba Mamoru / Tuxedo Kamen) * Musical Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Aki no Fan Kansha Event (2002) * Winter Special Musical Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Mugen Gakuen – Mistress Labyrinth (Kaiteiban) (2003) * Musical Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon GW Fan Kansha Event (2003) * Summer Special Musical Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Starlights * Ryuusei Densetsu (2003) * Musical Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Aki no Fan Kansha Event (2003) * Winter Special Musical Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Kakyuu-Ouhi Kourin THE SECOND STAGE FINAL (2004) * Summer Special Musical Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Shin – Kaguya Shima Densetsu Golden Week Fan Kansha Event (2004) * Summer Special Musical Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Shin – Kaguya Shima Densetsu NEW LEGEND OF KAGUYA ISLAND (2004) TENIMYU: The Prince of Tennis Musical Series (as Kunimitsu Tezuka) * The Prince of Tennis Musical: Side Yamabuki feat. St Rudolph (In Winter of 2004–2005) * The Prince of Tennis Musical: Dream Live 2nd (2005) * The Prince of Tennis Musical: The Imperial Match Hyotei Gakuen (In Winter of 2005–2006) * The Prince of Tennis Musical: The Imperial Match Hyotei Gakuen in Winter (2006) * The Prince of Tennis Musical: Dream Live 3rd (2006) * The Prince of Tennis Musical: Dream Live 7th (2010, guest appearance)

STAGE Series * vol. 1 Sold-out Thanks – Nagatsuka Saburo (on June 6 and 9, 2007) * vol. 2 The Last Game – Aimoto Shinichiro (June to July 2008) Earth Gorgeous Produce Series * vol. 14 The Love Bugs – Thinklemans (2016.1.9~2.24 TBS Akasaka ACT Theater, 3.1~3.3 Aichi Arts Center, 3.11~3.13 Fukuwoka Sun Palace, 3.19~3.29 Festival Hall) European and American Musicals/Plays under Japanese Production Sweeney Todd the Musical: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – Anthony Hope (January 5 to 29, 2007) Take Flight the Musical – Charles Lindbergh (2007.11.24~12.9 Tokyo International Forum Hall C, 12.14~12.16 Kita-kyushu Art Theater, 12.19~12.21 Chunichi Theater, 2008.1.3~1.5 Umeda Art Theater) Elisabeth Das Musical – Der Tod * Triple Cast with Yamaguchi Yuichiro, Ishimaru Kanji (2010.8.9~10.30 Imperial Theater) * Double Cast with Inoue Yoshio (2015.6.11~8.26 Imperial Theater) * Double Cast with Inoue Yoshio (2016.6.28~7.26 Imperial Theater, 8.6~9.4 Hakataza Theater, 9.11~9.30 Umeda Art Theater MainHall, 10.8~10.23 Chunichi Theater) Roméo et Juliette - * as Romeo, Double Cast with Yamazaki Ikusaburo (2011.9.7~10.2 TBS Akasaka ACT Theater, 10.8~10.20 Umeda Art Theater MainHall) * as Romeo, with other 2 actors understudy / Tybalt (2013.9.3~10.5 Tokyu Theater Orb, 10.12~10.27 Umeda Art Theater MainHall) Phantom the Musical – Phantom/Eric (2014.9.13~9.29 TBS Akasaka ACT Theater, 10.5~10.15 Umeda Art Theater MainHall) Miss Julie the Straight Play – Jean (2017.3.10~4.1 Bunkamura Theater Cocoon) Bullets over Broadway the Musical – Cheech (2018.2.7~2.28 Nissay Theater, 3.5~3.20 Umeda Art Theater MainHall, 3.24~4.1 Hakataza Theater)

Live & Concert

Live * U 1st LIVE (2011.12.17 Umeda Art Theater Dramacity, 12.25~12.26 Tokyo Akasaka BLITZ) * Love & Peace Tour 2012 (2012.3.2 Tokyo SHIBUYA-AX, 2012.3.4 Nagoya Diamond Hall, 2012.3.9 Osaka Morinomiya Piloti Hall) * YU SHIROTA LIVE 2012「Segundo」 (2012.12.21~12.22 Tokyo Akasaka BLITZ, 2012.12.26 Osaka Namba Hatch） Concert * 「Meet in Beijing Arts Festival(12th)」Shirota Yu Concert (2012.5.9 Beijing Haidian Theater） * 「4Stars One World Broadway Musicals」Concert（2013.6.15~6.23 Aoyama Theater, 6.27~6.30 Umeda Art Theater Main Hall） *** The other three performers are

Ramin Karimloo Ramin Karimloo ( fa, رامین کریملو; ; born September 19, 1978) is a Canadian actor, singer and composer recognized for his work in London's West End and Broadway theatre. He has played the leading male roles in both of the West End's ...

, Sierra Boggess and Lea Salonga. *** * Yu & Musical Lovers 2013（2013.12.26~12.27 Tokyo Nihonbashi Mitsui Hall） * Umeda Art Theater 10th Anniversary Concert「Golden Songs」(2015.2.19 Tokyo International Forum Hall C) – Guest performer　 * Iwatani Tokiko Memorial Concert (2015.10.1 Nakano Sun Plaza Hall) * Friends of Disney Concert 2016 (2016.4.9 Tokyo International Forum Hall A) * Iwatani Tokiko Memorial Concert－Forever－Vol.2 （2017.11.7 Nakano Sun Plaza Hall） * 4Stars 2017 Concert (2017.12.14~12.17 Umeda Art Theater Main Hall, 12.20~12.28 Tokyo International Forum Hall C） *** The other three performers are

, Sierra Boggess and

Cynthia Erivo Cynthia Erivo (; born 8 January 1987) is an English actress, singer, and songwriter. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Grammy Award and a Tony Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards and a Primetime Emmy Awa ...

. ***

Discography

Shirota has currently released two solo EP albums with Avex Trax, one solo album for the Prince of Tennis musical and three with the

in Japan (JPN), only.

Official DVDs

On November 16, 2005, Shirota released an Idol DVD called ''With U''. The DVD includes an acoustic performance for the song "Natsu no Owari ~ Mou Kako no Koi", for which he had composed and written lyrics. Despite having graduated from the D-BOYS, in December 2009, he was featured in both the sixth DVD release of the D-BOYS' Boy Friend series, called ''YU Channel'' and their "Kotoshi no Natsu wa Mainichi Dokoka de D-BOYS Ukiuki Yatta Hohhohoi" event, resulting in appearances in all three ''Natsu Doko'' CD and DVD releases.

Official photobooks

Besides appearing in the first two photobooks with the

, on September 26, 2007, he released his ''first solo photobook collection''. This included childhood pictures of him as well as photos taken by Shirota himself.

References

* Wikipedia Japanese article on 城田優 * Wikipedia Japanese article on D-Boys

External links

Shirota's official website and Profile

Shirota's Official Blog

Interview with U (Shirota U)g
*
Yu Shirota
on

Avex Group is a Japanese entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1988, the company manages J-pop talents like Ayumi Hamasaki and internet sensation PikoTaro. It has also shifted into other busi ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shirota, Yuu 1985 births Living people Japanese male actors Japanese people of Spanish descent U Horikoshi High School alumni