Article: Top 10 Japanese Singers Who Also Appeared As Actors

Some of them see it as another creative task they wish to complete. It's a logical transition because acting and singing are about performing and developing aesthetic sensitivities and cerebral muscles. Singing for a record/cd is not the same as singing for a film, and those who can do both are mostly regarded as the most accomplished artists. Here are several Japanese singers that are also actors.

1. Tomohisa Yamashita

Tomohisa Yamashita, often known as Yamapi or Tomo, is a Japanese singer, actor, and television personality. Yamashita joined the Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates as a trainee in 1996 (at the age of 11) and had his tiny acting debut for NHK's Shonentachi (1998). He has since been busy on Japanese television. Yamashita made his professional CD debut in 2004 in the idol group NEWS members, and then as a soloist in 2006.

 

2. Jin Akanishi 

Jin Akanishi is a musician, singer, composer, and actor from Japan. He began his career in 1998 as one of the two main vocalists of the iconic J-pop boy band KAT-TUN. Since their formal debut in 2006, the group has had 14 straight number ones on the Oricon charts (counting studio albums). Akanishi began his solo career in 2009, and since then he has released two studio albums (Japonicana, #JustJin), as well as two short albums. Akanishi has appeared in a few films in addition to his music career. He played the lead in the film Bandage, and his Hollywood worldwide debut was in the movie 47 Ronin. In addition, he has appeared in various Japanese dramas, including the popular NTV school dramas Gokusen 2 and Yukan Club.

 

3. Takuya Kimura

Takuya Kimura is a Japanese radio broadcaster, singer, and actor. He is considered a Japanese icon as a result of his accomplishment as an actor. He was also a part of SMAP, one of Asia's best-selling boy bands. Long Vacation, a 1996 television drama series he got his first starring role, became a great success, coining the phrase "Lon-bake phenomenon." As his succeeding television programs continued to achieve huge ratings and each episode became a social sensation as it aired, he was dubbed "The King of Ratings." Five of his works are in the top ten most-watched TV drama series in Japan, with Hero, his 2001 drama series, ranking first. He has also been in blockbuster films such as Love and Honour (2006), Hero (2007), and Howl's Moving Castle (2010). (as a voice actor, 2004).

 

4. Haruma Miura 

Haruma Miura was a Japanese singer and actor. He made his acting debut in the television serial Agri. He grew to prominence after appearing in the film Koizora, for which he received the 31st Japan Academy Prize for Newcomer of the Year. Miura went on to appear in the third season of Gokusen (2009), Bloody Monday (2009), Naoko (2009), Kimi ni Todoke (2010), Last Cinderella (2013), Boku no Ita Jikan (2013), The Eternal Zero (2013), Attack on Titan (2015), Gintama 2 (2018), and Two Weeks Later (2019). He also played Lola in the Japanese version of Kinky Boots (2016), for which he won Best New Actor and the Haruko Sugimura Award at the 24th Yomiuri Theater Awards. Along with his acting career, Miura made his singing debut in 2019 with the song "Fight for Your Heart," followed by "Night Diver" in 2020.

 

5. Ryo Nishikido 

Ryo Nishikido is a singer and actor from Japan. He was formerly managed by Johnny & Associates as a member of the Japanese boy bands Kanjani Eight and News. In December 2019, he launched his debut solo album. Ryo Nishikido was born in Hyogo on November 3, 1984, and raised in Osaka. He was chosen as a member of the Johnny's Jr. collective in 1997 and had his significant breakthrough in 2004 as an actor and vocalist with pop band News. Ryo N. was also the co-lead vocalist and second guitarist for Kanjani Eight, a Johnny & Associates boy band of Johnny's Jr. members from Japan's Kansai area. Ryo N. did his debut solo concert in 2006. He also began performing huge supporting parts in prime-time television dramas such as 1 Litre of Tears, Attention Please, and Last Friends. He earned multiple acting prizes for his depiction of an abusive lover in Last Friends.

 

6. Jun Matsumoto

He is an actor and singer both. He is a member of the boy band 'Arashi' and is in charge of producing Arashi's shows. He is most known to Japanese television drama fans for his role as Doumyuji Tsukasa in the Hana Yori Dango series received GQ Japan's Man of the Year Award in the singer/actor category. At 12 when he joined the Japanese talent agency, Johnny & Associates. Before making his Arashi debut as a singer in 1999, Matsumoto began his acting career as Teddy Duchamp in the stage play Stand by Me, based on a film of the same name.

 

7. Ryosuke Yamada 

Ryosuke Yamada is a singer and actor from Japan. He is a member of the group Hey! Say! JUMP. Yamada rose to fame as a teen idol in 2007 after appearing in the Japanese television series Tantei Gakuen Q. Yamada's youth at the time the single reached number one aided the singer in setting multiple records in the Japanese music business, and Yamada acquired widespread acclaim as a solo artist. He was the first, youngest male artist in thirty-three years to have a number one debut song and one of just two musicians in history to accomplish this feat.

 

8. Teppei Koike 

Teppei Koike is a Japanese actor and singer who is part of the Burning Productions team. Following her appearance in the television drama Tentai Kansoku in 2002, Koike featured in several other films and dramas, most notably Atsushi Otani in Love Com. From 2002 to 2016, Koike was also a member of the music duo WaT with Eiji Wentz.

 

9. Taguchi Junnosuke 

Taguchi Junnosuke is a singer-songwriter, actor, and model from Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan. He was a member of the Japanese idol group KAT-TUN in the past. In 1999, he joined the talent agency Johnny & Associates, and in 2006, he made his KAT-TUN debut. He participated in the film Mohhan with SMAP's frontman Masahiro Nakai, as well as other dramas, most notably the blockbuster drama Legal High. After quitting KAT-TUN and Johnny & Associates, he launched a solo career (first song released in November 2016) and began modelling. In 2017, struck a two-year exclusive partnership with Universal Music Group. The single was released in April 2017 and marked his big label debut as a solo artist.

 

10. Satoshi Ohno 

Satoshi Ohno is a Japanese idol who works as a singer, actor, radio host, artist, dancer, and choreographer. Leader refers to him as the lead vocalist and leader of the boy band Arashi. Ohno began his career in the entertainment industry at 13 when he joined the Japanese talent agency, Johnny & Associates. He started his acting career in 1997 when he was cast in the stage drama Kyo to Kyo. Ohno was the first and only Johnny's artist to have his art show, dubbed "Freestyle," in 2008, and he also had his first significant part in a Japanese television drama, Ma, for which he garnered several Best Actor honours.