Tomohisa Yamashita (Japanese: 山下 智久, Hepburn: Yamashita Tomohisa; born April 9, 1985), also widely known as Yamapi (山P, YamaP), or Tomo, is a Japanese singer, actor, and TV host.
Yamashita joined the Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates as a trainee in 1996 and made his small acting debut for NHK's Shonentachi (1998). He made his musical debut as part of idol group NEWS in 2004 and later debuted as a soloist in 2006. He launched his acting career after portraying Kusano Akira in the hit drama Nobuta Wo Produce (2005). His first major role was in 2006 when he landed the title role in Kurosagi. In October 2011, Johnny & Associates announced that Yamashita would no longer be a member of NEWS, and he would be concentrating on his solo projects as an actor and solo singer. He released his solo music under Warner Music Japan until 2016. In mid-2018, Yamashita began releasing music under Sony Music Japan; however, Johnny & Associates continued to manage the rest of his activities, though he left the agency in October 2020. As early as 2019, he signed a brokerage contract with Westbrook Entertainment, a brokerage company opened by Will Smith, to reach global audiences.
Yamashita is widely known for his many popular dramas such as Nobuta wo Produce (2005), Kurosagi (2006), Operation Love (2007), Buzzer Beat (2009), Code Blue, and 5→9 From Five to Nine (2015). His latest movie Code Blue: The Movie (2018) was the highest-grossing domestic movie in Japan that year and ranked 5th for all-time highest-grossing live action movies in Japan. In 2023, he began starring in the French-Japanese drama series Drops of God on Apple TV.
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Early life
Yamashita was born as Tomohisa Aoki in Funabashi, Chiba. His parents separated when he was a child, and both Yamashita and his younger sister were raised mainly by his mother. After his father left the family, he changed his surname to his mother's. His mother's name is Naomi and his sister's name is Rina. His nickname when he was young was 'Yama'. He has been noted as an athletic person ever since he was young. When in kindergarten, he began learning karate, achieving the rank of purple belt.
Yamashita became motivated to send in his application to the talent agency Johnny & Associates after watching one of Takizawa Hideaki's dramas and aspiring to appear on television like him. He sent in applications to many agencies but only Johnny & Associates called him for an audition. In 1996, he became a trainee under Johnny & Associates as a part of group Johnny's Junior. He debuted as a singer in a then eight-member Japanese band called NEWS and as a soloist in 2006. In 1998, he later debuted as an actor with a small role in 'NHK's Shonentachi'. Since debuting, he is widely known as 'Yamapi', short for Yamashita and Pink. The nickname "Yamapi" was given to him by Takizawa Hideaki as he forgot to wear pink clothing for a performance one time and was repeatedly scolded by his coach, "Yamashita, Pink!", "Yamashita, Pink!", much to everybody's amusement. His other nicknames include 'Pi', 'Tomo-chan','Pi-Chan' or 'Pii-Tan'.
Yamashita graduated from Horikoshi Gakuen's performing arts course for high school students in 2004. In Junior High, he joined athletes club. At Horikoshi, he shared a classroom with celebrities such as Koki Tanaka, Koike Teppei, and Yu Shirota. After graduating from high school, Yamashita was accepted into Meiji University's School of Commerce. He graduated with a Commerce degree (major in marketing) in autumn 2008.
Career
Acting
Yamashita made his acting debut in the acclaimed NHK drama series "Shonentachi" (the Youth) (also starring Takaya Kamikawa, Sayaka Yoshino, Aiba Masaki among others) in 1998. He gained further attention after appearing in Ikebukuro West Gate Park in 2000, with his breakthrough as an actor occurring in 2006, cast in the lead role of the television drama Kurosagi. He subsequently made his film / widescreen debut with the Kurosagi film sequel Eiga: Kurosagi in 2008. Yamashita also made his debut as a solo artist with the Kurosagi soundtrack Daite Senorita which went on to sell over 800,000 copies. He followed that up in 2007 and 2008 with roles as time-traveler Iwase Ken in the award-winning romantic comedy Proposal Daisakusen and flight doctor-in-training Aizawa Kousaku in the medical drama Code Blue. Proposal Daisakusen remains one of his most notable works, and in 2013, his character Ken's trademark line "Hallelujah chance! (ハレルヤチャンス!)" was selected by Oricon Monitor Research members as one of the most memorable signature phrases in Japanese drama history. Industry watchdog Nikkei Entertainment placed him at the top of their annual ranking of under-30 Japanese celebrities in 2008 due to his achievements in multiple entertainment fields that year. Following his work in the 2009 romance serial Buzzer Beat, Nikkei christened him the 'twenty-something ratings man', singling him out as one of the few young actors who could successfully lead romance dramas and possessed a stable ratings record despite the declining drama industry. Yamashita reprised his role as Aizawa Kousaku in the winter 2010 TV series Code Blue 2. Days after Code Blue 2 wrapped, Yamashita began filming for the live-action film adaptation of Ashita no Joe. Code Blue 2 and Buzzer Beat aired in Fuji TV's prestigious getsuku (Monday 9 p.m.) time-slot in Japan, making Yamashita the first person to have starred in two getsukus with only a single drama season in between.
From January to March 2012, NTV aired Yamashita Tomohisa Route 66: Tatta Hitori no America (山下智久・ルート６６～たったひとりのアメリカ), a travel documentary chronicling Yamashita's cross-country trip across the historic Route 66. Then, after a two-year absence, Yamashita returned to the small screen with the 2012 winter drama Saikō no Jinsei no Owarikata: Ending Planner where he portrayed the role of Ihara Masato, the reluctant heir to a funeral parlor. He also co-starred with Shingo Katori for autumn 2012 detective series Monsters.
Yamashita co-hosted Fuji TV's primetime Japanese variety show Shogeki! Sansedai Hikaku TV: Generation Tengoku (衝撃!3世代比較TV ジェネレーション天国) from January 28, 2013, until its last episode on March 10, 2014. From April 20, 2014, Yamashita started hosting a new late-night variety show titled Otona no Kiss Eigo. Later in 2015 the staffs put his name on the title show and changed to YamaPi no Kiss Eigo, with new timeslot and new format games involving speaking English. In the same year, he started a new regular radio program titled “SOUND TRIPPER“ after his old radio program "CROSS SPACE" (2012–2015) ended few weeks before. In line with the new show's title, the interFM show presented chart-topping songs from US and UK charts of that year and was broadcast five days a week, from 8:05-8:10 in the morning. The radio program was aired from 2015 to early 2017
Music
Yamashita joined Johnny & Associates in 1996 at age 11. He started as trainee in a group called "Johnny's Junior". Johnny's Juniors appeared on music shows as their senior's backup dancers, in addition to appearing on NHK TV's "Shounen Club". Several years after entering the agency, Yamashita became one of the most popular junior members. After Takizawa Hideaki debuted as duo group Tackey & Tsubasa in 2003, Yamashita was appointed as Johnny's Junior leader.
In September 2003, 7 years after joining the agency, Yamashita was one of the Johnny's Juniors chosen to be part of the idol group NEWS and he subsequently formally debuted on May 12, 2004. Yamashita was often referred to as the leader of NEWS in media but members of the group, including Yamashita himself, have stated at times that he was not the de facto leader.
Together with Kazuya Kamenashi, Yamashita released the single Seishun Amigo in November 2005. The single was the soundtrack for the drama Nobuta wo Produce, starring Kamenashi and Yamashita, and it topped the Oricon yearly charts in 2005. Seishun Amigo eventually sold over 1.5 million copies and is Yamashita's best-selling single to date.
In 2009 Yamashita returned to solo music activities with the release of his second solo single, "Loveless", and his first solo concert, ~Short But Sweet~ In 2010, he released his third solo single One in a Million which debuted atop the Oricon charts. This was followed by the releases of the single Hadakanbo and his first solo album, Supergood, Superbad, in January 2011. His first solo tour, "Supergood, Superbad: Asia Tour 2011" kicked off on January 29, 2011, in Hong Kong.
On October 7, 2011, Johnny & Associates announced that Yamashita and Ryo Nishikido were no longer members of NEWS, and Yamashita would henceforth be concentrating on his solo projects. Yamashita later published a message through the Johnny's web (Jweb) subscription service stating that this was a decision taken after much consideration on his part.
A chance meeting at a Lady Gaga concert before production began for the 2012 drama Monsters led Katori and Yamashita to co-author the drama theme song and formed a temporary unit named "The Monsters" to release the song as a single that would later top the Oricon weekly ranking. The Monsters came together again in 2013 to co-author the track PAri-PArA for Yamashita's third album A NUDE. As of 2013, all three studio albums released by Yamashita received the RIAJ (Recording Industry Association of Japan)'s Gold certification, indicating a shipment of 100,000 copies.
Public image
In July 2020, Tomohisa was announced as one of the guest speakers for the 2020 Tomorrowland Around the World Inspiration Sessions Festival. He was one of 16 guest speakers as an international role model. In March 2021, Yamashita was officially announced as a Bulgari ambassador. In May 2021, Yamashita was officially announced as a beauty ambassador for Dior. In August 2023, Yamashita was officially announced as "Friends of the House" of Moët & Chandon
In 2020, his activities were temporarily suspended when he was seen drinking with a group of women that included one underaged woman (17 years old; legal drinking age is 20). He was later seen at the same hotel with the girl.