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Takuya Kimura

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Takuya Kimura (Kimura Takuya, 木村拓哉, nicknamed Kimutaku; born November 13, 1972) is a Japanese actor and singer, a member of the pop music group SMAP. Despite his long career and his status as an "idol", he remains a very prominent figure in pop culture. Many of the dramas he starred in had record-high ratings in Japan.

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Early life and pre-fame

In 1987, he was taken on by the Johnny & Associates talent agency, which specializes in handsome young male teen idols, and became a member of Johnny's Junior. One of his relatives had sent in the application. He was in a Jr. unit called "Skate Boys". Skate Boys used to be backup dancers of Hikaru Genji, which at the time was a very popular group. In 1988, SMAP was created, and each member pursued an individual career by starring in B-list dramas. The group then consisted of six members: Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Goro Inagaki, Katsuyuki Mori, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Shingo Katori; Katsuyuki Mori later left SMAP to pursue a autoracing career in mid 90s. Although all SMAP members active in drama, Takuya's father didn't like his son working in the entertainment industry. His father's discontent changed a year later when he saw a play called Mokoden, and urged him to pursue a career instead. Their dreams to officially debut was finally recognized in 1991 when SMAP released their very first single "Can't Stop!! ~Loving." However, SMAP was not very popular for a Johnny's Idol Group at that time. Their debut single wasn't a success, and when they had their first concert, the hall was almost empty. However, SMAP steadily gained popularity through a variety program called 愛ラブSMAP.

Rise to fame

1993 was a year of opportunity for SMAP and Takuya. He was in a drama called Asunaro Hakusho, which was a huge hit. In that drama, he starred as Osamu Toride, an university student who is in love with a girl called Narumi Sonoda. Toride was portrayed as a shy guy who only cares about one girl. SMAP also got gained more popularity with a single called $10. At the same time, Hikaru Genji's popularity began to fade making way for SMAP to get their spotlight.

In 1994, Kimutaku Syndrome made this newcomer a superstar. But in reality, he hates being called Kimutaku and has asked his fans not to call him that. A year later, he contined to be active in acting and starred in movie Kimi wa toki no kanata (君を忘れない), which gained people's attention.

Another big break came when he was in a hit drama Long Vacation in 1996 made him even more popular, where he played young shy pianist called "Sena" who falls in love with an older girl who was a former model. 'Long Vacation' topped the TV ratings, and ever since, every drama of Takuya has become a big hit. SMAP then started a variety show called 'SMAP X SMAP' which made SMAP even more popular and garners impressive ratings weekly.

He starred in two dramas known as "Gift" and "Love Generation" in 1997 once again. Love Generation topped the ratings and was very popular. Gift was criticized in some ways because some people thought it encouraged teenage crime.

His popularity continued to climb in with the success of TV drama Beautiful Life, in 2000. He was at the peak of his popularity when he announced his marriage with Shizuka Kudo, an idol singer. Of course, his fans were shocked and angered. By that time, Shizuka was pregnant. Many people thought this would be the end of his career with his marriage, which is usually the case for many pop stars such as Namie Amuro.

In 2001, however, Takuya proved that he was not finished yet with a drama called Hero. Hero set a record with its unusually high TV ratings of about 36.8%. Even after having two children by 2003, he remained popular. He was in a string of many hit series after Hero, such as Sorakara Furu Ichiokuno Hoshi, Good Luck!!, Pride, and "ENGINE." "Good Luck" topped 2003's TV view ratings at 37.6%.

During 2004, Kimura was starred in a movie called '2046' starring as Tak, and also did the voice acting of Howl in Hayao Miyazaki's animation Howl's Moving Castle. Despite his career that nearly stretches two decades long, he still remains wildly popular and still tops numerous magazine surveys. Kimura is now planning to play a lead role in "Bushi no Ichibun" directed by Yamada Yoji. He played a guest role in the drama Saiyuki and returned as Detective Kohei in a special episode of HERO.

Personal Life

In 1999 he broke up with his longtime nine-year girlfriend Kaorin, because she reportedly loathed being simply "Kimutaku's girlfriend."#redirect A year later, he announced that he was going to marry Shizuka Kudo another pop idol. In 2001, his first daughter, Kokomi, was born and his second daughter, Mitsuki, was born in 2003.

Facts And Trivia

Filmography

Drama

Films

External links

 

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