Junichi Okada

Junichi Okada
Born (1980-11-18) November 18, 1980
Hirakata, Osaka, Japan
Genres Japanese pop
Occupation(s)
Years active 1995 (1995)–present
Labels Avex Trax (1995–present)
Associated acts V6

Junichi Okada (岡田 准一 Okada Jun'ichi, born November 18, 1980) is a member of Japanese boy band V6, which is under the management of Johnny & Associates. He joined Johnny & Associates at the age of 14.

Music career

In the summer of 1995, he participated in Johnny's Pre-School, part of the NTV program Tensai, Takeshi no Genki ga Deru Terebi (天才・たけしの元気が出るテレビ!!). He passed the audition and joined Johnny & Associates at the age of 14. After being in Johnny's for only a short period of three months, he made his debut as the youngest member of the idol group V6. Unlike the rest of the members in the group, he did not have much experience as Johnny's Jr. The first time that he had been on a music program was only after the debut of V6. Their debut song was "Music For the People".

Okada can play the guitar, as well as the piano. His mother is a piano teacher. His voice is in the middle range, and hence his solos usually include slower ballads. Recently, he has been given longer solos in V6 songs, such as "Way of Life".[1] He also reveals that during V6's 2008 concert Vibes, he was directing most of the lightning, staging, and costumes.[2]

Acting career

Dramas

Beside being a V6 member, Okada is an accomplished actor with eleven movies, in eight of which he plays the lead, and sixteen dramas, in four of which he plays the lead. In a Shōnen Club Premium interview on May 7, 2009, he revealed that it was the Japanese drama Kisarazu Cat's Eye that caught the attention of viewers and directors, and made them aware of his acting ability.[2] The success of the drama led to the making of two movie sequels, Kisarazu Cat's Eye: Nihon Series and Kisarazu Cat's Eye: World Series. His other notable dramas include Tiger & Dragon, a comedy drama about rakugo, a form of Japanese comedy acted only by one person telling that story.[3] and SP (also known as Security Police), an action suspense drama about a team of security police bodyguards in charge of protecting important people in the government. With Shinichi Tsutsumi as his co-star, the drama drew in overall ratings of 15.35% despite its Saturday 11:00 p.m. (JST) time slot;[4] its special episode broadcast in 2008 also received a viewership rating of 21.5%.[5]

After several years of "drama hiatus", it has been announced in 2012 that Okada would play the main character in the 2014 NHK historical drama, Gunshi Kanbei (軍師官兵衛), set to air in January of that year. Kanbei, whose birth name was Yoshitaka Kuroda, was a man of ambition who served as the chief strategist under Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the Sengoku period.[6]

Movies

He made a big leap in his movie career with Tokyo Tower in 2005. In the movie he portrayed a young college student torn between his love for a lady twenty years his senior and the views society has on these kinds of relationship.[7] After that came Hana Yori mo Naho (花よりもなほ), known as Hana to Western movie audiences, directed by the renowned director Hirokazu Koreeda (Distance, After Life and Nobody Knows). In the movie, Okada portrayed Sōza, a samurai uninterested in killing his enemy and focused on what he could do today to be a better person instead. The movie earned him a nomination for the Blue Ribbon Awards, but he declined this nomination.[8] Nevertheless, he still got awarded the Ishihara Yujiro New Actor Award at Nikkan Sports Film Award for his role in Hana.[9] Recently, he has been involved in movies such as Kagehinata Ni Saku (陰日向に咲く Flowers in the Shadow), portraying a young man in debt because of pachinko,[10] and Otonari (おとなり), an unconventional love story between two neighbors who have never met each other and only follow the other person's life through the sounds they hear from the other side of the wall.[11]

In 2012, Okada played the role Yasui Santetsu, an astronomer who invented the Jokyo calendar used for many decades, in the movie Tenchi Meisatsu (天地明察) directed by Yōjirō Takita.[12] The director has previously won an Academy award for Best foreign-language film, Departures in 2009.[13] Later that year, it was announced that Okada would appear in another film set for a spring 2013 release, Eien no zero (永遠の0), directed by Takashi Yamazaki. The film follows the journey of a kamikaze pilot named Kyuzo Miyabe, a man described as a coward yet volunteered to die for his country.[14]

Personal life

Okada is known for being reserved. He does not meet with many people within the agency.[15] In an interview on Shōnen Club Premium, Okada said that when he was little, whenever his name was called up to read something in class, he would feel like vomiting and purposely avoided school on those days. Within V6, he is also the most quiet person. He enjoys carpentry and has carved wooden bears for children.[16]

In 2010, Okada had reported in a press conference that he is certified to teach Jeet Kune Do and Kali in Japan, the latter was used by him as his main martial art when the SP series was filmed.[17]

Filmography

TV dramas

Year Title Role Notes
1995 V no Honoo Junichi Okada
1997 D×D Toranosuke Kihara
1998 Pu-Pu-Pu Jump Kazuya Omine
1999 Shin Oretachi no Tabi Shinroku Kumazawa
Dear Friend Yuuji Yamamuro
2000 Mona Lisa no Hohoemi Takuro Okajima
Oyaji Tadashi Tadashi Kanzaki
2001 Chuushingura 1/47 Chikara Oishi
Hanran no Voyage Kunpei Sakaue
2002 Renai Hensachi Ryuji
Kisarazu Cat's Eye Kōhei Tabuchi (Bussan) Lead role
2003 Suekko Chōnan Ane Sannin Ichiro Kashiwakura
2005 Taika no Kaishin Kamatari Nakatomino Lead role
Fuyu no Undokai Kikuo Kitazawa Lead role
Tiger & Dragon Ryuji Yanaka (Kotatsu)
2006 Niji wo Kakeru Ōhi Li Eun
2007 SP Kaoru Inoue Lead role
2014 Gunshi Kanbei Kuroda Kanbei Lead role

Movies

Year Title Role Notes
2003 Cosmic Rescue Azuma Lead role
Kisarazu Cats Eye: Nihon Series Kōhei Tabuchi (Bussan) Lead role
Hard Luck Hero Takashi Asai Lead role
2004 Thunderbirds Alan Tracy Japanese dub
2005 Tokyo Tower Toru Kojima Lead role
Fly, Daddy, Fly Soon-Shin Park Lead role
Hold Up Down Koichi Sawamura Lead role
2006 Hana Yori mo Naho Sōzaemon Aoki (Sōza) Lead role
Kisarazu Cats Eye: World Series Kōhei Tabuchi (Bussan) Lead role
Tales from Earthsea Prince Arren Lead role, voice
2008 Flowers in the Shadows Maya Lead role
2009 Otonari Satoshi Nojima Lead role
2010 SP The Motion Picture: Yabō-hen[18] Kaoru Inoue Lead role
2011 SP The Motion Picture: Kakumei-hen[18] Kaoru Inoue Lead role
From up on Poppy Hill Shun Kazama[19] Lead role, voice
2012 Tenchi: The Samurai Astronomer Shibukawa Shunkai (Santetsu Yasui)[20] Lead role
2013 Toshokan Sensō Atsushi Dōjō[21] Lead role
The Eternal Zero Kyozo Miyabe Lead role
2014 A Samurai Chronicle Shōzaburō Dan'no Lead role
2015 Library Wars: The Last Mission Atsushi Dōjō Lead role
2015 Library Wars: Book of Memories Atsushi Dōjō Lead role
2016 Everest: Kamigami no Itadaki Makoto Fukamachi Lead role
A Man Called Pirate Tetsuzō Kunioka Lead role
2017 Tsuioku Detective Atsushi Shikata Lead role
Sekigahara Ishida Mitsunari Lead role

Awards and nominations

Year Organization Award Work Result
200232nd Television Drama Academy Awards (ja)Best ActorKisarazu Cat's EyeNominated[22]
20059th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand PrixBest Supporting ActorTiger & DragonWon[23]
200619th Nikkan Sports Film AwardsIshihara Yujiro New Actor AwardHana Yori mo Naho, Kisarazu Cat's Eye: World SeriesWon[24]
200856th Television Drama Academy AwardsBest ActorSPWon[25]
201427th Nikkan Sports Film AwardsBest ActorThe Eternal Zero, A Samurai ChronicleWon[26]
39th Hochi Film AwardsBest ActorThe Eternal ZeroWon[27]
201557th Blue Ribbon AwardsBest ActorA Samurai ChronicleNominated[28]
38th Japan Academy PrizeBest ActorThe Eternal ZeroWon[29]
38th Japan Academy PrizeBest Supporting ActorA Samurai ChronicleWon[30]
83rd Television Drama Academy AwardsBest ActorGunshi KanbeiWon[31]

References

  1. ↑ "way of life" (in Japanese). Amazon.jp. Retrieved 2010-02-05.
  2. 1 2 "NHKオンライン". Nhk.or.jp. Retrieved 2013-01-06.
  3. ↑ "Tiger & Dragon [タイガー＆ドラゴン". jdorama.com. Retrieved 2013-01-06.
  4. ↑ "SP drama ratings" (in Japanese). Artv. Retrieved 2010-02-05.
  5. ↑ ""SP" special captures 21.5%". Tokyograph. 2008-04-07. Retrieved 2010-02-05.
  6. ↑ "14年NHK大河は「軍師官兵衛」＝主演はV6岡田准一さん". Yahoo! Japan. 10 Oct 2012. Retrieved 11 Oct 2012.
  7. ↑ 東京タワー プレミアム・エディション (in Japanese). Amazon.jp. Retrieved 2010-02-05.
  8. ↑ "渡辺謙 ベルリンから駆けつける". Cinemahochi. 13 Feb 2007.
  9. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0645411/awards
  10. ↑ 8thSin (26 January 2008). "Kagehinata ni saku (2008) - IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  11. ↑ "Oto, Na, Ri (Otonari)". CD Japan. Retrieved 2010-02-05.
  12. ↑ "Okada Junichi, Miyazaki Aoi star in Takita Yojiro's "Tenchi Meisatsu"". Tokyograph. 11 Feb 2011.
  13. ↑ "Yojiro Takita's 'Departures' has a surprising journey". LA Times. 24 May 2009.
  14. ↑ "Junichi Okada to play kamikaze pilot in "Eien no Zero", Haruma Miura and Mao Inoue co-star". Nipponcinema. 20 May 2012.
  15. ↑ "NHKオンライン". Nhk.or.jp. Retrieved 2013-01-06.
  16. ↑ Okada, Junichi (2008-01-27). "Oshareism" (Interview) (in Japanese). Interview with Shinya Ueda.
  17. ↑ "V6 Okada Junichi now a martial arts instructor". Tokyo Hive. 2010-09-10. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
  18. 1 2 "SP movie split into two parts". Tokyograph. 2010-04-19. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
  19. ↑ Lin, Lawrence (14 May 2011). "Kokuriko-Zaka Kara voice cast". GhibliWiki. Nausicaa.net. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  20. ↑ "Okada Junichi, Miyazaki Aoi star in Takita Yojiro's Tenchi Meisatsu". Tokyograph. 13 June 2011. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  21. ↑ "Library War Live-Action Film's Promo Aired (Updated)". Anime News Network. 2013-02-11. Retrieved 2012-02-11.
  22. ↑ 主演男優賞 (in Japanese). Television Drama Academy Awards. 2002-04-05. Retrieved 2010-02-05.
  23. ↑ "Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix". Tokyograph. Retrieved 2010-02-05.
  24. ↑ "Awards for Junichi Okada". IMDB. Retrieved 2010-02-05.
  25. ↑ 主演男優賞 (in Japanese). Television Drama Academy Awards. 2008-04-24. Retrieved 2010-02-05.
  26. ↑ 日刊スポーツ映画大賞 (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports. 2014-12-28. Retrieved 2014-12-28.
  27. ↑ 第39回報知映画賞受賞一覧 (in Japanese). Hochi. 2014-11-30. Retrieved 2015-01-05.
  28. ↑ 第５７回ブルーリボン賞 (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports. 2015-01-04. Retrieved 2015-01-05.
  29. ↑ 第38回日本アカデミー賞 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2015-01-22.
  30. ↑ 第38回日本アカデミー賞 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2015-01-22.
  31. ↑ 第83回ドラマアカデミー賞 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2015-02-21.
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