Tomohisa Yamashita a.k.a. YamaPi (Japanese Actor, Singer and Idol)

You might know Tomohisa Yamashita or YamaPi as flight doctor Aizawa Kousaku in Code Blue or basketball player Naoki Kamiya in Buzzer Beat but did you know that there is so much more to this handsome Japanese actor and singer?

Yamapi has achieved a lot of success with J-pop boyband NEWS and is launching a solo singing career in the next few months via an Asian concert tour and a solo album. His popular TV dramas have been well received as well, airing in Fuji TV's prestigious getsukyu (Monday 9 pm) primetime slot in Japan, making Yamashita the first person to have starred in two getsukyus with only a single drama season in between.

See Tomohisa Yamashita photos, performance videos, TV commercials and movie trailers and learn more about the popular Japanese idol right here.

Photo: Japan Gossip

The hard facts about popular J-pop idol Yamapi

Name: Yamashita Tomohisa

Real Name: Aoki Tomohisa (changed when father left family)

Nicknames: YamaPi, YamaP, Pi, Tomo-chan

Birthday: April 9, 1985

Birthplace: Chiba Prefecture, Japan

Star sign: Aries

Blood Type: A

Height: 176cm (5'9")

Weight: 54-60kg (119-132lbs)

Family: Mother (Naomi Yamashita) and younger sister (Rina Yamashita)

Pets: 2 Dogs (Hime-chan & P-chan)

Education: Graduate of Meiji University, Faculty of Business, majoring in Marketing

Hobbies: listening to music, baseball, skiing, going to the beach

Favorite Colors: black, white, red

Favorite Artist: Southern All Stars

Favorite Phrase: Maji de? (Really?)

Best Friends: Ikuta Toma, Nishikido Ryo, Akanishi Jin, Shirota Yuu

Jpop groups: B.I.G., 4TOPS, NEWS, Shuji to Akira, Kitty GYM

Education: Meiji University (Business major, 2008 graduate)

Information from DramaWiki / Photo from Tomohisa Yamashita on Facebook

Tomohisa Yamashita or YamaPi to friends and fans joined Johnny's Entertainment's stable of artists in 1996 at the age of 11 and made his official CD debut with J-pop boy band NEWS in 2004.

Since joining Johnnys, he has also been a member of Johnny's Jr. groups B.I.G. and 4Tops. Yamapi began to appear in television dramas soon after. In 2000, at age 15, his performance in Ikebukuro West Gate Park earned him an award for "Best Newcomer".

In 2002, Yamashita and the three most popular Tokyo Juniors Toma Ikuta, Jun Hasegawa, and Shunsuke Kazama formed 4Tops who then began to host the Junior television program, The Shounen Club.

In September 2003, eight other boys from Johnny's Juniors were chosen to form the group NEWS with Yamashita as the leader.

In October 2005, Yamashita and Kamenashi Kazuya from KAT-TUN formed the temporary unit Shuuji to Akira to promote their TV drama Nobuta wo Produce which also starred Horikita Maki. They released a single,Seishun Amigo which sold over a million copies in four weeks. Seishun Amigo topped the Oricon Yearly Single Rankings for 2005.

In spring 2006, Yamashita starred in Kurosagi: The Black Swindler, a drama based on the manga of the same title. He also recorded the TV drama's theme, his debut single as a solo artist Daite Señorita which became #1 in the Oricon ranking.

In the latter half of 2006, Yamashita joined a Thai brother-duo Golf-Mike to form a temporary unit called Kitty GYM along with Kitayama Hiromitsu (Kis-my-ft2), Inoo Kei (J.J. Express), Totsuka Shota (A.B.C.), and Yaotome Hikaru (Ya-Ya-Yah). The group was created to cheer on the Japan Women's Volleyball team and they released a single in August called Fever and Future under the name GYM which stands for Golf, Yamashita and Mike. Yamashita returned as a member of NEWS on December 31, 2006 on Johnny's Countdown 2006-2007.

Yamashita, along with KAT-TUN's Koki Tanaka and Kis-my-ft2's Taisuke Fujigaya, then starred in Byakkotai, a 2-part mini-series that aired in January 2007. The drama special features the story of Sakai Mineji one of the members of Byokkotai.

In April 2007, Yamashita was casted in a successful romance drama series called Proposal Daisakusen alongside Nagasawa Masami which was his first lead role in a FujiTV primetime drama.

In July 2008, Yamashita starred in the medical drama Code Blue, and subsequently Code Blue 2 playing a flight doctor in training alongside actresses Aragaki Yui and Erika Toda. The time slot of the series changed to Mondays at 9pm marking Yamashita's third time in the popular timeslot.

In the summer of 2009, Yamashita starred as the lead actor in a sports/romance drama called Buzzer Beat alongside Kitagawa Keiko.

Following the release of his second solo single Loveless, Yamashita held his first solo concert, Short but Sweet. His third solo single One in a Million was released on July 28, 2010. It debuted on top of the Oricon single charts and was his 20th consecutive number one hit.

Yamashita returns to the big screen as Yabuki Joe in the live adaptation of Ashita no Joe, a critically acclaimed boxing manga in 2011. Johnny's Entertainment also recently announced that Yamashita Tomohisa will be holding his first solo tour to accompany the release of his first solo album in 2011 and it will span 5 cities across Asia.

Information from Wikipedia / Photo from Tomohisa Yamashita on Facebook

Ashita no Joe is a critically acclaimed boxing manga created by Asao Takamori and Tetsuya Chiba in 1968 that was later adapted into an anime series and movie. A live-action movie adaptation has been announced for 2011 and popular Japanese actor/singer Tomohisa Yamashita will play Yabuki Joe and Yusuke Iseya will play Rikishi.

Proof of how prolific and talented the Japanese actor is.

Dramas

Code Blue 2 as Aizawa Kousaku (Fuji TV, 2010)

Buzzer Beat as Kamiya Naoki (Fuji TV, 2009)

Code Blue SP as Aizawa Kousaku (Fuji TV, 2009)

Code Blue as Aizawa Kousaku (Fuji TV, 2008)

Proposal Daisakusen SP as Iwase Ken (Fuji TV, 2008)

Proposal Daisakusen as Iwase Ken (Fuji TV, 2007)

Byakkotai as Sakai Shintaro & Sakai Mineji (TV Asahi, 2007)

Kurosagi as Kurosaki (TBS, 2006)

Nobuta wo Produce as Kusano Akira (NTV, 2005)

Dragon Zakura as Yajima Yusuke (TBS, 2005)

Sore wa, Totsuzen, Arashi no you ni... as Fukazawa Takuma (TBS, 2004)

Budo no Ki (Grapevine) as Shindo Yosuke (2003)

Stand Up!! as Iwasaki Kengo (TBS, 2003)

Lunch no Joou as Nabeshima Koshiro (Fuji TV, 2002)

Long Love Letter as Otomo Tadashi (Fuji TV, 2002)

Shounen wa Tori ni Natta as Nagashima Ken (TBS, 2001)

Kabachitare as Tamura Yuta (Fuji TV, 2001)

All Star Chushingura Matsuri as Asano Takumi (2000)

Shijo Saiaku no Date as Okamura Yuki (2000, ep1)

Ikebukuro West Gate Park as Mizuno Shun (TBS, 2000)

Kiken na Kankei as Miyabe Satoshi (Fuji TV, 1999, ep10-11)

Kowai Nichiyobi (NTV, 1999, ep13)

P.P.O.I. as Amano Taira (NTV, 1999)

Nekketsu Renaido (NTV, 1999, ep7)

Shounentachi as Kakuda Shinya (NHK, 1998)

Movies

Ashita no Joe (2011)

Kurosagi (2008)

Shinrei Surfer no Shi (1996)

Recognitions

13th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix (Summer 2009): Best Actor for Buzzer Beat

11th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix (Spring 2007): Best Actor for Proposal Daisakusen

9th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix (2005-06): Best Actor for Nobuta wo Produce

4th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix (2000-01): Best Newcomer for Ikebukuro West Gate Park

Annual Junior Awards: 'Best Boyfriend', 'Most Beautiful', etc. (2000)

Information from DramaWiki / Photo from Tomohisa Yamashita on Facebook

Buzzer Beat (a.k.a. Buza Bito ~ Gakeppuchi no Hero?) is a 2009 Fuji TV Japanese television drama which stars Yamashita Tomohisa, Keiko Kitagawa, and Aibu Saki.

The series follows Naoki Kamiya (Yamashita Tomohisa), a basketball player who just entered the professional league. He lacks confidence and is completely weak under pressure when it comes to work and romance. Although he has a cheerleader girlfriend Natsuki (Aibu Saki), he falls in love with a cheerful aspiring violinist Riko (Keiko Kitagawa) who inspires him to follow his dreams and do his best.

The Black Swindler (Kurosagi) is a Japanese manga written by Takeshi Natsuhara and illustrated by Kuromaru. The series is about a boy named Kurosaki who swindles only other professional swindlers known as shirosagi. The series was adapted as an 11-episode TV drama that was aired on TBS from 14 April 2006 to 23 June 2006. On March 8, 2008, Kurosagi the Movie with Tomohisa Yamashita starring as the Black Swindler once again, was released.

Browse through a wide selection of English-subtitled Japanese dramas on DVD

with Tomohisa Yamashita and special edition box sets at Yesasia

One in a Million is Tomohisa Yamashita's 3rd solo single, released in July 2010 which reached Weekly #1 at Japan's Oricon music chart in August. Watch him perform the song below.

Tomohisa Yamashita's second single as a solo artist Loveless was released in November 2009 and reached weekly number 1 at Japan's Oricon music charts. (His first single, Daite Senorita, also attained the #1 spot in 2006). Watch Yamapi's live performance of Loveless below.

Daite Senorita is the theme from the TV drama Kurosagi and is performed by Yamashita Tomohisa. Watch Yamapi perform the song live in the video below.

NEWS is a six-member J-pop group formed in 2003 by Johnny Kitagawa (of Johnny's Entertainment) consisting of Keiichiro Koyama, Ryo Nishikido, Tomohisa Yamashita, Takahisa Masuda, Shigeaki Kato and Yuya Tegoshi. The group's name is an acronym based on the cardinal directions (North, East, West, South) and the members locations. Watch NEWS led by Yamapi perform "Mola", a single off their 2008 album "Colour".

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