Top 25 Japanese Actresses on MDL
I am trying to remember the first time I saw Sakurai Sho, and it must have been in Kisarazu Cat's Eye because I wanted to watch how he grew as an actor. I have since watched all the movies to that show and appreciate the humor in it. The role that blew me away was, of course, Tago Yuudai/Yoshimoto Kouya in Kazoku Game, almost a reprise of his role in The Quiz Show 2.
He was also good in Yoiko no Mikata, but it was a totally different type of role for him. He played a preschool teacher. In the Pika*nchi movies, he played the gangster who eventually gets a job at the local Best Buy equivalent. In Kimi ni Sasageru Emblem, I thought he did well and it spurred me to look up the person it was based on. Yamada Taro Monogatari was excellent but Nino stole the show in this one, I tend to forget that other people were in it.
Sho's movie called Honey and Clover (Ikuta Tomadid a drama version in 2008) was short and sweet and to the point but didn't have the star power the drama did. I have even looked up episodes of News Zero which airs on Monday nights just because I wanted to see how well he did with it.
In the other shows he did with Arashi, he doesn't really stand out but none of them do, which might have been intended. I have seen all three Pika*nchi Movies, Yellow Tears, and Saigo no Yakusoku.
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| Native name: Sakurai Sho (櫻井翔, さくらい しょう) | ||
| Also known as: Sho-kun / Sho-chan / Keio boy / Sakusho / Bambi | ||
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Early Life
Yoko Sakurai, an English Literature Professor at Komazawa University, is his mother, and his father is Shun Sakurai (桜井 俊), a former government official. Sho has two younger siblings, Mai (舞), who is a journalist for Nippon TV, and Shu (修).
He went to Keio Yochisha Elementary School where he participated in many activities such as kendo, swimming, football, oil painting, calligraphy, and scouting. He played soccer until the end of his second year in junior high.
For more details on Sho, follow this link: Love Situation Blog. Find pictures of his family here.
See his MDL Profile for full acting credits
Acting Career
At 13 years of age, he sent in an application to Johnny's Entertainment on a whim. When he got home one day from school his resume was on the table and his parents demanded to know what it was all about, why hadn't they known about it. He had kept it a secret and of course, they were angry about it. His grandparents kept asking when he was going to quit. He also thought he would quit when he was 17 or 18 but he liked what he was doing and treated it like an after-school club. Even after getting into Arashi, his parents never attended their shows, until he had his first solo concert in 2006 (seven years after Arashi's debut).
"Even when we became Arashi, my family never attended our concerts. But there was a time when I held a solo concert when I was 22 or 23 and asked them in the living room, 'I have a concert this weekend, can you come?' -They then said, 'maybe we should.' I remember that scene pretty well. I think that was the time they finally accepted me. They've been coming to our concerts ever since." - On FujiTV's TokuDane!
Before the forming of Arashi in 1999, Sho was already considered a Senior and his anger at his kouhais is well known. It is also said he has mellowed a lot with age. He took a break from all Johnny's Entertainment activities one month before university exams and became the first Johnny's to get a degree while still keeping his idol status.
Anime Credits
An animation made to promote the movie Yatterman and uses "Believe" as its theme song. Each member of Arashi is animated and transforms into a character from the Yatterman series, fighting the bad guys and saving the day.
Stage Credits
1997-1998 Kyo to Kyo, 2004 West Side Story, 2006 The Beautiful Game.
Awards
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Newscasting
The 9/11 attacks in 2001 in America happened while he was at University and peaked his interest in newscasting.
He began hosting News Zero in 2006 and in 2007 he became the first pop idol to host an elections program, the 2007 House of Councillors elections. Later that same year he was chosen as FujiTV's main broadcaster for the 2007 Volleyball World Cup. In 2008, he was the main newscaster for the Olympic Games in Beijing on NTV and in 2009, he covered Japan's General Elections. In 2010, he covered the Winter Olympics and traveled to Romania, Germany, and Russia to do a special report on world poverty for 24-Hour Television. He interviewed former Soviet Union General Secretary and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mikhail Gorbachev about nuclear disarmament and poverty.
On May 13, 2012, NTV of Japan announced the appointment of Sakurai as the main caster for their 2012 London Summer Olympics coverages. This marks Sakurai's third consecutive Olympic main caster appointment for NTV after 2008 Beijing and 2010 Vancouver.
Music
Sho began taking music lessons at the early age of three starting with the electric organ, he then moved to piano while in the fourth grade. From that time until sixth grade, he played the trombone for his school's brass band. He attended cram school and played trumpet at the same time. For one of Arashi's concerts, he learned how to play the snare drum.
According to the other band members, Sho was the first member decided on to be in Arashi followed by Nino and MatsuJun. The leader position of Arashi was decided by a game of Janken Pon (Rock, Paper, Scissors) between himself and Ohno Satoshi. Ohno won and has ever since been nicknamed "Leader."
As the designated rapper of Arashi, Sho writes all of his raps himself and they are known as "SakuRaps." Read the article for Sho's Reason for becoming a rapper.
Endorsements
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With a smile that can light up a room or a glower to make you cringe in the corner, this versatile man has all the bases covered. I look forward to his newest movie Laplace's Witch in 2018 and his latest drama Saki ni Umareta Dake no Boku airing in October of 2017. I love watching him on vs. Arashi (even though he only excels at the kicking games) and his solos on the Arashi albums are to die for.
One more pic for everyone. :D
Previous Episodes:
Kamenashi Kazuya
Yamashita Tomohisa
Oguri Shun
Matsuda Shota
Matsumoto Jun
Next Episode:
Ninomiya Kazunari
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Sources: (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), (13) , (14)
