Kamenashi Kazuya, often referred to as Kame, is a Japanese actor/idol from Edogawa, Tokyo. He joined the Japanese talent agency ‘Johnny’s’ aged 12.
In 2002 he and five others formed the Johnny’s Juniors group KAT-TUN who are still active to this day. He has starred in dramas and movies fairly consistently since 2005.
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At first KAT-TUN were only meant to be backing dancers however due to their immense popularity they debuted in 2006 with the single ‘Real Face’ which that year broke one million sales.
Before his debut with KAT-TUN Kamenashi had acted in several dramas already. The most popular of which being ‘Nobuta Wo Produce’ (2005) during which was formed the temporary duo Shūji to Akira with him and Yamashita Tomohisa singing the theme song 'Seishun Amigo'. The single was a massive success and broke one million sales in 2005. Kamenashi won 47th Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Actor for Nobuta wo Produce and 'Seishun Amigo' won the Japan Gold Disc Awards: Song Of The Year.
Kamenashi has acted in a number of dramas with the members of KAT-TUN. Most notably 'Gokusen 2' (2005) with Akanashi Jin and 'Tatta Hitotsu no Koi' (2006) with Tanaka Koki. Both Akanashi and Tanaka have now left KAT-TUN, Akanashi in 2010 and Tanaka in 2013. During spring 2016 the third member to leave was Taguchi Junnosuke, which made KAT-TUN now have three members: Kamenashi Kazuya, Ueda Tatsuya, and Nakamaru Yuichi. Despite the struggles the group has faced, as of their 10-year anniversary, they still have managed to have every album and single reach number one in the Oricon charts in its first week.
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Many of Kamenashi's dramas and films use KAT-TUN's songs as their theme/end credit songs. Kamenashi wrote his solo 'Kizuna' for 'Gokusen 2'. Tamaki Koji and Kamenashi teamed up as temporary duo 'Hottake BAND' to create the theme song 'Sayonara☆Arigato' for 'Tokyo Bandwagon' (2013) which topped Oricon Weekly chart.
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Kamenashi made his cinematic debut reprising his role as Odagiri Ryu from 'Gokusen 2' (2005) in 'Gokusen: The Movie' (2009). Another popular drama he starred in 'Yokai Ningen Bem' (2011) was also adapted into a film in 2012. As a departure from TV spin offs Kamenashi starred in the bizarre comedy, thriller ‘Ore, Ore’. The film premiered at the Udine, Italy for Far East Film Festival in April 2013 and won the ‘My Audience Award’. Kamenashi's, being an avid baseball player and fan, was cast in the role of Naganiash Roy who was the Canadian/Japanese baseball team Asahi’s pitcher in 'Vancouver no Asahi' (2014). Kamenashi’s first action based role was playing the role Kato in ‘Joker Game’ (2015). Next for Kamenashi is the movie Utsukushii Hoshi that started filming in spring 2016 with the release date set to be May the following year.
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Aside from his activities with KAT-TUN and acting in dramas and films Kamenashi is known as a workaholic. He hosts a weekly radio show ‘Kamenashi Kazuya no Hang Out’ and has regular segments in multiple magazines. Also, as a known baseball fan he also is a reporter/MC on the weekly sports and news show ‘Going!’, MC on the monthly show ‘Kamenashi Kazuya no Sports Tengoku Ouen Sukininaru’, and commentator on ‘Dramatic Game’.
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Kamenashi has also appeared in several stage productions. He was a dancer/supporting role in 'Dream Boys' from 2000 to 2004 and then had a lead role from 2007 to 2009 and then again in 2011 and 2012. In 2015 he starred in the stage production 'Aoi Shushi wa Taiyo no Naka ni Aru' by acclaimed theater director Ninagawa Yukio.
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In his personal life, he comes from a close family and has 4 brothers. He has three dogs, a large house, and though he lives alone his family visit often. His hobbies include baseball, cooking, photography, and fashion. Originally known as a bit of a show off in his younger years he matured in the industry and is well liked by his peers both younger and older. Some of his friends being: Shohei Miura, Ohno Satoshi, Tsumabuki Satoshi, Masahiko (Matchy) Kondo, and Sato Koichi. Edit Biography