Celebrity Showcase (4)
Performer Yusuke Onuki
Performer Yusuke Onuki Reflecting on Dorian Gray, Dancing, Singing and Acting
Photo courtesy of HoriPro
Interview by Miyuki Kawai
TJ: How did you first get into dancing? What styles of dance have you trained to do?
ONUKI: My mother is a dancer and runs a dance studio, so I naturally started to learn dancing. I started with jazz and modern dance. But when I was a primary school student, I saw “Rave2001,” a TV dance program, and got interested in street dancing. I began taking dance lessons and was into street dancing in junior high and high school. And gradually I started to be interested in contemporary dance and ballet.
Yuki Furukawa
Yuki Furukawa leads “Playful Kiss” from Manga to Live Action Drama
Interview by Miyuki Kawai
TJ: You majored in control theory at university. Can you tell us what that is?
FURUKAWA: It deals with controlling things by programming. I focused on auto- motive breakdowns, but it can be applied to any field including the media or finance. In terms of automotive breakdowns, the hypothesis in the reduction of friction or slip is verified by programming.
TJ: How did you first get into acting?
FURUKAWA: When I was a junior at university, I went job hunting, but I had no specific career goals. Although Break dancing was my passion, I knew I couldn’t make a living out of it. While I passed my exam for graduate school, I applied to some companies. At that time, I was chosen as “Mr. Campus” of the university, and I automatically became a contestant for HoriPro’s 50th anniversary talent audition. A winner was chosen through competitions in blog making, fashion, shoe design, etc. I had no acting experience, but I received an award. That’s when I started my acting career.
Actor Ryohei Suzuki Takes the Lead
Taking Anime and Manga Heroic Roles to the Big Screen Interview
by Miyuki Kawai
TJ: How did you first get into acting?
SUZUKI: I have been interested in acting since I was a junior high student. I moved to Tokyo when I entered university, and I joined an acting club. Then I looked into how to become an actor. I contacted nearly 50 agencies, and one company advised me to start as a model. Fortunately, after almost a year, the company got a partnership deal with HoriPro, and I stated to take acting lessons. An acting instructor took notice of me, and I joined HoriPro officially to start my acting career.
TJ:Has it been difficult adapting to fame?
SUZUKI:I am tall and stand out in a train, so I tend to avoid riding on trains. I often ride a bicycle, but don’t want to ride a motorcycle because I am afraid of accidents.
Interview with Diamond Yukai
JAPANESE rock rebel Diamond Yukai, who was born Yutaka Tadokoro in 1962, continues to reinvent himself in a music, film, television and writing career that has spanned nearly three decades.
As a teen, his parents, who were civil servants in Saitama, wanted him to conform to the system. They told him he would never succeed as a rock and roller. Diamond Yukai proved them wrong in the mid-eighties by forming Red Warriors, a band that went on to fill stadiums throughout Japan including the legendary Budokan and Seibu, the latter of which seats close to 40,000.
During this time, Diamond Yukai branched into the movie industry, beginning with a starring role in the 1988 movie “Tokyo Pop” directed by Fran Kuzui, creator of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and Fox TV’s hit series “Angel.” He co-starred in “Tokyo Pop” with actress Carrie Hamilton, daugh- ter of the legendary comedienne Carol Burnett. He went on to appear in Sofia Coppola’s “Lost in Translation” in 2004 and numerous Japanese films and television dramas.