Yoshikazu Kotani

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Yoshikazu Kotani
小谷嘉一
Born (1982-03-25) March 25, 1982 (age 42)
Tokyo, Japan
Occupations
  • Actor
  • Singer
Years active2001–present
Spouse
(m. 2016; div. 2018)
WebsiteKotani's official website

Yoshikazu Kotani (小谷 嘉一, Kotani Yoshikazu) (born March 25, 1982) is a Japanese actor and singer. He played Takashi Kawamura in The Prince of Tennis musical series, Tenimyu and the live film adaptation.

Career[edit]

Kotani played a transvestite in TKO Hip Hop.[1]

Kotani portrayed Takashi Kawamura, the soft-spoken, dual-personality 3rd year regular of Seigaku Middle School's tennis club, in The Prince of Tennis musicals, Tenimyu. From 2005 to 2006, he was the fourth actor to play Kawamura as a member of the second-generation Seigaku cast. He made his debut as Kawamura on January 8, 2005 in the Side Yamabuki performance in Osaka. That same year, his role as Kawamura carried into the live adaptation film of the manga.

On March 29, 2006, in the Dream Live 3rd Live concert, Kotani, along with the majority of the Seigaku cast, graduated from their roles.

Kotani carried his role from the musicals to the live-adaptation film of The Prince of Tennis. He reprised his role in the movie. The Prince of Tennis was released on May 13, 2006 and opened in the tenth spot of the Japanese box office.

Kotani starred in the made-for DVD release tokusatsu series, ZanSaber,[2] as a tokusatsu hero. ZanSaber was released on November 18, 2006.

Kotani's next project was filming for the made-for DVD release movie, Boys Love,[3] which co-starred Takumi Saito. Kotani plays Mamiya Taishin, a magazine editor who meets high-school model, Kisaragi Noeru (Takumi), during a magazine interview. Boys Love was released on November 24, 2006.

In 2007, Kotani took the lead in the theatrical edition of Boys Love, which shared only its title with the 2006 movie, and featured a new story and cast. Kotani portrayed Aoi Kairu, a young teacher at an all-boys boarding school, who discovers that his new student, Sora Amakami (Atsumi Kanno) is the boy with whom he recently had a sexual encounter. The movie costarred Yuuki Kawakubo and, in smaller roles, Toru Baba and Renn Kiriyama.

In 2007, Kotani appeared in the film, Arakure KNIGHT (荒くれKNIGHT),[4] the live-action adaptation of the 1982 to 1988 manga series, Aratanaru Shobaku by Satosi Yoshida. The film was released in April 2007. Kotani acted alongside Yuu Shirota, Masaki Kaji, Kousuke Kujirai and Kenta Kamakari.

Kotani is a member of +Plus, a J-pop band that does opening and ending songs for anime. Their latest anime was Hitman REBORN. +PLUS released four albums.

Personal life[edit]

Kotani began dating former Morning Musume member Risa Niigaki after they starred in the stage play Absolute Boyfriend in 2013.[5] After two years of dating, they married on July 11, 2016. On January 6, 2018, their blogs announced that they were filing for divorce.[6][7]

Discography[edit]

2007 – "Going to the Road" was his first solo single, that also included "Irotodori no Sekai".

Filmography[edit]

Year Title Role Other notes
2001 As for Looking at Love Lastly Kunihiko TV drama
2001 Kamen Rider Agito Kouji Majima Tokusatsu
2004 Waltz of the Puppy Wada Takashi TV drama special
2004 Take Off! N/A TV drama
2004 Division 1 (After the Releasing Section) Mizutani TV drama
2004 Genseishin Justirisers Takeda Tokusatsu
2005 Mata no hi no chika (Another Day for Chika) or (Days of Chika) Kondo Yukitugu
2005 Ruri no Shima N/A
2005 Dangerous Related Sakura Yoshihiko TV drama special
2005 Justirisers Takeda TV drama special
2005 Anego N/A TV drama
2005 Kosume no Mahou 2 Kobayashi TV drama
2005 Gakkou no Kaidan N/A Net Drama
2005 TKO Hip Hop Cindy
2005 Chikan Otoko N/A
2006 The Prince of Tennis Takashi Kawamura
2006 Shinrei Shashin Kitan (心霊写真奇譚) Nishimura Hiroshi Appears in Hishatai no Nai Shashin, story No. 1
2006 ZanSaber N/A
2006 Yuuki N/A
2006 Boys Love Mamiya Taishin
2007 Arakure KNIGHT N/A post-production (film)
2007 Beauty Boys Celebrity Go TV drama
2007 Boys Love (theater edition) Aoi Kairu
2008 Biyou Shounen Sereburiti
2009 Tokyo Ghost Trip Episode 1.6
2009 Teioh
2015 Messiah: Eisei no Fumi TV drama
2015 Flowers for Algernon Episode 1 TV drama
2015 Docchi Mo Docchi Tsuburaya movie
2015 Messiah Project movie

Theatre[edit]

  • 2003 – 年秋公演「ANGEL29X99」にて客演ANGEL

Musicals[edit]

TENIMYU: THE PRINCE OF TENNIS MUSICAL SERIES (as Takashi Kawamura)

  • The Prince of Tennis Musical: Side Yamabuki feat. St. Rudolph (In Winter of 2004–2005)
  • The Prince of Tennis Musical: Dream Live 2nd (2005)
  • The Prince of Tennis Musical: The Imperial Match Hyotei Gakuen (2005)
  • The Prince of Tennis Musical: The Imperial Match Hyotei Gakuen in Winter (In Winter of 2005–2006)
  • The Prince of Tennis Musical: Dream Live 3rd (2006)

Awards[edit]

1999 JUNON SUPER BOY Contest – 5th Place

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ TKO HIPHOP official website Archived August 22, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "ZanSaber official website". Archived from the original on November 7, 2006. Retrieved October 19, 2006.
  3. ^ Boys Love Official Blog Archived November 15, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Far cry 3 funny moments vanoss. Morton's Fork – TV Tropes". arakure-knight.com.
  5. ^ "元モー娘。新垣里沙が7月に結婚 - エンタメ - 朝日新聞デジタル&w". Archived from the original on June 14, 2016. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  6. ^ Risa Niigaki (January 6, 2018). "ありがとう" (in Japanese). Ameba Blogs. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  7. ^ Yoshikazu Kotani (January 6, 2018). "ありがとうございます" (in Japanese). Ameba Blogs. Retrieved January 6, 2018.

External links[edit]