Junichi Okada

Junichi Okada (岡田 准一, Okada Jun'ichi, born November 18, 1980) is an actor, fight choreographer^[1] and a former member of Japanese boy band V6.

Junichi Okada
岡田 准一
Born	(1980-11-18) November 18, 1980 (age 43) Hirakata, Osaka, Japan
Occupations	Singer Martial Artist Fight Choreographer Rapper Actor
Years active	1995 (1995)–present
Spouse	Aoi Miyazaki ​ (m. 2017)​
Children	1
Musical career
Genres	J-pop hip hop
Labels	Avex Trax
Formerly of	V6

Career

Music career

In the summer of 1995, Okada participated in Johnny's Pre-School, part of the NTV program Tensai, Takeshi no Genki ga Deru Terebi (天才・たけしの元気が出るテレビ!!). He passed the audition and joined Johnny & Associates at the age of 14. After being in Johnny's for only a short period of three months, he made his debut as the youngest member of the idol group V6. Unlike the rest of the members in the group, he did not have much experience as Johnny's Jr. The first time that he had been on a music program was only after the debut of V6. Their debut song was "Music For the People".

Okada can play the guitar, as well as the piano. His mother is a piano teacher. His voice is in the middle range, and hence his solos usually include slower ballads. Later in his career as member of V6, he was given longer solo songs, such as "Way of Life".^[2] He also revealed that during V6's 2008 concert Vibes, he was directing most of the lightning, staging, and costumes.^[3]

Acting career

Dramas

Besides being known as a member of V6, Okada is an accomplished actor in movies and dramas, playing the lead in many of them. In a Shounen Club Premium interview on May 7, 2009, he revealed that it was the Japanese drama Kisarazu Cat's Eye that caught the attention of viewers and directors, and made them aware of his acting ability.^[3] The success of the drama led to the making of two movie sequels, Kisarazu Cat's Eye: Nihon Series and Kisarazu Cat's Eye: World Series. His other notable dramas include Tiger & Dragon, a comedy drama about rakugo, a form of Japanese comedy acted only by one person telling that story.^[4] and SP (also known as Security Police), an action suspense drama about a team of security police bodyguards in charge of protecting important people in the government. With Shinichi Tsutsumi as his co-star, the drama drew in overall ratings of 15.35% despite its Saturday 11:00 p.m. (JST) time slot;^[5] its special episode broadcast in 2008 also received a viewership rating of 21.5%.^[6]

After several years of "drama hiatus", Okada played the main character, Kuroda Kanbei, in the January 2014 NHK historical drama, Gunshi Kanbei (軍師官兵衛). Kanbei was a man of ambition who served as the chief strategist under Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the Sengoku period.^[7]

Movies

He made a big leap in his movie career with Tokyo Tower in 2005. In the movie he portrayed a young college student torn between his love for a lady twenty years his senior and the views society has on these kinds of relationship.^[8] After that came Hana, directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda. In the movie, Okada portrayed Sōza, a samurai uninterested in killing his enemy and focused on what he could do today to be a better person instead. The movie earned him a nomination for the Blue Ribbon Awards, but he declined this nomination.^[9] Nevertheless, he was awarded the Ishihara Yujiro New Actor Award at Nikkan Sports Film Award for his role in Hana.^[10] Later, he was involved in movies such as Flowers in the Shadows, portraying a young man in debt because of pachinko,^[11] and Otonari (おとなり), an unconventional love story between two neighbors who have never met each other and only follow the other person's life through the sounds they hear from the other side of the wall.^[12]

In 2012, Okada played the role of Shibukawa Shunkai, an astronomer who invented the Jōkyō calendar used for many decades, in the movie Tenchi: The Samurai Astronomer, directed by Yōjirō Takita.^[13] The director has previously won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Departures, in 2009.^[14] Later that year, it was announced that Okada would appear in another film set for a spring 2013 release, The Eternal Zero, directed by Takashi Yamazaki. The film follows the journey of a kamikaze pilot named Kyuzo Miyabe, a man described as a coward who volunteered to die for his country.^[15]

Personal life

Okada is known for being reserved. He does not meet with many people within the agency.^[16] In an interview on Shounen Club Premium, Okada said that when he was little, whenever his name was called up to read something in class, he would feel like vomiting and purposely avoided school on those days. Within V6, he was also the most quiet person. He enjoys carpentry and has carved wooden bears for children.^[17]

He married actress Aoi Miyazaki on 23 December 2017.^[18] In May 2018, it was announced that he and his wife were expecting their first child. He is the fourth member of V6 to be a father.^[19] It was announced via fax message that their son was born in October 2018. ^[20]

During the Johnny's press conference celebrated October 2, 2023, comments were said about his leaving the office in November. Office vice-president and former V6 co-member Yoshihiko Inohara asked for discretion, and to wait for an official comment by the person himself.^[21][22] The news was confirmed the same day. Okada would be leaving Johnny's on November 30.^[23]

Martial arts practitioner

In 2010, Okada had reported in a press conference that he is certified to teach Jeet Kune Do and Kali in Japan, the latter was used by him as his main martial art when the SP series was filmed.^[24] Trained under USA Shooto instructor Yorinaga Nakamura.^[25]

While filming for The Fable: The Killer Who Doesn't Kill, Okada trained for a fight scene using jiu-jitsu. He continued training under jiu-jitsu artist Tomoyuki Hashimoto (CARPE DIEM), getting a brown belt in 2022. Okada participated for the first time in a public match in the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) World Master 2023 in Las Vegas, USA, on 31 August 2023, in the Master 3 Brown Belt Light Featherweight Division,^[26][27] winning his first round, but losing on the quarterfinals against Andrew Steve Slackta.^[28][29]

On October 27, 2024, it was reported that Okada had reached a significant milestone by earning his fifth black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The news was reported by the "Carpe Diem Hiroo" gym, of which he belongs to.^[30]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2003	Cosmic Rescue: The Moonlight Generations [ja]	Azuma Sawada	Lead role	[31]
	Kisarazu Cat's Eye: Nihon Series	Kōhei Tabuchi (Bussan)	Lead role	[32]
	Hard Luck Hero	Takashi Asai	Lead role	[33]
2005	Tokyo Tower	Toru Kojima	Lead role	[34]
	Hold Up Down	Koichi Sawamura	Lead role	[35]
	Fly, Daddy, Fly	Soon-Shin Park	Lead role	[36]
2006	Hana	Sōzaemon Aoki (Sōza)	Lead role	[37]
	Kisarazu Cats Eye: World Series	Kōhei Tabuchi (Bussan)	Lead role	[38]
	Tales from Earthsea	Prince Arren (voice)	Lead role	[39]
2008	Flowers in the Shadows	Shin'ya	Lead role	[40]
2009	Romantic Prelude	Satoshi Nojima	Lead role	[41]
2010	SP: The Motion Picture	Kaoru Inoue	Lead role	[42]
2011	SP: The Motion Picture II	Kaoru Inoue	Lead role	[42]
	From Up on Poppy Hill	Shun Kazama (voice)	Lead role	[43]
2012	Tenchi: The Samurai Astronomer	Shibukawa Shunkai (Santetsu Yasui)	Lead role	[44]
2013	Library Wars	Atsushi Dojo	Lead role	[45]
	The Eternal Zero	Kyūzō Miyabe	Lead role	[46]
2014	A Samurai Chronicle	Shōzaburō Dan'no	Lead role	[47]
2015	Library Wars: The Last Mission	Atsushi Dojo	Lead role	[48]
2016	Everest: The Summit of the Gods	Makoto Fukamachi	Lead role	[49]
	Fueled: The Man They Called Pirate	Tetsuzō Kunioka	Lead role	[47]
2017	Reminiscence	Detective Atsushi Shikata	Lead role	[47]
	Sekigahara	Ishida Mitsunari	Lead role	[47]
2018	Samurai's Promise	Shinbei Uryū	Lead role	[47]
	It Comes	Nozaki	Lead role	[47]
2019	The Fable	Akira Satō	Lead role	[50]
2021	The Fable: The Killer Who Doesn't Kill	Akira Satō	Lead role	[50]
	Baragaki: Unbroken Samurai	Hijikata Toshizō	Lead role	[51]
2022	Hell Dogs	Shōgo Kanetaka	Lead role	[52]
	A Life of Climber	Narrator	Documentary	[53]
2023	Hard Days	Kudō	Lead role	[54]

TV dramas

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1995	V no Honoo	Junichi Okada
1997	D×D	Toranosuke Kihara
1998	Pu-Pu-Pu Jump	Kazuya Omine	Lead role
1999	Shin Oretachi no Tabi	Shinroku Kumazawa
	Dear Friend	Yuuji Yamamuro	TV movie
2000	Mona Lisa no Hohoemi	Takuro Okajima
	Oyaji	Tadashi Kanzaki
2001	Chūshingura 1/47	Chikara Oishi	TV movie	[55]
	Hanran no Voyage	Kunpei Sakaue
2002	Love Quotient	Ryuji
	Kisarazu Cat's Eye	Kōhei Tabuchi (Bussan)	Lead role	[46]
2003	The Eldest Boy and His Three Elder Sisters	Ichiro Kashiwakura		[56]
2005	Taika no Kaishin	Nakatomi no Kamatari	Lead role, miniseries	[57]
	Fuyu no Undokai	Kikuo Kitazawa	Lead role, TV movie	[58]
	Tiger & Dragon	Ryuji Yanaka (Kotatsu)		[47]
2006	Niji wo Kakeru Ōhi	Yi Un	Miniseries	[59]
2007	SP	Kaoru Inoue	Lead role	[46]
2014	Gunshi Kanbei	Kuroda Kanbei	Lead role; Taiga drama	[46]
2015	Library Wars: Book of Memories	Atsushi Dōjō	Lead role, TV movie	[48]
2019	The Great White Tower	Gorō Zaizen	Lead role, miniseries	[60]
2023	What Will You Do, Ieyasu?	Oda Nobunaga	Taiga drama	[61]
TBA	Last Samurai Standing	Saga Shūjirō	Lead role; also producer and action planner	[62]

Television animation

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2019	Crayon Shin-chan	Gorō Zaizen	Episode 997	[60]

Other television

Year	Title	Notes	Ref.
2012–present	The Profiler	As host	[63]
2013	64th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen	As a judge	[64]

Japanese dub

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2004	Thunderbirds	Alan Tracy

Awards and nominations

Year presented, name of the award ceremony, category, nominee(s) of the award, and the result of the nomination

Year	Award ceremony	Category	Nominated work(s)	Result
2002	32nd Television Drama Academy Awards (ja)	Best Actor	Kisarazu Cat's Eye	Nominated[65]
2005	9th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix	Best Supporting Actor	Tiger & Dragon	Won[66]
2006	19th Nikkan Sports Film Awards	Ishihara Yujiro New Actor Award	Hana Yori mo Naho, Kisarazu Cat's Eye: World Series	Won[67]
2008	56th Television Drama Academy Awards	Best Actor	SP	Won[68]
2014	27th Nikkan Sports Film Awards	Best Actor	The Eternal Zero, A Samurai Chronicle	Won[69]
	39th Hochi Film Awards	Best Actor	The Eternal Zero	Won[70]
2015	57th Blue Ribbon Awards	Best Actor	A Samurai Chronicle	Nominated[71]
	38th Japan Academy Film Prize	Best Actor	The Eternal Zero	Won[72]
		Best Supporting Actor	A Samurai Chronicle	Won[72]
	83rd Television Drama Academy Awards	Best Actor	Gunshi Kanbei	Won[73]
2017	40th Japan Academy Film Prize	Best Actor	Fueled: The Man They Called Pirate	Nominated
2018	60th Blue Ribbon Awards	Best Actor	Reminiscence, Sekigahara	Nominated
	27th Tokyo Sports Film Awards	Best Actor	Sekigahara	Nominated
	41st Japan Academy Film Prize	Best Actor		Nominated
	43rd Hochi Film Awards	Best Actor	Samurai's Promise	Nominated
2019	73rd Mainichi Film Awards	Best Actor		Nominated
	42nd Japan Academy Film Prize	Best Actor		Nominated
2021	34th Nikkan Sports Film Awards	Best Actor	Baragaki: Unbroken Samurai, The Fable: The Killer Who Doesn't Kill	Nominated[74]
	46th Hochi Film Awards	Best Actor		Nominated[75]
2022	64th Blue Ribbon Awards	Best Actor		Won[76]
	47th Hochi Film Awards	Best Actor	Hell Dogs	Nominated[77]

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External links

• Junichi Okada at IMDb
• Junichi Okada official website (in Japanese)
• V6 official website (in Japanese)
• Profile at Johnny's net (in Japanese)