Takuya Kimura (Kimura Takuya, 木æ‘æ‹"å"‰, nicknamed Kimutaku; born November 13, 1972) is a Japanese actor and singer, a member of the pop music group SMAP, from Osaka, Japan. Despite his long career and his status as an idol, he remains a very prominent figure in pop culture. Many of the dramas he starred in had record-high ratings in Japan.
While originally from Osaka, he attended elementary school in Chiba and resided there since then. In 1987, he was taken on by the Johnny & Associates talent agency, which specializes in handsome young male teen idols, and became a member of Johnny's Junior. One of his relatives had sent in the application. He was in a Jr. unit called "Skate Boys". Skate Boys used to be backup dancers of Hikaru Genji, which at the time was a very popular group. In 1988, SMAP was created, and each member pursued an individual career by starring in B-listdramas. The group then consisted of six members: Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Goro Inagaki, Katsuyuki Mori, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Shingo Katori; Katsuyuki Mori later left SMAP to pursue an autoracing career in mid 90s. Their dreams to officially debut was finally recognized in 1991 when SMAP released their very first single "Can't Stop
1993 was a year of opportunity for Kimura and SMAP. After years of starring in low-budget dramas, Kimura played a leading role in teen dramaAsunaro Hakusho (ã‚ã™ãªã‚白書) as Osamu Toride, a college freshman in love with a friend Narumi Sonoda. Because the series was based on a then-popular manga of the same name, the series quickly became a hit. Through this drama, Kimura gained then-much needed publicity and fanbase. SMAP also began to rise to prominence with release of a single $10. At the same time, Hikaru Genji's popularity began to decline making way for SMAP to get their limelight.
In 1994, the outbreak of the so-called Kimutaku Syndrome made this newcomer a superstar. His fans affectionately nicknamed him Kimutaku, hence the term "Kimutaku Syndrome." A year later, he continued to act starred in a movie Kimi wa toki no kanata (å›ã‚'忘れãªã„).
Another big break came when he starred with Takako Matsu in hit series Long Vacation in 1996. This time, he played a young shy pianist "Sena" who falls in love with an older woman, a former model. In the same year, SMAP began to host a weekly variety showSMAPxSMAP which further expanded SMAP's fanbase and still enjoys solid viewership to this date.
During 1997, He continued to appear in more hit dramas, known as Gift and Love Generation. However Gift, was criticized for its violent plot which allegedly promoted teenage crime.
His popularity continued to climb in with the success of TV drama Beautiful Life, in 2000. He was at the peak of his popularity when he announced his marriage with Shizuka Kudo, another idol, leaving fans shocked and angered. By the time of the announcement, Shizuka was pregnant. Many people predicted this would be the end of his career with his marriage.
Kimura starred in 2046 along with other international stars.
For the first time in nine years, Kimura appeared in a movie 2046 in 2004. The cast of this Hong Kong film included Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li, and Faye Wong. The film was well received by critics and won many awards including Best Art Direction and Best Original Film Score at Golden Horse Film Festival in 2004 and scored Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design and Make-Up, Best Art Direction, and Best Original Film Score at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2005. Continuing his work in films, he voiced Howl in Hayao Miyazaki's animation Howl's Moving Castle.
In April2006, Fuji TV announced that they would air a 2 hour long HERO special in July2006. Along with the original cast, he revived his role as prosecutor Kuryu Kohei. Additional big name stars was also be seen in this drama including Socrates in Love star Haruka Ayase.
In 1999 he ended the relationship with his longtime nine-year girlfriend Kaorin, because she reportedly loathed being simply "Kimutaku's girlfriend." A year later, he announced that he was going to marry Shizuka Kudo another pop idol. In 2001, his first daughter, Kokomi, was born and his second daughter, Mitsuki, was born in 2003.
*Height: 176cm *Weight: 57kg *B94-W68-H91 *Bloodtype O *Hometown: Tokyo *Official Debut (SMAP): 1991 *Family: Shizuka Kudo (wife), Kokomi Kimura (daughter), Mitsuki Kimura (daughter) *Hobby: Surfing, snowboarding, fishing, soccer, reading One Piece *He was voted the Favorite Guy by Japanese women's magazine "AnAn" for 12 consecutive years, List of the "Favorite Guy" charts from '91-'04「ananã€å¥½ããªç"·ãƒ»å«Œã„ãªç"·ã‹ã‚‰ãƒ¢ãƒ†è¦ç´ ã‚'探求ï¼ï¼ï¼ and was also voted as the Best Jeanist, a title given to fashionable celebrities. So far, he has been voted the favorite guy 12 times consecutively and will not be included from next year. *While many fans affectionately call him "Kimutaku," Kimura detests this nickname, and asked his fans to not to call him so.ã‚ムタク
