Naoki Kobayashi 小林 直己 | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Kobayashi Naoki at the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo International Film Festival 2019 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as |
|
| Born | (1984-11-10)10 November 1984 (age 41) Chiba Prefecture, Japan |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2010–present |
| Labels | Rhythm Zone |
| Website | Official website |
| agent:LDH Japan | |
Naoki Kobayashi[1] (小林 直己,Kobayashi Naoki; born 10 November 1984, inInzai,Chiba Prefecture)[2] is a Japanese actor, dancer, choreographer, and model. He is a performer ofJ-Pop dance and vocal groupExile, and is a leader and performer ofJ-Pop dance and vocal groupSandaime J Soul Brothers. He was also a member ofNidaime J Soul Brothers until their migration to Exile in 2009.[3] As a member ofSandaime J Soul Brothers, he has received theJapan Record Awards twice, and has received the same award three times as a member of Exile.[3] He choreographed the famous "Pocky Dance" (Pocky Sharehappi Dance) forPocky's advertisement in 2015.[4]
Besides, he has also taken up acting and made his international debut inNetflix's original filmEarthquake Bird.[5] He has also worked as a model for the fashion brand "Yohji Yamamoto".[3] With his fluent-spoken English and understanding of American culture, he serves as a creative career advisor in the Executive Management Team ofLDH USA.[6][7] He has a strong interest in traditional Japanese culture,[6][8] which has motivated him to take part in a few projects focusing on promoting the art ofsamurai andJapanese swords.
Naoki Kobayashi was born on 10 November 1984, in Inzai, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. His deep love for music started in junior high school, when he was a teenager troubled by existential anxiety and sleeping disorder. While questioning his role in this world, he found relief in music such asJ-pop as he learned from thelyrics that there are various ways of life.[9] During his high school days, he wanted to become a singer-songwriter and even considered quitting school to pursue a career in music. He stopped attending school for half a year and considered to continue his education at a music school. However, his mother persuaded him to go back to high school, suggesting that a singer-songwriter must understand the thoughts and feelings of a normal high school student.[9] Back being a student, he joined the school's chorus and started to take vocal training lessons.[10]
Naoki started dancing at the age of 17, with the consideration that a musician needs to have a good sense of rhythm.[9] After graduating from high school, he was enrolled in the Department of Philosophy ofHosei University with relatively good grades, but he quit university as he became determined to focus on dancing.[10] He started to try out all kinds of genres and went toAvex Artist Academy for training.[11] In 2005, Naoki met his future groupmate, the then famous underground dancerNaoto, for the first time.[12]
In May 2006, Naoki participated in the dance battleDance Alive 2006, which was held in celebration of the Japanese release ofRIZE, an Americandocumentary film about Clowning andKrumping. During the tournament, he met Krump dance team Rag Pound. Their memberAkira noticed Naoki and invited him to join Rag Pound after the battle.[13][14][15] Naoki accepted the offer and joined the team in July of the same year while also starting to use the alias Jr.Twiggz as a member.[16][17]
Since Akira was invited to joinExile in June 2006,[18][19] Rag Pound's member naturally grew closer to Exile's management company,LDH. Naoki was also very impressed and inspired by theExile Vocal Battle Audition 2006 ~ Asian Dream~ and became even more interested in the entertainment produced by Exile.[15][20] In October 2006, he took part in LDH's audition for the dance and vocal groupNidaime J Soul Brothers("The Second Generation of J Soul Brothers") but failed.[17][21] Shortly afterwards in December 2006, he enrolled in EXPG Studio Tokyo, the talent school run by LDH, and became an instructor at EXPG in March 2007.[20]
In 2007, Naoki was invited to join Nidaime J Soul Brothers as a performer alongsideNaoto, after the group's producerHiro decided that they should be a seven-member group.[15][22] Naoki started using NAOKI as his stage name and performed as a member of Nidaime J Soul Brothers for the first time atCOLOR LIVE TOUR 2007 BLUE on 10 November 2007.[22] Meanwhile, in September 2007, Naoki debut as an actor inGekidan Exile's first playBurnt by the Sun while also choreographing for the play.[20]
On 7 May 2008, Nidaime J Soul Brothers released their first single "WE!", which was sold exclusively on Exile's mobile website. Meanwhile, Naoki performed in Gekidan Exile's 2nd showCROWN ~Nemuranai, Yoru no Hate ni…~ in May.[3] From October to November, the group went on a nation-wide small-scale tour, the so-calledMusha Shugyo ("Samurai Training"), during which the members traveled on a bus and put on 48 shows in 2 months around the country. From 29 November to December, Naoki also took part inExile Live Tour Exile Perfect Live 2008 with his group.[23]
On 25 February 2009, Nidaime J Soul Brothers released their first albumJ Soul Brothers, which landed on the first place ofOricon Albums Chart on the first day of its release. At the same time, Naoki made his major debut in the music industry.[24]
On 1 March 2009, as all members of Nidaime J Soul Brothers migrated to Exile, Naoki joinedExile.[15]
In July 2010, LDH announced that they wanted to reviveJ Soul Brothers and formedSandaime J Soul Brothers ("The Third Generation of J Soul Brothers").Hiro, the producer of the new J Soul Brothers, appointed Naoki and Naoto, the two youngest members of Exile, as the co-leaders of the new dance and vocal group.[25][26] While remaining as performers of Exile, Naoki and Naoto also started to serve as performers of the Sandaime J Soul Brothers. As the leader of the new Sandaime J Soul Brothers, Naoki actively participated in the selection of the group's members, recommending then-EXPG's instructorKenjiro Yamashita and Rag Pound's memberTakanori Iwata, a university student at that time, to join theaudition.[26] On 27 September, Naoki appeared and performed first time as a member of Sandaime J Soul Brothers on the stage of Exile's LiveFANTASY After Night Festival ～EXILE Soul～.[27][28] On 10 November, the birthday of Naoki, Sandaime J Soul Brothers debuted with their first single "Best Friend's Girl".[citation needed]
In February and March 2013, Naoki performed inShunichi Okamura's playAtami Satsujin Jiken 40years' NEW and played the character Kintaro Oyama.[3][29]
With 2014 becoming an important year for both Sandaime J Soul Brothers, it was also marked as an important year for Naoki. As EXILE's Chapter 4 kicked off in 2014, Naoki switched from his stage name NAOKI to his real name Naoki Kobayashi (stylized as 小林直己).[3][30] On 25 June, Sandaime J Soul Brothers' major hitR.Y.U.S.E.I. was released. The song topped the Oricon Single Charts at number one selling 162,174 copies on its first week.[31] The song also won Naoki and Sandaime J Soul Brothers the Japan Record Award for the first time[32][33] and skyrocketed the group to mainstream success. In December 2014, Naoki debuted on television with the dramaIshi Mondai Nashinosuke.[3]
On 28 January 2015, Naoki and Sandaime J Soul Brothers released their fifth album,Planet Seven, which sold 508 thousand copies in the first week after its release.[34] In 2015, Krump dance tram Rag Pound revived as®AG POUND, and Naoki joined the new team together with other former Rag Pound members likeAkira andTakanori Iwata.[35][36] In February 2015, he played the role of a criminal inTV Asahi'sKuroha ~Kisou no Josei Sousakan~.[3] On 15 October, Naoki teamed up with Sandaime J Soul Brothers' vocalistHiroomi Tosaka and performerTakanori Iwata to form Sandaime's special sub-unit The Sharehappi from Sandaime J Soul Brothers from Exile Tribe, and released their one and only single,Share The Love, which is a theme song used in the advertisement forPocky. He choreographed the famousPocky Dance(Pocky Sharehappi Dance) for the song and the Pocky's advertisement, which became quite a national hit as people around the country continual to imitate the dance move.[4][37]
On 22 July 2016, Naoki took part in live tourHigh&Low The Live of theHigh&Low franchise, the action, and music franchise produced by the Exile Tribe(LDH).[38] From April, he played himself in the TV DramaNight Hero Naoto, which is a story with an imaginary setting added to the existingNaoto, and Naoki appeared in the story as a good friend to his fellow Exile and Sandaime J Soul Brothers groupmate Naoto. (This is what he actually is to Naoto in the real-life).[3][39] In June 2016, Naoki appeared on the runway of the fashion brand "Yohji Yamamoto" forYohji Yamamoto HOMME 2017 SS Paris Collection in Paris, France.[3] From November 2016, Naoki took part in Sandaime J Soul Brothers’ second dome tourSandaime J Soul Brothers Live Tour 2016–2017 'Metropoliz'.[40]
In January 2017, Naoki appeared atYohji Yamamoto HOMME 2017–2018 AW Paris Collection as a show model for a second time. Naoki has also served as a show model forY-3 2017–2018 AW Paris Collection in the same year.[3][41] AsLDH announced its ambition of evolving into a Global Entertainment and Creative Production Team, LDH WORLD in this year，LDH set up its branch in America, LDH USA. Naoki joined LDH USA's management team as creative career advisor, aiming to bring Japanese Culture to Hollywood.[6][7] From September, he took part in Sandaime J Soul Brothers' third dome tourSandaime J Soul Brothers Live Tour 2017 'Unknown Metropoliz'， and performed in 10 continual days inTokyo Dome.[42][43]
In 2017, Naoki also began to focus more on his acting career. As early as 2015, with his vision to bring Japanese culture to the world, and his wish to become the member that focus more on oversea of his groups, Naoki decided that films would be his next move, and set up his goal of building an international base acting career. Therefore, Naoki started to take acting lessons and English courses in the same year.[6][44][45][46] But it was in 2017 that he finally debut on the big screen in the filmTatara Samurai, a film that competed in the World Competition Section of the 40thMontreal World Film Festival and won the award for the Best Artistic Contribution.[3] Naoki played Shinpei, a friend from childhood to Gosuke, the main character, and he stated that his experience in dancing has helped him to perform Japanese sword fighting scene since this two are not so far away.[47] He won the Best Supporting Actor Award at theAuckland International Film Festival (New Zealand).[3] On 19 August, the third film of theHigh&Low franchise,High&Low The Movie 2 / End of Sky, was released, and Naoki played Genji Kuki, a samurai-like killer, and leader of Kuki gang of Kuryu Group. He revived his role inHigh&Low The Movie 3 / Final Mission, which was released on 11 November.[48][49]
With pure love for entertainment and having seen its possibility as Exile's and Sandaime J Soul Brothers' member, Naoki continues to broaden his horizon and involves himself in the planning and production of projects that expand the possibilities of dance performances. In 2017, Naoki produced a music video, "Here I Stand -Dance Ver."- byR&B singerJay'ed, as director for the first time. He choreographed the dance move for the song, and dance alongsideHarumi Sato in the music video. The music video was released onYouTube on 11 August.[50] He also produced and performed in theSword Cutting(辻斬り) musical for the drama × entertainment show "Uzumasa Edo Sakaba" in the same year, which was shown at Kyoto Studio Park and contained scenes of the Samurai Sword Dance Performance, which is a collaboration of sword performance and dance performance.[51]
In 2018, Naoki appeared again on the runway ofYohji Yamamoto HOMME 2018–2019 AW Paris Collection.[3][41][52]
After Naoki's fateful meeting withRidley Scott, Netflix announced in 2018 that Naoki would fill out the lethallove triangle withAlicia Vikander andRiley Keough ofEarthquake Bird,[53] a filmexecutive-produced by Ridley Scott. The film marked his first foray into American cinema, and Naoki starred as Teiji, a Tokyo photographer who drove a wedge between his female co-stars.[44] The film was screened onBFI London Film Festival[54] on 10 October 2019, and started streaming on Netflix on 15 November 2019.[5]
On 13 April 2019, Sandaime J Soul Brothers' new dome tourSandaime J Soul Brothers Live Tour 2019 'Raise the Flag' began, and Naoki took part in this tour as Sandaime J Soul Brothers' performer.[55] In May 2019, Naoki was invited to the 2019Met Gala.[45][56] In June 2019, LDH announced that Naoki Kobayashi would start in short filmUmikaze of the drama anthologySono Shunkan, Boku wa Nakitaku Natta -Cinema Fighters project-, which is the 3rd film of theCinema Fighters project, a joint project byExile Hiro,Tetsuya Bessho, who is the representative director of SSFF & ASIA, and lyricist Masato Odake. The film hit the big screen on 8 November 2019.[57][58] In April, Naoki, together with RAG POUND's memberAkira,Takanori Iwata,Reo Sano,Mandy Sekiguchi, appeared inNTT Docomo's new advertisement of its Hoshi Pro advertisement series.[59] In August,Universal Studio Japan appointed Sandaime J Soul Brothers' performersKenjiro Yamashita andNaoto as its ambassadors for itsHalloween event of 2019,Universal Surprise Halloween, and announced that the theme of 2019's Halloween event would beZombie de Dance. Naoki choreographed theZombie de Dance for Sandaime J Soul Brothers' new song "Rat-tat-tat", while both the song and theZombie de Dance were used in USJ's advertisement and its Hollywood events.[60] He also produced a music video forSamurai Sword Dance Performance in the same year, which was performed by Naoki himself and students from EXPG Studio Kyoto. The music video was released on YouTube, and students from EXPG Studio Kyoto also put on Samurai Sword Dance Performance's shows in Kyoto.[61][62]
From 23 October, Naoki's first autobiographical essay "I can't become EXILE" was serialized onBungei Shunjū digital.[63] On 10 November 2020, his 36th birthday, he opened his own YouTube channel "Naoki's Dream Village".[64]
In June 2015, Naoki,Akira andSho Aoyagi were appointed as the image characters ofShimane Prefecture's promotional video,Goen no Kuni Shimane.[65]
Naoki actively took part in LDH'sYume no Kagai Jugyō Chūgakusei Rising Sun Project Project (Your dream Extracurricular Class: Rising Sun Project for junior high school student), a charity project aiming to encourage children throughout Japan, especially those inTohoku andKumamoto, to become energetic with the power of dance after2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and2016 Kumamoto earthquakes, and supported the reconstruction work in post-earthquake Tōhoku and Kumamoto.[66] Naoki, took part in a few special lessons in some post-earthquake area, teaching dance move of Rising Sun, the song in support of the recovery after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami,[67] to children of those post-earthquake areas to cheer them up.[45][66][68][69]
Naoki has an older brother,[9] and he calls his mother "funky" as she loves to sing and dance. Her love for music and dance has influenced Naoki to join the world of entertainment.[70]
On 25 January 2012, LDH announced that Naoki has been diagnosed withspinal canal stenosis, and he would limit his activity to undergo surgery and recovery. He returned to public eyes in April of the same year inExile Tribe Live Tour 2012～Tower of Wish～.[71][72]
Naoki has a strong interest in traditionalJapanese culture,[6][8] especially the culture of theJapanese sword. He learned sword fighting fromRyōtarō Sugi inRyōtarō Sugi's school for Acting before he joined his teacher in the TV dramaIshi Mondai Nashinosuke. He has been practicing sword fighting since then, and he took part in a few projects focusing on promoting the culture of Japanese Samurai and Japanese sword,[44] including theSword Cutting(辻斬り) musical he produced for drama × entertainment showUzumasa Edo Sakaba in the same year in 2017,[3][51] and his collaboration with EXPG Kyoto,The Samurai Sword Dance Performance.[61][62]
Although he dropped out of the Department of Philosophy ofHosei University, he continued his interest in philosophy and loved to readSocrates andHippocrates in his spare time.[73]
Naoki is able to play the guitar and he gave a guitar performance inSandaime J Soul Brothers Live Tout 2012 '0～Zero～'.[17]
| Name | Period of time |
|---|---|
| Rag Pound | 2006 |
| Nidaime J Soul Brothers | 10 November 2007 – 1 March 2009 |
| Exile | 1 March 2009 – |
| Sandaime J Soul Brothers | 10 November 2010 – |
| Dance Earth Party | 2014 – |
| ®AG POUND | 2015 – |
| The Sharehappi from Sandaime J Soul Brothers from Exile Tribe |
※His roles inbold are shown as his starring works
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | GEKIDAN EXILE's 1st show "Taiyou ni Yakarete" | |
| 2008 | GEKIDAN EXILE's 2nd show "CROWN ~Nemuranai, Yoru no Hate ni…~ | |
| 2009 | Atakku No. 1 | Lieutenant Ichiro Kitago |
| Sono Tettō ni Otoko-tachi wa iru to iu | Yoshimura | |
| 2010 | GEKIDAN EXILE JUNCTION No. 1 "NIGHT BALLET" | Oga /Miyake |
| GEKIDAN EXILE's 4th show "DANCE EARTH ~Negai~" | Yoshiki | |
| 2013 | Atami Satsujin Jiken 40 years' New | Kintaro Oyama |
| Hiryū-den 21: Satsuriku no Aki | ||
| Attack No.1" | ||
| 2014 | DANCE EARTH PROJECT Global Entertainment "Changes" | Kokutan |
| Year | Title | Role | Network | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Kuroha: Kisō no Josei Sōsa-kan | Raiun | TV Asahi | ||
| 2016 | Night Hero Naoto | Naoki Kobayashi | TV Tokyo | Episode 1, 4, 10,11;Ending dance | [74] |
| 2017 | Shichijitsugōken 〜 ikizama 〜 | Shikasuke Yamanaka | mable | [75] |
| Year | Title | Role | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Cinema Fighters Project "Umikaze" | Ren | [76] |
| Koya no Shinobu Return of Ninja (荒野の忍 Return of Ninja) | [77] |
| Year | Title | Role | Website | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Ishi Mondai Nainosuke | Ittosai Yamino | d Video powered by Bee TV | [78][79] |
| 2016 | Ishi Mondai Nainosuke 2 |
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Tatara Samurai | Shinpei |
| High&Low The Movie 2 / End of Sky | Genji Kuki | |
| High&Low The Movie 3 / Final Mission | ||
| 2019 | Earthquake Bird | Teiji |
| Year | Title | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | GREE "Seisen Cerberus" | |
| Fujitsu Arrows | ||
| 2015-2017 | Ezaki GlicoPocky | [80] |
| 2017 | Yōfuku no Aoyama "Aoyama Prestige Technology" | |
| 2018 | Nissin (Cup Noodle) | |
| 2019 | NTT Docomo × ®AG POUND |
| Year | Title | Website | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 19 -Road to Amazing World - Album Hatsubai Rokuban –Naoki no Heya– | Niconico Live | MC | [81] |
| Year | Title | Artist | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Smiling Tomorrow | "Know, hepatitis project" theme song | [82] | |
| YEAH!! YEAH!! YEAH!! | EXILE THE SECOND | |||
| 2017 | Here I Stand -Dance Ver.- | JAY' ED |
| Year | Title | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Yohji Yamamoto Homme 2017 SSParis Collection | [83] |
| 2017 | Yohji Yamamoto Homme 2017–18 AW Paris Collection | |
| 2017 | Y-3 2017–2018 AW Paris Collection | |
| 2018 | Yohji Yamamoto HOMME 2018–2019 AW Paris Collection | |
| 2019 | GQ Japan "The“O.SHIRO” Collection" | [84] |
| Year | Title | Type | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Here I Stand -Dance Ver.- | Music Video | singerJAY' ED | |
| 2017 | Sword Cutting(辻斬り) | Musical | for the drama × entertainment show "Uzumasa Edo Sakaba" | |
| 2019 | Samurai Sword Dance Performance | Music Video | Sandaime J Soul Brothers' Storm Riders feat.SLASH |
| Year | Title | Artist | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Share the Love | The Sharehappi from Sandaime J Soul Brothers from Exile Tribe | |
| 2019 | Rat-tat-tat | Sandaime J Soul Brothers from Exile Tribe |
| Year | Title | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Shimane Prefecture Tourism Promotion "Goen no Kuni Shimane" | Image character | [85] |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite web}}:|last= has generic name (help){{cite web}}:|last= has generic name (help){{cite web}}:|last= has generic name (help){{cite web}}:|last= has generic name (help)| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
