Hideaki Takizawa
滝沢秀明
Takizawa in 2017
Born	(1982-03-29)March 29, 1982 (age 42) Hachiōji, Tokyo, Japan
Other names	Tackey (タッキー)
Occupation	Businessman
Years active	1995 (1995)–2018; 2019–2022
Musical career
Genres	J-pop
Labels	Avex Trax
Formerly of	Tackey & Tsubasa Ken Tackey
Musical artist
Website	avex.jp/tackeytsubasa/

Hideaki Takizawa (滝沢 秀明,Takizawa Hideaki, born 29 March 1982), also known professionally asTackey (タッキー), is a Japanese businessman, record producer and former singer and actor. He is the president of the Japanese talent agencyTobe. Takizawa debuted as an actor in 1995, and in 2002, he made his musical debut as the duoTackey & Tsubasa withTsubasa Imai.^[1]

In 2018, Takizawa retired from entertainment and became the founder and president of Johnny's Island, a subdivision ofJohnny & Associates, of which he oversaw the debuts ofSnow Man andSixTones. In July 2019, he was made the vice president of Johnny & Associates, a position he held until he resigned in November 2022 to pursue other career ventures.

Takizawa was born inHachioji,Tokyo. He was the youngest of threesiblings, had an older sister and an older brother. His parentsdivorced when he was very young and he grew up inpoverty with his mother and siblings.^[2] After entering junior high school, he inquired about becoming aprofessional wrestler and contacted a professional wrestling organization, but was told he was not tall enough or heavy enough, so he gave up.^[2] His sister is a big fan ofKoichi Domoto ofKinKi Kids, and when she went to see a KinKi's concert and saw kids about Takizawa's age dancing as backup dancers, she encouraged him to audition.^[3] He sent his resume to theJohnny & Associates himself, and after an audition, he entered the Johnny & Associates in 1995 at the age of 13. Others who auditioned on the same day and joined Johnny's includedTsubasa Imai and Tomoyuki Yara.^[4]

Tsubasa Imai said of his impression of Takizawa when he first met him, "His eyes looked exceptionally serious, unlike the others."^[2] Takizawa began so popular as a trainee that he was described as the best trainee (Johnny's Jr.) and acted lead role in television seriesMajo no Jōken,The Sun Never Sets andStrawberry on the Shortcake even before his debut.^[5] In 1998, he had also hosted8 Jida J, a variety show featuring Johnny's trainees.^[6]

He had been an assistant to Johnny Kitagawa as an interviewer at auditions since he was just 14 years old, shortly after he joined the company.^[7]

In 2002, He made CD debut with mini-albumHatachi as the duoTackey & Tsubasa with Tsubasa Imai.^[8]

Takizawa worked mainly as an actor on TV and stage in addition to his activities as Tackey & Tsubasa after his debut.

He starred in many TV series after his debut, includingBoku dake no Madonna, but his best-known work was the 2005NHKTaiga DramaYoshitsune.^[9] He played the lead role ofMinamoto no Yoshitsune and became popular along with veteran actorKen Matsudaira, who played Yoshitsune's famous followerBenkei.^[10]

He was also active on the stage, becoming the youngest director of a musical performance at various theaters, includingMask (1998) at the Osaka Shochikuza andTakizawa Enbujo (2006) at theShinbashi Enbujo.^[5] In 2015, he held his first overseas performanceTakizawa Kabuki 10th Anniversary inSingapore.^[11]

Takizawa Kabuki was Takizawa's signature stage series and was said to be a condensed version of the Japanese entertainment created byJohnny Kitagawa and Takizawa.^[12]

Takizawa Kabuki began in 2006 with its predecessor,Takizawa Enbujo, starring Takizawa. and since 2010, the theater has been changed to the Nissay Theater, where it has been performed asTakizawa Kabuki.^[13] Then until Takizawa retires from performing in 2018 and hands over the direction to Snow Man in 2023, Takizawa has starred in and producedTakizawa Kabuki, which was known as a place for many junior trainees to perform and gain stage experience.^[12]

In 2017, Takizawa starred in his first film role inKodomo Tsukai.^[14]

In August 2017 he was appointedJapan-UAE goodwill ambassador byTaro Kono, theMinister of Foreign Affairs.^[15]

In September 2017, it was announced that he take a pause in his activities as Takky & Tsubasa.^[16]

In September 2018, it was announced that he would retire from performing at the end of the year to focus on producing.^[17] It was reported that this was because Johnny Kitagawa himself had appointed Takizawa as his successor. Takizawa had initially planned to work as a producer while continuing his entertainment career, but decided to retire from show business because he felt that he could not handle human life half-heartedly.^[18]

In January 2019, Takizawa became president of a new company, Johnny's Island, a production company of trainees of Johnny's.^[19] After the death ofJohnny Kitagawa on July 9, 2019,^[20] Takizawa was appointed executivevice president of the Johnny & Associates on September 27 of the same year.^[21][22]

At Kitagawa's "family funeral" on July 12, Takizawa held a portrait of Kitagawa in front of his chest and sat in the passenger seat of thehearse.^[23] At this funeral, because Takizawa was in the position where Kitagawa's relatives would normally sit, and the close relationship between Kitagawa and Takizawa was brought to renewed attention by the tabloid magazines.^[24]

After the death of Johnny Kitagawa, Takizawa was sometimes called "Chi-sana Johnny-san" (Little Johnny) because he was the person who most inherited Kitagawa's ideas about entertainment and character development.^[25]

In August 2019, the trainees' concert was realized atTokyo Dome for the first time in 19 years. It was also the first time for Johnny's to offer the entire live concert on a pay-per-view basis.^[7]

Takizawa turned his attention to YouTube early on, opening his own channel "Taki Channel" in 2010.^[7] Takizawa's channel launch was unusual because the Johnny & Associates at the time had strict portrait rights management. In March 2018, an official channel was launched for trainees (Johnny's Jr.).^[26] To Takizawa's credit, it is said that the opening of this channel has made the trainees more widely known to the public.

In 2019, he produced a music video of trainee's groupSixTones' new song "Japonica Style."^[27] It was released on YouTube, was Takizawa's first produced work and was praised as a groundbreaking piece that incorporated Japanese elements with a cool atmosphere.^[28]

Takizawa is said to have trained trainee Snow Man in his theatre productionTakizawa Kabuki series. Some of the currentSnow Man members have appeared in this stage series since the beginning, and in 2012, inTakizawa Kabuki 2012, the formation of a six-member Snow Man was announced, named by Takizawa.^[29] Furthermore, in 2019, the production was renamedTakizawa Kabuki Zero and the lead actor was changed Takizawa toSnow Man. Takizawa continued to produce the stage, and SnowMan made a new start as a nine-member group with the addition ofRen Meguro,Koji Mukai, andRaul from the previous six-member group. The play was also made into a movie in 2020.^[30][12][31]

In 2020, Snow Man and SixTones debuted at the same time for the first time since the passing of Johnny Kitagawa. This was reportedly a decision Takizawa and Kitagawa discussed and decided on June 16, 2019, two days before Kitagawa's fell ill from asubarachnoid hemorrhage.^[32]

On October 31, 2022, it was announced that Takizawa had departed from Johnny's. Upon hearing of his intention to quit, the company persuaded him not to resign, but finally they respected Takizawa's own firm intention to move onto the next stage and allowed him to leave.^[33][34][35]

On March 21, 2023, Takizawa announced on hisTwitter Space that he was creating a new talent agencyTobe, He became president.^[36][37]

Many artists who used to belong to Johnny's transferred to Tobe during 2023. Among them,Sho Hirano,Yuta Jinguji, andYuta Kishi, who leftKing & Prince to form the new groupNumber_i, caught the most attention. TheirYouTube live-streaming by Number_i on October 15 received a sizable response and was viewed by 670,000 people.^[38]

In March 14 to 17 2024, a joint concertto HEROes: Tobe 1st Super Live by all the artists in the group was held atTokyo Dome.^[39] On the 21st of the same month, Takizawa made a comment as the first year of the company's establishment. "We are confident that we will continue to do more than you can imagine. We are still small as a company, but we want to be dynamic in what we do. Dreams are not something to be seen, they are something to be fulfilled,” he said, expressing his determination.^[40]

On February 6, 2025, Takizawa was announced as director of the opening ceremony for IG Arena in Aichi. The event is scheduled for March 31.^[41][42]

In November 2022, Takizawa retired from Johnny's, and in his Twitter profile he described himself as anadventurer. On November 10, he wrote being in theDanakil Desert in eastern Africa and noted that the temperature was over 50Celsius (323 K).^[43] Takizawa is said he has a hobby ofvolcanicexploration. According to a December 2022 report, four of the world's five largestlava lakes have already been explored, and he hopes to explore the remaining volcano,Mount Erebus inAntarctica.^[44]

• Words of Love
• Everlasting Love
• 894...Hakushi
• Madonna (for DreamBoy musical in 2004)
• Futari no Yoru
• My Angel, You are Angel (forKAT-TUN; released inCartoon KAT-TUN II You album 2007)
• Fight All Night (forKAT-TUN; for DreamBoy musical in 2004; released inCartoon KAT-TUN II You album 2007)
• Da.ke.do
• Jūnigatsu no Hana
• With Love
• Ai.Kakumei
• Mugen no Hane
• Monster

• Tackey & Tsubasa Official WebsiteArchived 2017-11-07 at theWayback Machine
• TOBE Official Website

• 1982 births
• Japanese male actors
• Japanese male pop singers
• Living people
• Musicians from Hachiōji, Tokyo
• Taiga drama lead actors
• 21st-century Japanese singers
• 21st-century Japanese male singers

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• Articles with short description
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