Yūichi Nakamaru (中丸雄一, Nakamaru Yuuichi, born on September 4, 1983[1] in Kita-ku, Tokyo, Japan), is a Japanese singer-songwriter, actor, television personality, radio host, and a member of KAT-TUN. He joined the talent agency Johnny & Associates in 1998 and then officially debuted as part of KAT-TUN in 2006.
Individually, he has acted in numerous drama serials and is most known as a commentator and host of his own segment on NTV information variety show Sunday Countdown Show Shūichi.[2]
Early life and education
Nakamaru was born in Kita-ku, but raised in Sumida-ku, Tokyo[citation needed]. He is the oldest child in a family of five composed of his parents and two younger sisters with 6 and 4 years age difference respectively. He has a fear of heights and phobia of needles.[3]
His reason for applying to Johnny & Associates was that in the last year of junior high school, a female classmate who liked Johnny's idols told him to try out and prepared his application form to the point that he only needed to sign it.[4]
His special skill is in beatboxing and this talent has been recognized by various other celebrities such as Rag Fair's Okkun[5] and Masi Oka.[6]
In April 2008, he entered Waseda University and majored in Human Environmental Sciences through the university's undergraduate correspondence course e-school. He successfully graduated in March 2013.[7][8]
Career
Nakamaru officially joined Johnny & Associates in November 1998[9] with bandmate Kazuya Kamenashi and agency mates Jin Akanishi, Takahisa Masuda, Taisuke Fujigaya and Ryōichi Tsukada, who were all in the same audition. He was a member of four temporary units while still a Johnny's Jr. – Boys Be Ambitious (B.B.A), Musical Academy Dancing (M.A.D), Best Beat Dancing (B.B.D), and Toshi Otoko.
He joined KAT-TUN when it formed in 2001, and debuted as part of the group in 2006. Besides singing and beatboxing in KAT-TUN, he also writes lyrics for his solo songs or duet songs with the other members. For rap lyrics, he uses the alias Yucci.
In 2009, he appeared in his first ever leading role in a drama in TBS TV's "Rescue ~Tokubetsu Kōdo Kyūjotai".[10]
On April 27, 2021, Nakamaru was revealed as the second member in a new Johnny's YouTube channel, ジャにのちゃんねる (Janinochaneru), led by Arashi's Kazunari Ninomiya.[11][12]
On March 23, 2023, Nakamaru celebrated Japan's win at the 2023 World Baseball Classic as well as KAT-TUN's 17th debut anniversary in post in his just opened Twitter and Instagram, though he posted he had been using Twitter since 2010. His SNS is the latest after fellow KAT-TUN members Kamenashi and Ueda. He also posted that he would be using his SNS to share updates on his original manga, as well as daily rantings.[13][14][15]
Other activities
Mangaka
Nakamaru became an official manga artist in 2023. His first manga work, called "Yamada-kun no zawameku jikan" (Yamada's noisy time), appears in the August issue of Kodansha's "Monthly Afternoon", released on June 23.[16][17] The first volume of the manga was released as a physical book and in digital form, on Kindle, on 23 January 2024.[18][19]
He opened a channel for himself, called "Nakamaru Ginga Channeru" (中丸銀河ちゃんねる), with the first video posted on 13 January 2024.[24] The channel will cover all kinds of activities, from solo talk, to interviews with friends, to gameplays, to travel reports, and work related activities, such as posts about his manga. The official opening is set for the 20th.
Personal life
Nakamaru announced his marriage to former NTV announcer Rina Sasazaki [ja] on 16 January 2024 through the agency's official site. Nakamaru and Sasazaki met in 2015, when she started working at NTV and became a co-worker at Shuichi.[24][25] Sasazaki eliminated all posts from her SNS on the 16.[26]
On August 7, 2024, Shūkan Bunshun reported that Nakamaru had secretly met with a 20-year-old college student at a hotel.[27] Nakamaru responded with an apology "to all concerned", through his agency, which also posted a comment regarding his "lack of awareness and responsibility".[28] As a consequence, of his own volition, he would refrain from all activities for an undisclosed period of time,[29] that included his regular appearances in NTV's Shuichi, TV Asahi's Kaji yarō, and Asahi Osaka's Asa da! Namadesu tabi sarada,[30] as well as YouTube channel "Yoninochannel", which posted on its community page the suspension of video updates until further notice.[31][32]
Filmography
For activities as a member of KAT-TUN, see KAT-TUN.
^Yuichi Nakamaru [@y_nakamaru_j94] (March 22, 2023). "3月22日 デビュー17周年おめでとうございます！" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on March 22, 2023. Retrieved March 22, 2023 – via Instagram.
^Yuichi Nakamaru [@y_nakamaru_j94] (March 22, 2023). "ツイッター始めました。いや、始めてはいました。" (Tweet) (in Japanese). Archived from the original on March 22, 2023. Retrieved March 22, 2023 – via Twitter.
