Takashi Sorimachi (反町 隆史, Sorimachi Takashi, born December 19, 1973) is a Japanese actor and singer. He is mostly famous for having portrayed Eikichi Onizuka in the 1998 live-action drama adaptation of the popular manga series Great Teacher Onizuka, and the assassin O in Hong Kong action thriller film Fulltime Killer.

Takashi Sorimachi
反町 隆史
Born
野口 隆史 (Noguchi Takashi)

(1973-12-19) December 19, 1973 (age 50)[1]
Saitama, Japan
Occupations
  • Actor
  • singer
  • model
Years active1988–1990
1994–present
AgentKen-On
Spouse
(m. 2001)
Children2
Musical career
GenresJ-pop
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • Guitar
LabelsMercury Records

Career

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Sorimachi was a member of Johnny & Associates's trainee group Heike-ha [ja] when he was in the third year of junior high school, under his real name, Takashi Noguchi, as backdancer of group Hikaru Genji, together with members of the agency's current groups Tokio (Shigeru Jojima, Tatsuya Yamaguchi, and Taichi Kokubun) and 20th Century (Masayuki Sakamoto), among others, but decided to leave both the group and the agency within the year, to pursue a career as a model and actor.[2][3][4]

By 1994, Sorimachi was invited to participate at the Paris Fashion Week catwalk.[4] He debuted as an actor that year with the drama "Maido Gomen Nasai", under his stage name.[2]

With his acting in "Beach Boys", released in 1997, Sorimachi was calling the attention as a first-line actor. With that drama, he also debuted as a singer, releasing his first single "FOREVER", receiving the award of Newcomer of the Year at the 12th Japan Gold Disc Awards.[4][5]

Another big attention grabber was 1998's Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO), which not only provided Sorimachi with the iconic role of rebel teacher Eikichi Onizuka, but also another chance to sing, releasing the theme song "Poison", a song that has a mysterious way to soothe crying babies up to age 2 all around the world. This was a sensation on the net after fans learned of the phenomenon from Sorimachi himself, when he was interviewed by his agency Ken-On's YouTube channel in 2021. "I'm happy to think that my work continues to help others. My friends tell me that they listened to this song with their babies and it stopped them from crying. I'm very happy.", he said, amused.[6]

In 2005 he starred in the movie Otoko-tachi no Yamato as Sergeant Moriwaki, the leader of the soup kitchen on the battleship Yamato.[7]

In November 2023, Takashi Sorimachi co-starred along with his wife Nanako Matsushima in a commercial for skincare and makeup label Shiseido.[8][9] The new Shiseido commercial marked the couple's first screen shared in 25 years following their appearance in GTO, and the first time the couple co-starred together following their marriage in 2001.[9][8] The couple also appeared together for the first time in over two decades in GTO Revival, a 2024 special episode revival of 1998's TV Series.[10][11]

Personal life

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On February 21, 2001, he married actress Nanako Matsushima, who he co-starred with in GTO.[12]

On May 31, 2004, his wife gave birth to a baby girl. The couple had a second daughter on November 30, 2007.[12]

Filmography

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TV Dramas

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Movies

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Anime

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Discography

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Studio albums

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List of studio albums, with selected chart positions and sales figures
Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales[a][16]
JPN
[16]
Message (メッセージ) 3
  • JPN: 92,000
High Life
  • Released: September 18, 1998
  • Label: Mercury Music Entertainment
  • Formats: CD
15
  • JPN: 54,000
Forever Dream
  • Released: December 19, 1998
  • Label: Mercury Music Entertainment
  • Formats: CD
10
  • JPN: 64,000
Soul
  • Released: December 6, 2000
  • Label: Mercury Music Entertainment
  • Formats: CD
100
  • JPN: 2,000

Compilation albums

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List of compilation albums, with selected chart positions and sales figures
Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales[a][16]
JPN
[16]
Best of My Time
  • Released: March 17, 1999
  • Label: Mercury Music Entertainment
  • Formats: CD
48
  • JPN: 7,000
Best of Best
Golden Best
  • Released: December 8, 2010
  • Label: Universal Music Japan
  • Formats: CD
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Video albums

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List of video albums
Title Album details
Message
  • Released: March 25, 1998
  • Label: Mercury Music Entertainment
  • Formats: VHS, DVD
Clips and More
  • Released: December 2, 1998
  • Label: Mercury Music Entertainment
  • Formats: VHS
Live Tour 98 High Life
  • Released: December 20, 2000
  • Label: Universal Music Japan
  • Formats: DVD
1997-2000 Single Clips
  • Released: December 20, 2000
  • Label: Universal Music Japan
  • Formats: DVD

Singles

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List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions, sales figures, and certifications
Title Year Peak positions Sales[a][16] Certifications Album
JPN
[16]
JPN
Hot 100

[b][17]
"Forever"
(with Richie Sambora)
1997 3
  • JPN: 507,000
Message
"Forever Dream" 10 Forever Dream
"One" 1998 8
  • JPN: 200,000
  • RIAJ: Gold
High Life
"Poison: Iitai Koto mo Ienai Konna Yo no Naka wa" 9 38
  • JPN: 270,000
  • RIAJ (physical): Gold
  • RIAJ (digital): Gold
  • RIAJ (streaming): Gold
"Poison" (Movie Mix) 1999 38
  • JPN: 23,000
Non-album single
"Free" 2000 35
  • JPN: 10,000
Soul
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Other singles

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  • Poison (GTO Revival theme song) (Blue Encount feat. Takashi Sorimachi) (March 2024)[18]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c Sales provided by the Oricon You Taiju service and rounded down to nearest thousand.
  2. ^ The Billboard Japan Hot 100 was established in 2008.

References

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  1. ^ "Takashi Sorimachi Profile". Star East Asia Male Celebrities. Archived from the original on March 27, 2010. Birth name: Takashi Noguchi - DOB: December 19, 1973 - Place of birth: Saitama, Japan
  2. ^ a b "特集 > 男の履歴書DX 「反町 隆史」". In The Life (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 15, 2023. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  3. ^ "反町隆史はジャニーズに所属していた! TOKIOの一員だった可能性も". Excite (in Japanese). March 16, 2016. Archived from the original on May 7, 2024. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c "7件事證明反町隆史是「日劇男神」!曾是傑尼斯成員、最強神仙眷侶、更有隱藏版好歌喉". Marie Claire Taiwan (in Chinese). April 5, 2024. Archived from the original on May 7, 2024. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  5. ^ "The Japan Gold Disc Award". Japan Gold Disc Award (in Japanese). Archived from the original on April 7, 2024. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  6. ^ "Takashi Sorimachi's old song gets babies to stop crying". Yahoo News Malaysia. July 12, 2021. Archived from the original on May 7, 2024. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  7. ^ "男の大和 YAMATO". Kinejun (in Japanese). Archived from the original on May 7, 2024. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Takashi Sorimachi & Nanako Matsushima co-star in a commercial for the first time as husband and wife New commercial for "SHISEIDO MEN" released". OTAKU JAPAN. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Married celebrity couple – Sorimachi Takashi and Matsushima Nanako star in new SHISEIDO CMs".
  10. ^ "Nanako Matsushima Guest Stars in "GTO Revival" – JayneStars.com". Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  11. ^ Lim, Ruey Yan (October 3, 2023). "J-drama couple Nanako Matsushima and Takashi Sorimachi to reunite on-screen after 22 years". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  12. ^ a b "反町隆史 妻・松嶋菜々子との18歳と15歳の娘たちの近況「2人とも留学しているので」 芸能界入りは?". Sponichi (in Japanese). January 15, 2023. Archived from the original on May 7, 2024. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  13. ^ "利家とまつ 加賀百万石物語". Haiyaku Jiten. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  14. ^ "Takashi Sorimachi". Star East Asia Entertainment News. January 6, 2007. Archived from the original on February 10, 2007.
  15. ^ "みをつくし料理帖". eiga.com. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  16. ^ a b c d e f "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」" [Oricon Ranking Information Service "You Taiju"] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  17. ^ "Billboard Japan Hot 100". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). March 11, 2020. Archived from the original on June 5, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  18. ^ "BLUE ENCOUNT×反町隆史「POISON」でコラボ、ドラマ「GTOリバイバル」主題歌に". Natalie (in Japanese). February 5, 2024. Archived from the original on February 5, 2024. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
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