Shō Sakurai

Infobox musical artist
Name = Shō Sakurai
櫻井翔


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Birth_name = Sho Sakurai
Alias = Sho-kun, Sho-chan, Keio Boy
Born = birth date and age|1982|1|25
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Origin = Minato, Tokyo, Japan
Instrument = Piano, guitar
Genre = J-Pop
Occupation = Singer, rapper, composer, actor, host, newscaster, model
Years_active = 1999 - present
Label = Pony Canyon (1999-2001)
J Storm (2002-present)
Associated_acts = Arashi
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Notable_instruments = nihongo|Shō Sakurai|櫻井翔|"Sakurai Shō", born on January 25, 1982 in Tokyo, Japan, is a Japanese actor and musician. Along with Masaki Aiba, Kazunari Ninomiya, Satoshi Ohno, and Jun Matsumoto, he is a member of Arashi, which is a J-pop group under the management of Johnny & Associates.

Biography

Sakurai started his journey in the Japanese entertainment circle when he joined Johnny's Jimusho in October 1995. He was a Johnny's Jr until November 1999. Amongst the five in the group, Sakurai is the designated "rapper" of Arashi, his rap is known as "Sakurap"- he writes his own lyrics and has a very good English vocabulary. He was the first person from the group to hold a solo concert, called "The Show", in 2006.

In 2004, he graduated from Keio University with a degree in Economics. With that, he has become the inspiration for younger Johnny's idols such as NEWS members Tomohisa Yamashita, Keiichiro Koyama, Shigeaki Kato, and Yuya Tegoshi to pursue a higher education after high school. Sakurai is also a known promoter of education for today's youth in Japan; he was a spokesperson for Jounan Yobiko, an enrichment cram school, back in early 2005.

Currently, he is a special newscaster for NTV's News Zero, with a segment every Monday. He was also the main sportcaster for the 2007 Volleyball World Cup . [http://www.tokyograph.com/news/id-1827 "Sho Sakurai appointed as Volleyball World Cup caster"] ,"TokyoGraph", October 10, 2007. Retrieved on April 25, 2008.] .After which, He was given the task to be NTV's main caster for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing [http://www.sponichi.co.jp/entertainment/flash/KFullFlash20080406039.html "「嵐」櫻井が五輪中継メーンキャスターに"] ,"Sponichi Annex", April 6, 2008. Retrieved on April 25, 2008.] [http://www.tokyograph.com/news/id-2918 "Sho Sakurai to cover Olympics for NTV"] ,"TokyoGraph", April 6, 2008. Retrieved on April 25, 2008.]

Filmography

Movies

tage

#2006 - "The Beautiful Game (musical)" as John
#2004 - "West Side Story" as Tony (with Ohno and Matsumoto)

Concerts (solo)

#2006 - THE SHOW. He is the first member of Arashi to have a solo concert.

CMs (solo)

* Toyota
* Able rental Company
* Jōnan Yobiko

Notes

References

*嵐お宝フォト"Book Big Wave", RECO Books, ISBN 4-862040-51-9.
*アラシゴト—まるごと嵐の5年半 "Arashigoto", 集英社, 2005.7.31, ISBN 408780416X

External links

* [http://www.j-storm.co.jp/index_flash.html Arashi's Official Site (J-Storm)]