Junichi Okada

is an actor, fight choreographer and a former member of Japanese boy band V6.

Early life Okada and his sister were raised by their mother, a piano teacher, after their parents divorce, when he was in second grade in Elementary School. Since she gave classes until late at night, Okada felt lonely. He continued searching for a father-figure in all around him. When he turned 14, his mother told him, "I don't intend to rely on you for my care when I get older. So you too should become a man who can survive on your own." Growing up in a fatherless household, her words resonated deeply with him, and, in the summer of his third year of junior high school, in 1995, they were put to the test. Thanks to his mother, Okada participated in Johnny's Pre-School, part of the NTV program .

Career On October 2, 2023, it was announced that Okada would be leaving Johnny's on November 30.

Music career Okada, who was now living on his own in Tokyo, three months after the audition for the program that got him in Johnny & Associates at the age of 14, was chosen by Johnny Kitagawa, adding him to the soon–to–become idol group V6, of which he would be the youngest member. Unlike the rest of the members in the group, he did not have much experience as a Johnny's Jr., and the feeling he could not advance, even with the help of the others, frustrated him.

Okada can play the guitar, as well as the piano. His voice is in the middle range. His solos usually included slower ballads. Later in his career as member of V6, he was given longer solo songs, such as "Way of Life". He also revealed that during V6's 2008 concert Vibes, he was directing most of the lightning, staging, and costumes.

Acting career Dramas In a Shounen Club Premium interview on May 7, 2009, he said that the Japanese drama Kisarazu Cat's Eye caught the attention of viewers and directors, and made them aware of his acting ability. and SP (also known as Security Police), an action suspense drama about a team of security police bodyguards in charge of protecting important people in the government. With Shinichi Tsutsumi as his co-star, the drama drew in overall ratings of 15.35% despite its Saturday 11:00 p.m. (JST) time slot; its special episode broadcast in 2008 also received a viewership rating of 21.5%.

After several years of "drama hiatus", Okada played the main character, Kuroda Kanbei, in the January 2014 NHK historical drama. Kanbei was a man of ambition who served as the chief strategist under Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the Sengoku period.

Movies He made a big leap in his movie career with Tokyo Tower in 2005. In the movie he portrayed a young college student torn between his love for a lady twenty years his senior and the views society has on these kinds of relationship. After that came Hana, directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda. In the movie, Okada portrayed Sōza, a samurai uninterested in killing his enemy and focused on what he could do today to be a better person instead. The movie earned him a nomination for the Blue Ribbon Awards, but he declined this nomination. Nevertheless, he was awarded the Ishihara Yujiro New Actor Award at Nikkan Sports Film Award for his role in Hana. Later, he was involved in movies such as Flowers in the Shadows, portraying a young man in debt because of pachinko, and , an unconventional love story between two neighbors who have never met each other and only follow the other person's life through the sounds they hear from the other side of the wall.

In 2012, Okada played the role of Shibukawa Shunkai, an astronomer who invented the Jōkyō calendar used for many decades, in the movie Tenchi: The Samurai Astronomer, directed by Yōjirō Takita. The director has previously won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Departures, in 2009. Later that year, it was announced that Okada would appear in another film set for a spring 2013 release, The Eternal Zero, directed by Takashi Yamazaki. The film follows the journey of a kamikaze pilot named Kyuzo Miyabe, a man described as a coward who volunteered to die for his country.

Personal life He married actress Aoi Miyazaki on 23 December 2017. In May 2018, it was announced that he and his wife were expecting their first child. It was announced via fax message that their son was born in October 2018. In August 2025, his wife revealed in an interview with Josei Seven that she had given birth to their fourth child earlier that year. She also stated that she chose not to announce her second, third, and fourth pregnancies to avoid media attention.

Martial arts practitioner In 2010, Okada had reported in a press conference that he is certified to teach Jeet Kune Do and Kali in Japan, the latter was used by him as his main martial art when the SP series was filmed. Trained under USA Shooto instructor Yorinaga Nakamura.

While filming for The Fable: The Killer Who Doesn't Kill, Okada trained for a fight scene using jiu-jitsu. He continued training under jiu-jitsu artist Tomoyuki Hashimoto (CARPE DIEM), getting a brown belt in 2022. Okada participated for the first time in a public match in the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) World Master 2023 in Las Vegas, USA, on 31 August 2023, in the Master 3 Brown Belt Light Featherweight Division, winning his first round, but losing on the quarterfinals against Andrew Steve Slackta.

On October 27, 2024, it was reported that Okada had reached a significant milestone by earning his fifth black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The news was reported by the Carpe Diem Hiroo gym, to which he belongs.

Filmography

Film

TV dramas

Television animation Year Title Role Notes 2019Crayon Shin-chanGorō ZaizenEpisode 997

Other television Year Title Notes 2012–presentThe ProfilerAs host 201364th NHK Kōhaku Uta GassenAs a judge 2025Dareka to Nakaico-host (the program ended before Okada had opportunity to appear).

Japanese dub

Awards and nominations +Year presented, name of the award ceremony, category, nominee(s) of the award, and the result of the nomination Year Award ceremony Category Nominated work(s) Result 200232nd Television Drama Academy Awards (ja)Best ActorKisarazu Cat's Eye 20059th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand PrixBest Supporting ActorTiger & Dragon 200619th Nikkan Sports Film AwardsIshihara Yujiro New Actor AwardHana Yori mo Naho, Kisarazu Cat's Eye: World Series 200856th Television Drama Academy AwardsBest ActorSP 201427th Nikkan Sports Film AwardsBest ActorThe Eternal Zero, A Samurai Chronicle 39th Hochi Film AwardsBest ActorThe Eternal Zero 201557th Blue Ribbon AwardsBest ActorA Samurai Chronicle 38th Japan Academy Film PrizeBest ActorThe Eternal Zero Best Supporting ActorA Samurai Chronicle 201740th Japan Academy Film PrizeBest ActorFueled: The Man They Called Pirate 201860th Blue Ribbon AwardsBest ActorReminiscence, Sekigahara 27th Tokyo Sports Film AwardsBest ActorSekigahara 41st Japan Academy Film PrizeBest Actor 43rd Hochi Film AwardsBest ActorSamurai's Promise 2019 73rd Mainichi Film Awards Best Actor 42nd Japan Academy Film PrizeBest Actor202134th Nikkan Sports Film AwardsBest ActorBaragaki: Unbroken Samurai,The Fable: The Killer Who Doesn't Kill 46th Hochi Film Awards Best Actor 2022 64th Blue Ribbon Awards Best Actor 47th Hochi Film Awards Best Actor Hell Dogs