Takashi Sorimachi

, known professionally as , 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.

Career Sorimachi was a member of Johnny & Associates's trainee group 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.

By 1994, Sorimachi was invited to participate at the Paris Fashion Week catwalk.

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.

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

In November 2023, Takashi Sorimachi co-starred along with his wife Nanako Matsushima in a commercial for skincare and makeup label Shiseido, marking it 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. They appeared together again for a new Shiseido commercial in 2025. The couple also reprised their roles in GTO Revival, a 2024 special episode revival of 1998's TV Series.

In June 2026, it was announced through the official X account of GTO Revival, now renamed to GTO2026summer, that Sorimachi is to reprise his role again for a new GTO Revival series set to release in 20th of July 2026.

Personal life On February 21, 2001, he married actress Nanako Matsushima, who he co-starred with in GTO.

On May 31, 2004, his wife gave birth to a baby girl. The couple had a second daughter on November 30, 2007. Beach Boys Hiromi Sakurai Lead role 1998–2026 Great Teacher Onizuka Eikichi Onizuka Lead role; 2 seasons 2002 Toshiie and Matsu Oda Nobunaga Taiga drama 2013 Yae's Sakura Ōyama Iwao Taiga drama 2015–2022 AIBOU: Tokyo Detective Duo Wataru Kaburagi Season 14–20

Okura: Cold Case Investigation Senju Hidaka Lead role GTO Revival Eikichi Onizuka Lead role; television film Soda Master Yuta "Yuen" Yoshii Lead role

Film

Discography Studio albums + List of studio albums, with selected chart positions and sales figures Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales JPN "Forever" 1997 3 — JPN: 507,000 : Platinum 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): Platinum "Poison" (Movie Mix) 1999 38 — JPN: 23,000 "Free" 2000 35 — JPN: 10,000 Soul "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Other singles Poison (GTO Revival theme song) (Blue Encount feat. Takashi Sorimachi) (March 2024)