is a Japanese actor.

Early life

Yanagi was born on December 21, 1985, in

Berlin, Germany Berlin ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the highest population within its city limits of any city in the European Union. The city is also one of the states of ...

. He lived in Germany for three years before moving back with his family to Japan. His family moved to India for work, and he lived there for three years. However, in the fourth grade, he attended an American boarding school. Yanagi's family moved back to Japan where he finished school.

Career

D-BOYS

Yanagi is a member of the young men's stage acting troupe, D-BOYS, which act in skit-like performances. He acted in the web drama, ''Hice Cool!'' (), and had a supporting role in the movie ''Aa~! Izakaya Puroresu'' (), a wrestling film. He also acted in the drama ''Rocket Boys''. Yanagi acted in the D-BOYS TV drama ''DD-Boys.'' His first major film role is as the otaku lead character in '' Chikan Otoko'' () In 2007, Yanagi acted in a drama named ''Puzzle''(), where he played a prominent role with a couple of other D-boys. In 2007, he appeared as the main character in the musical ''Cooky Clown'' (). In March of the same year, he participated as a guest in "Out of Order". Yanagi originated the role of Ryoma Echizen in '' Musical: The Prince of Tennis'' (commonly known as ''Tenimyu''). After recovering from his 2003 car accident, he continued to play his role along with the second generation Seigaku cast, which featured most of the D-BOYS members. On March 29, 2006, Yanagi graduated from the role after his performance in ''Dream Live 3rd''. Yanagi reprised his role as Echizen and reunited with the first Seigaku cast to perform in ''Tenimyus ''Dream Live 7th'' concert to celebrate the end of the series' first season. Yanagi starred in the stage play ''Taikan Kisetsu''. He is currently the lead character in the drama '' Tadashii Ōji no Tsukurikata''. In November 2014, Yanagi announced he was taking a long-term hiatus due his health.

Personal life

In 2003, after leaving a rehearsal for ''Remarkable 1st Match: Fudomine'', Yanagi was involved in a car accident. The accident resulted in head trauma from

subarachnoid hemorrhage Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is bleeding into the subarachnoid space—the area between the arachnoid (brain), arachnoid membrane and the pia mater surrounding the human brain, brain. Symptoms may include a thunderclap headache, severe heada ...

and he was in a coma for two weeks.

Filmography

Film

Theatre

References

External links

Yanagi Kotarou's weblog (archived)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yanagi, Kotaro 1985 births Living people Japanese male actors