, known professionally as Toman, is a Japanese actor, model, and former singer. He began his career as an amateur model and is credited with popularizing
genderless fashion in Japan
is a fashion subculture that emerged in Japan in the mid-2010s. Aiming to break societal gender norms in fashion, the genderless subculture is centered on gender non-conforming androgynous fashion. The subculture is mostly dominated by men, who a ...
. In 2016, he debuted in the boy band XOX as their leader and later left the group in 2017.
Early life
Toman was born on September 14, 1993, in
Miyagi Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the TÅhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,305,596 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefecture to the nort ...
.
In junior high school, he dressed in outfits using the magazine ''
Men's Egg'' as an example.
While he was in high school, he began to imitate Korean fashion seen in
K-pop
K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, gos ...
and began wearing make-up and colored contacts.
During this time, his blog gained attention when he posted an image of himself styled after South Korean singer
Kim Jae-joong
Kim Jae-joong (; born January 26, 1986), also known mononymously as Jaejoong in South Korea and in Japan, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, actor and director. He is a member of the Korean pop group JYJ and was one of the original members ...
.
In high school, he was also classmates with Japanese actor
Mario Kuroba.
After graduating from high school, Toman studied abroad in Sydney, Australia, for 10 months.
Career
After returning to Japan, Toman attended an event held for models Yohdi Kondo and Tom Fujita, where one of the staff members had noticed him and mentioned his blog.
Inspired, Toman decided to work at a clothing shop in Sendai to increase his profile and subsequently became a reader model for various fashion magazines.
Around 2015, when
genderless fashion gained popularity, Toman began making television appearances as the fashion subculture's representative.
The term "genderless" to describe the fashion subculture was coined by his agent, Takashi Marumoto, to name Toman's aesthetic.
In 2016, Toman debuted in a boy band XOX as their leader.
He left the group on November 28, 2017.
Filmography
Film
Television
Theater
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1993 births
Actors from Miyagi Prefecture
Japanese male film actors
Japanese male television actors
Japanese male models
Japanese male stage actors
Japanese YouTubers
Living people