is a Japanese singer, actor and model. He is a member of

Hey! Say! JUMP Hey! Say! JUMP (HSJ or JUMP) is an nine-member Japanese boy band under the Japanese talent agency Smile-Up (formerly known as Johnny & Associates). The group is split into two sub-groups: Hey! Say! BEST and Hey! Say! 7. In Japan they sold more ...

. He played Koji Kiritani in the 2005

Japanese television drama , also called or J-drama, are television programs that are a staple of Television in Japan, Japanese television and are broadcast daily. Format All major Television networks, TV networks in Japan produce a variety of Drama (genre), drama serie ...

, '' Nobuta wo Produce''.

Career

2004: Becoming an artist for Johnny's Entertainment

Nakajima joined Johnny's Jr. on March 28, 2004, in his 5th year of elementary school. After joining Johnny's Jr., he began performing together with J.J.Express as one of the five original members along with Kouhei Matsumoto, Takumi Yamashita, Yuta Tamamori, and current

member, Kei Inoo.

2005–2007: Initial acting experience and first Hey! Say! JUMP appearance

In 2005, he made his debut as an actor and had appeared in a couple of dramas including the drama special for ''24 Hour Television'', and '' Nobuta wo Produce'' with two of his agency seniors, Kazuya Kamenashi, and Tomohisa Yamashita. He also appeared in ''Engine'' along with current groupmate, Daiki Arioka. He continued his junior work and was cast in the drama ''Primadam'' in 2006, and towards the end of the year, he was chosen to be part of Tap Kids, a Johnny's Jr. group, along with Noriyuki Kanda. In April 2007, he was chosen to be a member of the temporary group, ''Hey! Say! 7'' with four others, and made his CD debut on August 1, with their single " Hey! Say!", which hit number one on the Oricon charts. On September 24 of that same year, during a live television event from the Johnny's Jr's concert in Yokohama Arena, it was announced that the group would debut under a new name,

, with the five from ''Hey! Say! 7'', plus five others. The debut single was released on November 14, titled Ultra Music Power, and also took first place on the Oricon charts.

2008–2011: Leading role at drama ''Sensei Wa Erai'' and debut group album JUMP No. 1

On April 12, 2008, Nakajima got his first lead role on the drama ''Sensei Wa Erai'' along with his co

member Daiki Arioka, Ryosuke Yamada, Yuri Chinen. On October 11, 2008, Nakajima played another lead role in the drama called '' Scrap Teacher''. The theme song used in the drama was

's fourth single " Mayonaka no Shadow Boy". Daiki Arioka, Ryosuke Yamada, Yuri Chinen also co-star in the drama. During their press conference at Yokohama Arena, current groupmate, Kota Yabu announced that

would release their debut album in the summer, in which members would write songs and lyrics. One of them was Nakajima who wrote the lyrics of "Dash!!", which was track number 15 on the album '' JUMP No.1''.

2012–present: Rise to popularity and prominence

Nakajima appeared as Koji Kobayashi in NTV's comedy drama '' Perfect Son'' with his groupmate Ryosuke Yamada, which started on January 14, 2012. On February 17, it was reported that Nakajima together with Yamada and Chinen had officially graduated from Horikoshi High School. On July 10, 2012, his appearance on the August issue of ''Fine Boys Magazine'' also marked his entrance in the professional world of modelling. Later that year, too, it was announced that he would participate in

's upcoming April 2013 – April 2014 annual calendar as a photographer. In January 2013, he co-starred in the TV drama ''Sharehouse no Koibito'' alongside Mizukawa Asami and Oizumi Yo. He then played another supporting role in the summer TV drama '' Hanzawa Naoki'' starring Masato Sakai, which started on July 7, 2013. He also had a small role in ''Tokyo Bandwagon'' that fall. In the spring of 2014, Nakajima was announced as part of the big-cast drama series '' Yowakutemo Katemasu'' starring his agency's senior and

Arashi is a Japanese boy band consisting of five members formed under the Johnny & Associates talent agency. The members are Satoshi Ohno, Sho Sakurai, Masaki Aiba, Kazunari Ninomiya, and Jun Matsumoto. Arashi officially formed on September 15, 199 ...

member Ninomiya Kazunari. That summer became another big break for Nakajima as he got his first starring drama role in '' Suikyu Yankees''. Yuya Takaki also co-stars in the drama. Nakajima started 2015 with a hit romantic comedy drama ''Date'' starring Watanabe Anne and Hasegawa Hiroki. That same month, it was announced that he will star his very first movie, ''Pink to Gray'', a novel adaptation written by his agency's senior and

NEWS News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the te ...

member Shigeaki Kato. The movie was directed by renowned director Yukisada Isao. On October 1, 2015, Nakajima, along with co-star Suda Masaki and director Yukisada, flew to Korea for the world premiere of the said movie in Busan International Film Festival. Nakajima again appeared in the TV special of his earlier drama ''Date''. In 2022, he became the lead for the situational thriller movie ''#Manhole'', directed by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri to be released in February 2023. It was his first movie since ''Our Meal for Tomorrow'' in 2017. In December the same year, it was announced that the movie had been invited to the Berlinale Special section at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival, one of the world's three major film festivals. It became the first Japanese feature film since 2016 to be invited for screening in the Berlinale Special section of the festival. Both Nakajima and director Kumakiri attended the festival and appeared on the red carpet. The movie and Nakajima's portrayal received generally positive reviews, with a current rating of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. He is set to appear in a movie and a drama in January 2025. The movie '' 366 Days'' is an original movie inspired by a song of the same title by Japanese rock band HY (also contributing to the soundtrack). Nakajima is set to play the supporting role Ryusei Kayoda and the role requires him to speak in Okinawan accent. He is also set to appear as the co-lead in the KTV/Fuji Television live-action drama adaptation of the manga of the same name'' The Top Secret'', playing two roles: Aoki Ikko and Suzuki Katsuhiro. This is the second live-action adaptation of the manga and the first in a drama format.

Discography

Solo songs

* "D.N.A" * "Ai wa Hitotsu" * "Uruwashi no Bad Girl" * "Waiting for the Rain"

Group participations

* J.J. Express (August 2005 – 2007) * Small but Big (January 2006) * Tap Kids (August 2006) * J.J.Express ちびっこチーム (January – September 2007) * ''Hey! Say! 7'' (Temporary) (April 3 – September 30, 2007) *

(September 24, 2007–present) * ''Hey! Say! 7'' (September 2007–present)

Concerts

For Hey! Say! JUMP-related concerts, see

Filmography

Films

Dramas

Variety shows

Theatre

References

External links

Hey! Say! JUMP

Hey! Say! JUMP
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakajima, Yuto Living people Hey! Say! JUMP members Johnny & Associates Horikoshi High School alumni Singers from Tokyo Male actors from Tokyo Japanese male pop singers Japanese dance music singers Japanese rhythm and blues singers Japanese hip-hop singers Japanese male television actors Japanese male film actors Japanese idols 21st-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese male singers 21st-century Japanese male actors Japanese male child actors Year of birth missing (living people) Starto Entertainment