山下智久 (Tomohisa Yamashita)

Tomohisa Yamashita 山下智久; Yamashita Tomohisa), commonly known as Yamapi (ヤマピ), Yama-P, and Tomo, was born in Funabashi, Chiba, Japan on April 9, 1985, and is a singer-songwriter, actor, and television host.

He began his career in the entertainment industry in 1996 and participated in TV shows until his first musical debut in 2004 with popular boy-band group NEWS under Johnny’s Entertainment; Yamashita was also a trainee under the male talent agency before debuting in the group.

Over the years, he has become one of Japan’s most prominent singer-songwriters, actors, and television host.

As a singer, Yamashita has released several songs with his group NEWS, as well as under a solo career, which began in 2006, only two years after his debut with NEWS.

After a long twenty-four years with Japanese management company Johnny’s Entertainment, it was announced their relationship would be terminated in October of 2020, and Sony Music Entertainment would continue to assume the role of Yamashita’s music label.