Wataru Yokoo (Japanese: 横尾渉, Hepburn: Wataru Yokoo, born May 16, 1986) is a Japanese singer, actor and haiku poet who is a member of boy band Kis-My-Ft2 and its derivative group Busaiku(舞祭組) under Starto Entertainment. His nickname is Watter and Shi-sho (master in Japanese).[1]

Wataru Yokoo
横尾渉
Born (1986-05-16) May 16, 1986 (age 38)
Kanagawa, Japan
Occupation(s)Singer, Actor, Haiku poet, Idol
Years active2001–present
AgentStarto Entertainment (Johnny & Associates 2001–2023, Starto Entertainment 2024–present)
Musical career
GenresJ-pop
InstrumentVocals
Labels
Member of
WebsiteKis-My-Ft2(Starto Entertainment)
Kis-My-Ft2(MENT Recording)

History

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He joined Johnny & Associates on February 4, 2001. He was taken to the audition site by his brother who told him to go to futsal. At the same audition, Toshiya Miyata and Takashi Nikaido, who later became members of Kis-My-Ft2 also participated.[2]

As a trainee (Johnny's Jr.), he was a member of J-support (later renamed K.K.Kity) until 2003,[3] in April 2004 he was selected as a member of Kis-My-Ft. and started working with Hiromitsu Kitayama and Taisuke Fujigaya, and in July 2005, Yuta Tamamori, Toshiya Miyata, Kento Senga, and Takashi Nikaido joined to form Kis-My-Ft2 and became its members.[4]

In October 2010, he made his first drama appearance in Fuji TV's "Freelancer Buys a House".[5]

Kis-My-Ft2 made their CD debut with "Everybody Go" on August 10, 2011, seven years after their formation.[6]

On December 13, 2013, Busaiku was formed from Kis-My-Ft2 with Kento Senga, Toshiya Miyata and Takashi Nikaido produced by Masahiro Nakai who was a member of SMAP.[7]

He is also known for his talent in composing haiku. He has twice won the in-program Haiku Meijin Tournament on Mainichi Broadcasting System variety show "Prevato," which he has appeared on irregularly since 2015.[8]

On January 26, 2023, he announced on the official website of Johnny & Associates that he married a civilian woman, becoming the first Kis-My-Ft2 member to be married.[9]

First-class license as Dismanling for Tuna

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Yokoo is known for his culinary skills and even has a regular column in a cooking magazine,[10] but he also has an unusual license.[11] In 2017, Yokoo obtained a first-class license as dismanling for tuna on Kis-My-Ft2's variety show Kis-Mileage, which aired on TV Asahi.[12] A first-class license as dismanling for tuna is a difficult license to dismantle large tuna to make sushi and sashimi using a long, dangerous knife at shows and other events while enlivening the occasion with conversation.[13] At the time, there were only seven people in Japan who held a first-class license, and none of the celebrities had obtained it.[14] Yokoo failed the test once when he took it in March, but he repeatedly trained on his own between jobs and took the final test at the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo.[14] He then passed, albeit with a condition ("Although his skills was passable, he has no experience performing shows alone, so he must perform shows with another first-class dismantler for a while").[14]

Discography

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Title Lyrics Composition Name Recorded by Note
Solo songs
"Watter's bento" Shingo Asari Shingo Asari Wataru Yokoo
Kis-My-Ft2
Album I Scream (4cup edition) - Wataru Yokoo Live video on YouTube
"Let's play catch" Billiken
Tohru Nagae
Billiken
Tohru Nagae
Kis-My-Ft2 Album Free Hugs! (Normal edition) - Wataru Yokoo
"Things that light me up" Kelly Erik Lidbom
Carlos K.
Wataru Yokoo
Kis-My-Ft2
Live DVD/Blu-ray Live Tour 2021 Home (Normal Edition BonusCD)

Single Fear/So Blue (First Edition A, MV)

Music video on YouTube
"The taste of my cooking" Shingo Asari Shingo Asari Wataru Yokoo
Kis-My-Ft2
Album Music Colosseum (First edition B BonusDVD) - Wataru Yokoo
Small group songs
"Catch & Go!!" Ena Chokkaku
Syb
Iggy
Kis-My-Ft2 Album Kis-My-1st - Wataru Yokoo, Toshiya Miyata, Takashi Nikaido and Kento Senga
"Forza!" Hikari Hikari
Stephan Elfgren
Kis-My-Ft2 Album Good Ikuze! - Yuta Tamamori with Wataru Yokoo, Toshiya Miyata, Takashi Nikaido and Kento Senga
"Chance Chance Baybee" Takuya Harada Takuya Harada
Samuel Wearmo
Kis-My-Ft2 Album Good Ikuze! - Wataru Yokoo, Toshiya Miyata, Takashi Nikaido and Kento Senga
"Wonderful" Kelly Sohsaku Ohtake Wataru Yokoo
Taisuke Fujigaya
Kis-My-Ft2
Album Kis-My-World - Taisuke Fujigaya and Wataru Yokoo
"Hostess bar "Show-Wa" " Shingo Asari Shingo Asari Kis-My-Ft2
Hiromitsu Kitayama
Wataru Yokoo
Toshiya Miyata
Album Sha la la Summer Time (First edition A) - Hiromitsu Kitayama, Toshiya Miyata and Wataru Yokoo One of the songs sung here, "Namida Sake," is by Wataru Yokoo.
"ConneXion" Taisuke Fujigaya Kanata Okajima
Soma Genda
Taisuke Fujigaya, Kento Senga and Wataru Yokoo
Kis-My-Ft2
Single Love (Normal Edition) - Taisuke Fujigaya, Kento Senga and Wataru Yokoo The video was made as a drama project of Kis-My Doki Doki.[15]
"Butterflies of the Kingdom" Itsuki Natsui
Wataru Yokoo
baku Wataru Yokoo and Kento Senga
Kis-My-Ft2
Album To-y2 (Normal Edition) - Wataru Yokoo and Kento Senga[16]

Appearance information

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Television drama

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Web drama

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Live performance

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  • The Legend of the Galactic Heroes: The King of the Attacks (August 3–12, 2012, The Galaxy Theatre) - Siegfried Kirchheiss (Actor)
  • The Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Shining Star, Breaking Through the Darkness (November 15–18, 2012, Tokyo International Forum) - Playing the role of Siegfried Kirchheiss (with Takashi Nikaido)
  • The Legend of the Galactic Heroes Chapter 3: Civil War (March 31 - April 13, 2013, Aoyama Theatre) - as Siegfried Kirchheiss
  • The Legend of the Galactic Heroes Chapter 4: The Second Part, Clash (February 12 - March 2, 2014, Aoyama Theatre) - Playing the role of Dusty Attenborough
  • Yamamoto Test Paper vol.2 "Pictogram" (May 2–7, 2024 (tentative), Theater Sun-mall)

Other activities

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For activities as a member of Kis-My-Ft2, see Kis-My-Ft2#Group activities.

Variety shows

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Magazine

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Commercials

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References

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  1. ^ "Kis-My-Ft2、デビュー10周年の足跡をたどる "開拓者"7人の強みと輝き【後編】". Oricon. August 11, 2021. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  2. ^ Mitsuhiro Mizuno (July 19, 2013). Hadakanojidai. Shueisha. pp. 152–171. ISBN 978-4-0878-0678-6.
  3. ^ "NEWS小山慶一郎、キスマイ横尾渉誕生日で"2001年入所組"密着ショット公開「絆が素敵」「可愛い」の声". モデルプレス. ネットネイティブ. May 17, 2023. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  4. ^ "PROFILE". Kis-My-Ft2 Official Website. avex. Archived from the original on July 20, 2013. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  5. ^ "横尾渉(よこおわたる)のプロフィール・画像・出演スケジュール【スタスケ】". thetv. kadokawa. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  6. ^ "キスマイ結成から7年ド派手デビュー". nikkansports. August 11, 2011. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  7. ^ "Kis-My-Ft2からの派生ユニット『舞祭組』が12月にデビュー!". okmusic. November 11, 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  8. ^ "キスマイ横尾渉が"春の甲子園"句で俳句王者に!夏井先生も絶賛した発想". mbs. April 1, 2021. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  9. ^ "キスマイ横尾渉、一般女性と結婚". hochi. January 27, 2023. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  10. ^ a b ""cookpad plus Winter 2022". The magazine includes a special issue featuring Wataru Yokoo of Kis-My-Ft2, who is starting a series of articles!". prtimes (in Japanese). November 29, 2021. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
  11. ^ "List of certified tuna dismantlers". 一般社団法人全国鮪解体師協会 (in Japanese). 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
  12. ^ "Wataru Yokoo of Kis-My-Ft2 becomes the first in the entertainment industry to be certified as a "1st class tuna dismantler". thetv (in Japanese). August 9, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
  13. ^ "Emergency project "Wataru Yokoo, the road to becoming a tuna dismantler!"". kis-mileage (in Japanese). TV Asahi. March 14, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
  14. ^ a b c "Wataru Yokoo of Kis-My-Ft2 passed the 1st class tuna dismantler test. Only 7 people in Japan". huffingtonpost (in Japanese). August 9, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
  15. ^ "Kento Senga×Wataru Yokoo×Taisuke Fujigayaが出演、ドラマConneXiondTVで配信". Barks. May 8, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  16. ^ "名人・キスマイWataru Yokoo&Kento Senga、新Albumのユニット曲は"俳句"を意識". modelpress. March 5, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
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