Early life Kenjiro Yamashita was born on 24 May 1985, in
Kyoto Prefecture. At Nagaokakyo Municipal Nagaoka Daishi Junior High School, he began to play basketball after joining the basketball club with his friends, and he became so obsessed with basketball that he chose to enrol in Kyoto Prefectural Koyo High School because it had one of the basketball teams in Kyoto Prefecture. He was the captain of the school basketball team in his final year. With an ambition to win the favour of girls, Yamashita began dancing in his second year of high school. His friend taught him
breaking, and they performed at the
cultural festival of his high school that year. Being so fond of dancing, he quit university ten days after his enrolment and then spent his time practicing dancing and doing part-time jobs. As a result, he enrolled in the street dancing department at Cat Music College in
Osaka. Upon graduation, Yamashita was offered the job of a
parade dancer at
Universal Studio Japan. He worked there for two years and participated in many shows and parades. In 2007, Yamashita got an opportunity to serve as a
backup dancer in
Exile's tour ''Exile Live Tour 2007 'Exile Evolution'''. He was shocked and impressed after seeing the performance of Exile up close, and the seed of dreaming to become an artist just like Exile took root in his heart. His students included
Yuta Nakatsuka,
Mio Nakajima,
Shūka Fujii,
Karen Fujii,
Zin,
Shogo Iwaya,
Masahiro Sunada and
Rikiya Okuda.
Career After a year of lessons in the days and part-time jobs at nights in Tokyo, Yamashita was chosen to debut as an actor and a member of the actor group Gekidan Exile Kazegumi (the team of wind) in April 2010. On 27 September, He appeared and performed for the first time as a member of Sandaime J Soul Brothers on the stage of Exile's Live
FANTASY After Night Festival ～EXILE Soul～. On 10 November, he debuted in Sandaime J Soul Brothers with the single, "Best Friend's Girl". In December, he performed in Gekidan Exile's play
Rokudenashi Blues playing Hamada, a strong fighter of the boxing club. In July 2011, He officially withdrew from Gekidan Exile. In August, he reprised his role as Hamada in TV drama
Rokudenashi BLUES as a guest star. In July 2013, Yamashita appeared in TV drama
Frenemy~Rumble of the Rat~, playing journalist Kenichi Jogasaki. He appeared in two plays in this year,
Attack No.1 from August to September and
Monsieur! from October to November. After Sandaime J Soul Brothers' major hit "
R.Y.U.S.E.I." in 2014, Yamashita gained more opportunities on mainstream media. He became the Friday host for the famous Japanese radio program
All Night Nippon in April 2015. He appeared in NHK BS Premium's drama
Aru Hi, Ahiru Bus as Kosuke Namiki, the former boyfriend of the main character Hazuki (starring
Norika Fujiwara) in July and August 2015. On 21 October, the first season of the drama
High&Low was broadcast, which was the start of the
High&Low franchise, the action and music franchise produced by
the Exile Tribe. Yamashita played Dan, a member of Sanno Hoodlum Squad, which was one of the gangs that controlled the S.W.O.R.D. area in the world of the
High&Low franchise. In 2016, Yamashita reprised his role as Dan in the TV drama
High&Low Season 2 and film
High&Low The Movie and
High&Low The Red Rain. In January, he served as the main host for the special show
Nippon Broadcasting System LIVE EXPO TOKYO 2016 ALL LIVE NIPPON Vol.4. In October 2016, he starred in
Amazon Prime Video Drama
Fukuyadou Honpo – KYOTO LOVE STORY - as Kaoru Hiyama, the
fiancé of
Nozomi Sasaki's character Hina Fukuyoshi. Hiyama, a handsome banker and the
heir to the Hiyama family estate, fell in love with Hina at first sight and proposed to her, and the couple decided to get married even they have just met and have never gone on a date. In 2017, Yamashita got his first lead role in the dTV×FOD's drama
Love or Not. As office worker Kosuke Usami, he had an unexpected love story with
Yuika Motokariya's character Mako. In February, he served as the main host for the special show
Nippon Broadcasting System All Night Nippon 50th Anniversary ALL LIVE NIPPON Vol.5. In April, he appeared in the play
Manga Mitai ni Ikanai alongside comedy group
Tokyo 03 and
Maika Yamamoto, playing Hirohiko Aramaki, the assistant to the unpopular
mangaka Osamu Totsuka. A sitcom version of the play was released on
Hulu Japan in October and then broadcast on
NTV in January 2018. Besides, he also reprised his role as Dan in the film
High&Low The Movie 2 / End of Sky released in August 2017 and
High&Low The Movie 3 / Final Mission released in November 2017. In 2018, Yamashita appeared opposite
Mai Fukagawa in the romance film the film
Pan to Bus to Nidome no Hatsukoi ("Our Blue Moment"). He played Tamotsu Yuasa, a
bus driver and the love interest of the heroine played by Mai Fukagawa. The film premiered at the 30th
Tokyo International Film Festival in October 2017 and was released on 17 February 2018. From April, he serves as the Tuesday host for
NTV's morning information program "
ZIP!"), was released. Yamashita starred as a fisherman in one of the six stories of the anthology,
Genkou no Hate, which was directed and written by
Tsukasa Kishimoto. He also reprised his role as Dan in the film
DTC -Yukemuri Junjou Hen- from High&Low, alongside Kanta Satô and Taiki Satô, as DTC went on a vacation in an
onsen (hot springs). The film was released limitedly on 28 September in Japan. Then in October, he successfully held the special show
J SOUL BROTHERS III Yamashita Kenjiro no ALL NIGHT NIPPON presents Yama Fes. ~Yamashita Base in YOKOHAMA ARENA~, which attracted 10 thousand audiences. In 2019, Yamashita appeared in play
Manga Mitai ni Ikanai. Dai 2 Kan the sequel to 2017's Manga Mitai ni Ikanai, as well as its sitcom version "Game Mitai ni Ikanai". In March, he announced that he would leave the radio program
All Night Nippon at the end of the month, and started his personal radio program, ''Sandaime J Soul Brothers Yamashita Kenjiro's Zero Base'', which would be broadcast at 24:00 pm every Friday. On 5 December, he made the draw for the men's and women's quarter-finals in the draw for the final round of the 95th Emperor's and 86th Empress's Cup All Japan Basketball Championship Tournament. In January 2020, he again successfully held his special show,
J SOUL BROTHERS III Yamashita Kenjiro no Zero Base presents Yama Fes. ~Yamashita Base in YOKOHAMA ARENA 2020 ~. On 17 July, the movie version of
Hachioji Zombies was released, in which Yamashita reprised his role of monk Takashi Habuki. This is the first time he led in a film. He also released
fishing lure he produced in collaboration with
fishing tackle brand EVERGREEN in October. On 22 December, it was announced that he was chosen as the winner for Cool Anglers Award 2021 by Japan fishing show again, which made him the first person to win the award three times in a row and the first person to enter the hall of fame for the award. == Business ==