Early Days: Backup dancer and the dance quintet Scream After returning to Japan he served as a backup dancer for artists such as
Ayumi Hamasaki,
Ai,
Bennie K and
Maki Goto, appearing both in the music videos of these artists and at their concerts. He also served as a backup dancer at Japanese concerts for western artists such as
Ashanti and
Missy Elliott. They performed at many clubs and events in Tokyo and were popular in the underground dance world.
2007–2009: Nidaime J Soul Brothers In 2007, Naoto was invited to join the revival of the group
J Soul Brothers, Nidaime J Soul Brothers(The Second Generation of
J Soul Brothers), together with
Naoki Kobayashi as a performer after the group's producer
Hiro decided that they should be a seven-member group. On 7 May 2008, Nidaime J Soul Brothers released their first single "WE!", which was sold exclusively on Exile's mobile website. Meanwhile, Naoto made his actor debut in Gekidan Exile's 2nd show
CROWN ~Nemuranai, Yoru no Hate ni…~ in May.
2009–present: Exile and Sandaime J Soul Brothers On 1 March 2009, as Nidaime J Soul Brothers announced their indefinite hiatus and all members migrated to
Exile, Naoto joined Exile. At the end of the year, he appeared on the stage of
NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen for the first time as a member of Exile. On 19 July 2010, Naoto was announced as member and one of the leaders of
Sandaime J Soul Brothers, a new revival of
J Soul Brothers, while staying as a member of
Exile at the same time. On 27 September, Naoto appeared and performed 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". Besides, on 18 September, he debuted on the television screen with
Okagesamade!, a TV special directed by
Yukihiko Tsutsumi and dedicated to the 60th anniversary of
CBC Television. He also had a guest-star role in
Spec –Keishichōkōanbu Kōan Daigoka: Mishō Jiken Tokubetsu Taisaku-gakari Jiken-bo–, another TV Drama directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi, in the same year. He played himself in the drama and promoted
Exile's
best-of album Exile Catchy Best. Since April 2013, Naoto played Tomonori Kashiwagi in
Fuji TV's drama
Last Cinderella. He learned the necessary skills of a
hairstylist from his hairstylist friends for the role. Since July,
Frenemy~Rumble of the Rat~, a TV drama co-starred by Naoto and
Shokichi, began to broadcast on
NTV. Naoto starred as Wataru Okajima, a childhood friend of Shokichi's character. Since April 2014, Naoto had become one of the Tuesday hosts of
Fuji TV's
variety show High Noon TV Viking. He appeared on the show every two weeks, as he and
Takahiro, one of the vocalists of
Exile, took turns to be the Tuesday host. Takahiro quit the job in March 2015, and Naoto continued to become the only Tuesday host for the show until March 2016. He also debuted on the big screen in the movie Sakurasaku, which was released on 5 April 2014. In 2015, Naoto starred with
Sayaka Akimoto in the movie
Akai Kurumaisu("Mango and the Red Wheelchair")，playing Shota Igarashi，a r
ock band's
lead singer who lost lose the use of his legs because of illness. He lost 7 kilos for his role and showed his vocal abilities for the first time for the movie. On 20 June 2015, Naoto made his debut as a
voice actor for the animated movie
Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie, starring Osamu Fujimoto, the aide of the fictional
Japanese Prime Minister featured in the film. He stated that it was a huge honour for him to have such a role since he had been a fan of the series since his childhood. Since 15 April 2016, TV drama
Night Hero Naoto started to be broadcast, in which Naoto starred as himself. The drama go back and forth between reality and fiction by showcasing Naoto with a full-time job as a performer in Exile/Sandaime J Soul Brothers, while he had a part-time job as an underground hero. Other
Exile Tribe members also made guest appearances as themselves. The ending of the drama were 12 dances movies(one for each episode) that featured Naoto dancing with several world-famous dancers and choreographers such as
s**t kingz, Akanen, Riehata and many Exile Tribe members. Taking the opportunity of the drama, Naoto formed the hip-hop unit
Honest Boyz together with
Nigo and became one of their rappers and the leader. This was the first time that Naoto showed his vocal abilities in a group. The unit debuted with the song "PART TIME HERO"，which was used as the opening theme of
Night Hero Naoto. In 2019, Naoto and
Honest Boyz made their international debut with their new song "Electricity featuring Lil Uzi Vert", which was selected as the ending song of Hollywood's live-action movie "
Pokémon Detective Pikachu". In September, the Internet-drama
Busunohitominikoishiteru 2019 ～The Voice～ began airing, in which Naoto starred as the popular voice actor Suzuno Osamu
. On 14 February 2020, Naoto opened his own YouTube channel
EXILE NAOTO HONEST TV, sharing his wide ranges of interests to the world. On August 7, he released his first digital single
O・Y/YUM YUM with stage named HONEST BOY(Naoto means honest boy in Japanese). He also starred alongside
Tao Tsuchiya in the film
Food Luck as Sato Yoshito,a freelance writer who embarks on a food journey to find the flavors of home. The film was released on November 20. == Business ==