In 1993, he made his acting debut in the TV drama
Shadow of Youth, which made him won the grand prize at the 6th Junon Super Boy Contest. In 1995, at the film
Love Letter directed by
Shunji Iwai, he made his screen debut and the following year won the
Japanese Academy Awards for Newcomer of the Year. In South Korea, he gained explosive popularity despite his short screen time as soon as it was released. In 1996, he played a role in the TV drama
Hakusen Nagoshi. Since then it was made into a series for nine years. He also returned from both illness and suspension for assault in this drama. In 2003, he left the
Itsumo Futari de after two episodes due to neck-shoulder-arm syndrome during filming, and his role was replaced by
Shingo Katsurayama. In 2006, he appeared in a TV drama series for the first time in a long time. On February 25th, he divorced
Hiroko Hatano. Nearly a decade later, in October, 2015, he opened his official website. == Personal life ==