2011–2015: Pre-debut activities Yuta became interested in an idol career in 2011 after watching
TVXQ on television. When he was 16, he participated in a month-long training camp in Seoul during the summer. On December 23, 2013, he was introduced as a member of
SM Rookies, a pre-debut team of trainees under SM Entertainment. As part of the SM Rookies program, in August 2014, Yuta appeared on
Exo 90:2014, an
Mnet-produced show starring label mates
Exo, where they danced to K-pop songs from the '90s, and participated in the music video remake of
H.O.T.'s "
Hope" and
Jo Sung-mo's "Do You Know". In July 2015, Yuta appeared as the Japanese representative on
Abnormal Summit, a show with a panel of non-Korean men residing in South Korea, debating Korean culture
2016–2019: Debut with NCT 127 He starred in the first season of NCT's reality show NCT Life, which partly documented SMROOKIES’s pre-debut concert the SMRookies Show in Bangkok, Thailand airing from April 16 to May 2, 2016. He also starred in the second season of the show, that features the members touring around Seoul and completing missions, which aired from May 21 - June 11. On July 2, 2016, Yuta was announced as a member of the
NCT team, under the second sub-unit,
NCT 127, in which he debuted with their single "Fire Truck" on July 6, 2016. Three days later, they released their first mini-album,
NCT #127. From November 2016 to January 2017, he appeared on
TV Chosun's
Idol Party, in which comedians
Park Mi-sun and Lee Bong-won become a family, adopting him and
Sorn of
CLC as their children. He hosted the Chuseok special episode of the
2019 Idol Star Athletics Championships alongside
Leeteuk,
Dahyun, Johnny,
Jaehyun and
Mark.
2020–2023: NCT 2020, radio program and acting In September 2020, NCT's two-part second studio album,
NCT 2020 Resonance, was announced. He appeared on the tracks "Dancing In The Rain", "Faded In My Last Song", "From Home", "
Work It" and "Raise the Roof". On November 24, 2020, it was announced that Yuta would host a two-month weekly radio program, NCT 127 YUTA at Home, on
InterFM897 to promote NCT 127's second Japanese EP,
Loveholic, in Japan, which topped the
Oricon Albums Chart. On March 19, 2021, it was announced that the broadcast would be extended and converted into a regular program. Since 2021, Yuta appeared in numerous Japanese magazines such as
PMC,
Ginger,
Numéro Tokyo,
GQ Japan, and
Elle Japan. In June 2021, a
Tom Ford Neroli Portofino endorsement with Yuta was announced through
Vogue Japan YouTube channel. In September 2022, Yuta made his acting debut in the film
High&Low The Worst X (Cross). In March 2023, it was announced that he was cast in the live-action adaptation of the web manga
Play It Cool, Guys, which will be broadcast on April 14.
2024: Solo debut On August 5, 2024, it was announced that Yuta would make his solo debut with the release of his first
EP Depth on November 13. On October 3, the EP was available for digital download and the music video for its lead single "Off the Mask" was released. Starting from October 5, his debut showcase tour Hope commenced in
Fukuoka, and was held across 5 cities in Japan before ending in his hometown
Kadoma on the 27th. His photobook
Now was later released on October 17 to commemorate his solo debut. Yuta released his first Japanese single "Twisted Paradise" on May 14, 2025. In 2026, Yuta performed "PLAY BACK", which was used as the opening theme to
Kamen Rider Zeztz. ==Discography==