Kanata Hongō

Kanata Hongō
本郷 奏多
Born November 15, 1990 (age 20)
Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan

Occupation Actor, model

Years active 2002—present
Website
Kanata Hongō (本郷 奏多 Hongō Kanata?, born November 15, 1990) is a Japanese actor and model. He is part of Stardust Talent agency and has appeared several times in music videos, movies, TV series, and magazines. His major breakthrough role was as the anime character Ryoma Echizen in the film adaptation of The Prince of Tennis, and became even more widely known when he was cast as Shin in Nana 2. In television, his most notable role was as Hinata in Himitsu no Hanazono and recently he starred in Seigi no Mikata.
Career
Hongō has appeared in several movies, including Moon Child, which also starred Gackt, Hyde and Leehom Wang. Hongō played the role of Sho as a child, while the adult role was played by Gackt. He appeared in a movie called Hinokio which was released in July 2005 in Japan. Hongō is also the young boy in the singer Yui's music video for her song "Tomorrow's Way." In 2006, Kanata was cast as the popular anime character Ryoma Echizen in the live-action adaptation film of The Prince of Tennis. He joined the majority of the Seigaku Regulars of the Prince of Tennis musicals as he was replacing Kotaro Yanagi, who couldn't play the role due to a car accident he was involved in.[1]
Hongō also portrayed the young bassist Shinichi Okazaki in the movie Nana 2, which was released in Japan on December 9, 2006. He had replaced Kenichi Matsuyama[2] who had previously played Shin in the first Nana film. His next feature film was alongside Michael Pitt and Keira Knightley in Silk which was screened at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. This marked Hongō's first appearance in an English language film, where he played a Japanese servant boy. He also starred in another music video, B'zs "Eien no Tsubasa" along with Tsubasa Honda and in GReeeeN's music video of "Namida Sora".
In television, Hongō's first major role was as major supporting character Hinata in Himitsu no Hanazono and performed a wonderful tear jerking moment in one of the later episodes. His superb job in acting lead him to being another major supporting character in the drama Seito Shokun! as rebellious student Kohei Aoki. Later, he appeared as a guest in two other shows. In 2008, he starred as Riku Okamoto in Seigi no Mikata, broadcasted by NTV. He said Okamoto was probably his most normal role to date. He was then featured in the music video for The Gospellers' "Sky High", which was the opening to the second season of anime Nodame Cantabile.
Hongō starred in three films in late 2008. They included Aoi Tori, K-20: The Fiend with Twenty Faces and Goth. The latter two were released in Japan on the same day, December 20. Goth is based on a Japanese novel with the same name, written by Otsuichi.[3]

Filmography
Dramas
Year Broadcast Network English Title Japanese Title English Translation Role
2005 TBS
Aikurushii あいくるしい Sweet Shu Nagumo
2006 TBS Kiraware Matsuko no Issho 嫌われ松子の一生 The Life of Despised Matsuko Youichi Ryu (15 Years Old)
2007 Fuji TV, KTV
Himitsu no Hanazono
ヒミツの花園 The Secret Garden Hinata Kataoka
TV Asahi
Seito Shokun! 生徒諸君! Attention Students! Kohei Aoki
NTV
Tantei Gakuen Q
探偵学園Q Detective School Q Daisuke Makino (Guest Starring in Episode 2)
Fuji TV Iryu 2 医龍 Team Medical Dragon 2 Iryu Team Medical Dragon 2 Guest Starring in Episode 8
2008 NTV Seigi no Mikata
正義の味方 Ally of Justice Riku Okamoto
2009 NTV Reset リセット Reset Episode 14
2010 TBS Yankee-kun to Megane-chan
ヤンキー君とメガネちゃん Yankee-kun and Megane-chan Gaku Izumi
WOWOW
Tokyo23 TOKYO23～サバイバルシティ Tokyo23: Survival City Dan Komori
[edit] Movies
Year English Title Japanese Title Role
2002 Returner
リターナー Ritānā Young Miyamoto
2004 Moon Child
MOON CHILD Young Sho
2005 Hinokio: Inter Galactic Love
ヒノキオ Hinokio Satoru Iwamoto
Until the Lights Come Back 大停電の夜に Daiteiden no yoru ni Shota
2006 The Prince Of Tennis
テニスの王子様 Tennis no oujisama Ryoma Echizen
Nana 2
ナナ2 Nana 2 Shinichi Okizaki, "Shin"
2007 Silk
シルク Shiruku Japanese Servant Boy
2008 The Blue Bird 青い鳥 Aoi Tori Shinichi Sonobe
K-20: Legend of the Mask
Kaijin Nijū Mensō • Den Yoshio Kobayashi
Goth
GOTH Itsuki Kamiyama
2011 Gantz
GANTZ Jōichiro Nishi[4]

Music videos
Year Song Title Artist
2000 Lovibe The Boom
2005 Tomorrow's Way
Yui

Zutto Yomikake no Natsu Tomita Lab
2006 Hitoiro
Nana starring Mika Nakashima

2007 Eien no Tsubasa
B'z

Namida Sora GReeeeN

2008 Sky High The Gospellers

Commercials
• 株式会社ライク 「アエラホーム」
• 明治乳業 「明治おいしい牛乳」
• 牛乳工場篇
• 乳酸菌篇
Books/magazines
• Boy Actor vol.1 (September 2005 and PIA)
• "Nana2" Novelization (2006 and Shueisha Cobalt)
• Real G vol.1 (January 2007 and SDP)
• Real G vol.2 (May 2007 and SDP)
Others
• Concert Costarring "Gackt Live Tour 2003 The Month Of The Upper Chord"
• The Radio Play "At Night Of A Big Blackout" - Shota Tazawa