Takumi Kawanishi
Japanese singer and actor (born 1999)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Takumi Kawanishi (川西 拓実, Kawanishi Takumi; born June 23, 1999) is a Japanese singer and actor. He debuted as a member of the Japanese boy band JO1 in 2020, after placing third in the first season of Produce 101 Japan. He played Sōma Shiki in the live action adaptation of Play It Cool, Guys (2023).
Takumi Kawanishi | |
|---|---|
川西 拓実 | |
Kawanishi in 2023 | |
| Born | June 23, 1999 Hyogo, Japan |
| Other name | T.K[1] |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2019–present |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Label | Lapone |
| Member of | JO1 |
| Website | Official website |
| Japanese name | |
| Kanji | 川西 拓実 |
| Hiragana | かわにし たくみ |
| Romanization | Kawanishi Takumi |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 카와니시 타쿠미[2] |
| Revised Romanization | Kawanisi Takumi |
| McCune–Reischauer | K'awanisi T'ak'umi |
Early life
Takumi Kawanishi was born on June 23, 1999, in Hyogo, Japan.[3] Kawanishi played baseball from second grade of elementary school to third grade of high school, with the goal of competing in the Japanese High School Baseball Championships.[4] He shaved his head in elementary school to imitate high school baseball players and once competed against Yomiuri Giants pitcher Iori Yamasaki.[4][5]
Kawanishi was inspired to become a singer after he happened to watch a concert DVD owned by his mother when he was 11 years old and was practicing by himself ever since.[4][6] During his third year in middle school, Kawanishi passed the second screening of a national men's talent search, but he canceled the trip to the last round of audition in Tokyo due to a baseball tournament.[6][7] After graduating from high school, he worked as a buggy engineer at Kawasaki Heavy Industries.[8]
Career
2019–2020: Produce 101 Japan and debut with JO1
In September 2019, Kawanishi convinced his family to allow him to audition for Produce 101 Japan despite having no experience in dancing or singing.[6] The show concluded in December, with Kawanishi finishing third with 252,885 votes.[9] Upon training in Korea,[10] Kawanishi made his debut as a member of JO1 on March 4, 2020, with the release of their first single Protostar under Lapone Entertainment.[11]
2021–present: Acting debut and first EP
Kawanishi made his acting debut on February 26, 2021, playing an unnamed role in the Yoshimoto Kogyo-produced anthology film Meters Away, Worlds Apart segment "Today is A Good Day", alongside his group-mates Ren Kawashiri and Syoya Kimata.[12] On March 3, 2023, Kawanishi was cast as Sōma Shiki in the live version of the web manga series Play It Cool, Guys, with Yuta Nakamoto, Dori Sakurada, and Maito Fujioka.[6][10][13] The first episode aired on April 14.[14]
Kawanishi wrote JO1's digital single "Happy Unbirthday" for the group's Alice in Wonderland-inspired exhibition, JO1 in Wonderland!.[15] The song was released on March 26, 2024.[3] In May, Kawanishi made his lead feature debut with Hiroki Kazama's Buzzy Noise. He played the recluse electronic music composer Kiyosumi Umino opposite Hiyori Sakurada.[6] Kawanishi worked with music producer Yaffle to record the song "Surge" for the film, and the rearranged version "Surge" (single edit) was made available on April 29, 2024.[16] The digital single also includes the self-written song "Heaven", which Kawanishi described as "a demo song Kiyosumi might have made".[16]
In July 2024, Kawanishi starred in the film Run for Money the Movie: Tokyo Mission, which commemorated the 20th anniversary of Fuji TV's variety show Run for Money: Tōsō-chū.[17] He played the lead role of Tachibana Yamato, a sprinter from Meio University's track and field team, with his groupmates Sukai Kinjo and Syoya Kimata, as well as Sota Nakajima, Taiki Sato, and Leiya Seguchi of Fantastics from Exile Tribe.[17] In October 2025, Kawanishi was cast in Wowow's original drama series on domestic violence victims Shadow Work. Kawanishi played Yūma Araki, a junior detective and partner to the co-lead character.[18] On December 5, JO1 released "Santa-san E" (サンタさんへ, To Santa), a song co-written by Kawanishi and was originally performed a year prior to celebrate the group's fifth anniversary.[19]
On June 17, 2026, Kawanishi released his collaboration with the Japanese band Monkey Majik, "Unstoppable", to commemorate the band's 20th anniversary. He previously listed the band as an artist he admires.[20] On June 24, Kawanishi released his first digital extended play (EP) Sketch, with "Kyou mo Manten de Manten Janai" served as the lead single.[21] Kawanishi wrote "Murasaki Iro", the opening theme of the drama Fūfu to 16-sai: Kyōki no Rinjin (夫婦と16歳〜狂気の隣人〜, The Married Couple and The 16-Year Old: The Crazy Neighbor), starring band mate Issei Mamehara.[22]
Discography
Extended plays
| Title | Album details | Peak chart position | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| JPN DL [23] | |||
| Sketch |
|
7 |
|
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart position | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| JPN DL [25] | |||
| "Surge" (single edit) | 2024 | 81 | Non-album single |
| "Kyou mo Manten de Manten Janai" | 2026 | 47 | Sketch |
| "Unstoppable" (with Monkey Majik) |
46 | Non-album single |
Songwriting credits
All song credits are adapted from the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers's database, unless otherwise noted.[26]
| † | Indicates single |
| # | Indicates a non-commercial release |
| ‡ | Indicates songs written solely by Kawanishi |
| Title | Year | Artist(s) | Album | Lyrics | Music | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Credit | With | Credit | With | |||||
| "Get Back" # | 2021 | Shosei, Takumi, Syoya, Shion | JO1 Atelier track[a] |  | Shosei, Syoya, Shion |  |
[29] | |
| "Breaking the Rules" | 2023 | Keigo, Takumi, Máme | 2023 JO1 2nd Arena Live Tour "Beyond the Dark – Rise in Kyocera Dome" | | Keigo, T.K,[A] Máme | |
[26] | |
| "D.I.Y." | 2024 | Ren, Takumi, Hiroto | Non-album song[b] | | Ren, Hiroto | | Ren, Hiroto | |
| "Bingo" | Ren, Takumi | Unreleased song[c] | | Ren | | Ren | ||
| "Happy Unbirthday" ‡† | JO1 | Be Classic | | N/a | | N/a | [15] | |
| "Heaven" ‡ | Kiyosumi[B] | Non-album song[d] | | N/a | | N/a | [16] | |
| "Santa-san E" (サンタさんへ) # | JO1 | Non-album song | | N/a | | Skinner Box | [1] | |
| "Super Star" ‡ | 2025 | T.K | Unreleased song[e] | | N/a | | N/a | [26] |
| "Come Again" ‡# | PlanJ track[f] | | N/a | | N/a | [30] | ||
| "Warainaki" (笑い泣き) ‡ | Unreleased songs[e] | | N/a | | N/a | [26] | ||
| "True" ‡ | | N/a | | N/a | ||||
| "Sekai ga Hiroi No Ka. Boku ga Chiisai No Ka" (世界が広いのか。僕が小さいのか。) ‡ | | N/a | | N/a | ||||
Filmography
Film
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Note | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Produce 101 Japan | Contestant | Finished 3rd | [32] |
| 2022 | Short Program | Ichiro Imai | Lead role; anthology series | [33] |
| 2023 | Play It Cool, Guys | Sōma Shiki | Main role | [13] |
| Play It Cool, Guys - Our Love Story | [34] | |||
| 2025 | Shadow Work | Yūma Araki | [18] |
Music videos
| Year | Title | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | "Come Again" | [30] |
Footnotes
- Performed during Laposta 2024
- Performed during Where Do We Go tour (2024–25) and Laposta 2025
- A coupling song to "Surge" (single edit)
- Performed during Kawanishi's solo concert at Laposta 2025