Kazunari Ninomiya
Birthdate: Jun 17, 1983
Birthplace: Tokyo, Japan
Kazunari Ninomiya, famed as a member of the Japanese pop group Arashi, is widely known in Japan as an actor as well as singer/songwriter. Ninomiya made his feature acting debut with the rest of Arashi in the Yukihiko Tsutsumi’s drama, Pikanchi Life Is Hard Dakedo Happy (2002), followed by the sequels, Pikanchi Life Is Hard Dakara Happy (2004), and Pikanchi Life Is Hard Tabun Happy (2014).
Ninimiya had his first starring role in director/co-writer Yukio Ninagawa’s drama, The Blue Light (2003), with Aya Matsuura, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival before being released by Toho. Ninimiya made his Hollywood movie debut in a major role in Clint Eastwood’s acclaimed WWII drama, Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), starring Ken Watanabe, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Ryo Kase, and Shido Nakamura, Oscar-nominated for Best Picture, and grossing nearly $69 million for Warner Bros. Pictures.
Kazunari Ninomiya did his first leading voice role in an anime movie for Tekkon Kinkreet (2006), co-directed by Hiroaki Ando and Michael Arias. Then Ninomiya joined Arashi for the lead role in the group’s third feature, Yellow Tears (2007), directed by Isshin Inudo, followed by Ninomiya starring in the Edo Period-set drama, Ooku (2010), co-starring Ko Shibasaki and Terunosuke Takezai under Fuminori Kaneko’s direction and adapted from Fumi Yoshinaga’s manga. Ninomiya co-starred with Kenichi Matsuyama in a pair of movies released consecutively, Gantz (2011) and Gantz: Perfect Answer (2011), both directed by Shinsuke Sato.
Ninomiya co-starred with Ryosuke Yamada, Masaki Suda and Maika Yamamoto in Toho’s live-action version of Yusei Matsui’s manga, Assassination Classroom (2015), written by Tatsuya Kanazawa and directed by Eiichiro Hasumi, and which grossed $25 million theatrically; Ninomiya returned in Hasumi’s and Kanazawa’s sequel, Assassination Classroom: Graduation (2016), earning a $32.6 million global gross for Toho. Ninomiya co-starred between these two projects with Sayuri Yoshinaga in director/co-writer Yoji Yamada’s family drama, Nagasaki: Memories of My Son (2015), delivering a $14.5 million gross for distributor Shochiku and was Japan’s official submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, while Ninomiya won Best Actor in the Japanese Academy Awards.
Kazunari Ninomiya starred as a master chef in the Yojiro Takita-directed drama, The Last Recipe: Memory of Giraffe’s Tongue (2017), followed by Ninomiya co-starring with Takuya Kimura, Yuriko Yoshitaka, and Takehiro Hira in director/co-writer Masato Harada’s crime drama, Killing for the Prosecution (2018), delivering a $26 million gross for Toho. Ninomiya then starred in director/co-writer Ryota Nakano’s post-disaster biopic, The Asadas (2020), with Satoshi Tsumabuki and Haru Kuroki, and earning $11.8 million for distributor Toho, followed by Ninomiya starring in the romcom-with-robot Tang (2022), adapted from Deborah Install’s novel, A Robot in the Garden, by Arisa Kaneko, directed by Takahiro Miki and co-produced and released by Warner Bros. Pictures and grossing $3.7 million.
Ninomiya was nominated for a Best Actor nod in the Japanese Academy Awards for his starring role in the WWII drama, Fragments of the Last Will (2022), co-starring Keiko Kitagawa, Tori Matsuzaka, and Kento Nakajima under Takahisa Zeze’s direction, premiering as the opening night film of the Tokyo Film Festival and grossing $18 million for distributor Toho. Ninomiya co-starred with Haru in the screen version of Takeshi Kitano’s novel, Analog (2023), written by Takehiko Minato and directed by Hideta Takahata, and earned $7.6 million theatrically for Asmik Ace Entertainment/Toho Pictures.
Kazunari Ninomiya starred in the big-screen version of Aka Akasaka’s manga, Oshi no Ko: The Final Act (2024), directed by Smith, written by Ayako Kitagawa, and produced by Ryusuke Imoto. Ninomiya topped the cast of director/co-writer/producer Genki Kawamura’s psychological horror movie, Exit 8 (2025), based on Kotake Create’s video game, premiering out of competition in Cannes Film Festival’s Midnight section and which had grossed over $39 million theatrically for Toho in Japan before a North American release in 2026 by Neon.
Personal life
Kazunari Ninomiya was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan, by his parents, both chefs and cuisine teachers. Ninomiya has one older sister. Ninomiya graduated from high school in 2002. Ninomiya has been married to Ayako Ito since 2019; the couple has two children. Ninomiya’s height is 5’ 6”.
Known For
Assassination Classroom
(2015)
Gantz: Perfect Answer
(2011)
Gantz
(2010)
Kazunari Ninomiya Movies
actor
Previous (18)
- 2023 | Analogas Satoru Mizushima
- 2022 | Fragments of the Last Willas Hatao Yamamoto
- 2022 | Tangas Ken Kasugai
- 2021 | Arashi Anniversary Tour 5 x 20 Film: Record of Memories
- 2020 | The Asadasas Masashi Asada
- 2018 | Killing for the Prosecutionas Keiichiro Okino
- 2017 | The Last Recipe: Memory of Giraffe's Tongueas Mitsuru Sasaki
- 2016 | Assassination Classroom: The Graduationas Koro-Sensei
- 2015 | Nagasaki: Memories of My Sonas Koji Fukuhara
- 2013 | Platinum Dataas Ryuhei kagura
- 2011 | Gantz: Perfect Answeras Kei Kurono
- 2010 | Gantzas Kei Kurono
- 2010 | The Lady Shogun and Her Menas Mizuno
- 2007 | Yellow Tearsas Eisuke Muraoka
- 2006 | Tekkonkinkreetas Kuro
- 2006 |
Letters from Iwo Jima
asSaigo
The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.
- 2003 | The Blue Lightas Shuuichi Kushimori
- 2002 | Pika*nchi Life Is Hard Dakedo Happyas Takuma
Facts About Kazunari Ninomiya
Marriage Letter: Kazunari Ninomiya announced his marriage to Ayako Ito with a handwritten letter that was released on his fan club website.
Movie Gamer: Ninomiya is a gamer, and had played the game basis for Exit 8, and used his knowledge of the game to provide director/co-writer Genki Kawamura with story insights for the screenplay.
Japanese Idol: Kazunari Ninomiya is one of the original members of the popular idol group, Arashi.