Spotlight: Kimura Takuya

on Wednesday, March 25, 2009 10:55AM

I have a dirty little secret to tell. I have a very strange and inexplicable attraction to a well dressed long haired japanese 30 something year old man. Despite whatever just passed through your brain back there, you’ll forgive me to know that this is my almost platonic tribute to Kimura Takuya, Japan pretty boy extraordinaire.

As if you didn’t already know, Kimura Takuya is a whopping 15 years older than me, placing him at around 36 years old. How does this guy remain in the spotlight? Lets face it, with the asian gene making most of us look younger, an asian man’s 30s are now the new 20s allowing Jpop stars to hang around far longer than most western punk rockers can handle. Having found celebrity status after joining Jpop group SMAP, Takuya has starred in a serious amount of hit dramas including Long Vacation and Good Luck!! and movies such as 2046 and French 2008 (now 2009?) indie production I Come with the Rain.

Known for being the poster boy of the japanese endorsement world, Takuya hawked his way through at least 10 commercials last year. As if his killer smile wasn’t enough, he also somehow found his way next to Beyonce (I think I’m jealous) in a luxury handbag campaign late last year:

In an official comment, Kimura said, “I enjoyed the time with her. She is really sexy and cute. I can learn many things from her to be a nicer guy.” Beyonce was quoted as saying, “Kimura is very handsome, strong, manly and sexy.” Hell yeah (high five!). But seriously, who’s the lucky one here?

Kimura Takuya’s recent endorsements range on the bizarre side of publically acceptable:

In the harsh realities of the desert where men kill for water, one can only dream of… Cup Noodle. Here we find Takuya exploring the desert reaches of the latest Nissan Cup Noodle commercial (exploration being Nissan’s current theme). Will Takuya’s butt-saving arabic friends receive any cup noodles from their almost-useless trailblazer master? Only time will tell. Previous iterations of this commercial have seen Takuya stumble his way through Australia and Africa, all part of Cup Noodle’s “DREAM!” campaign.

Bubble gum maker Xylish has got Takuya some really funky curly hair going on in 2009. With a flash of Austin Powers mojo Takuya has helped make Xylish one of the top gum makers in Japan. Not exactly my style, but definitely full of it(self?). Now if only the actual Xylish commercial (over at the their site) portrayed anything as remotely psychadelic.

And finally, let’s not forget every asian male’s favorite signature hair product Gatsby, that has had us coming up with terrible gravity defying hair ideas since 1999. What the ladies think is anyone’s guess. Gatsby’s newest 2009 Takuya calendar apparently only thinks 4 months of the year are worth planning for. Clearly no one does anything in January anyways. Screen breaking version here.

When will this fresh-faced thirty-something year married man slow down? It doesn’t look like any time soon, but after years of a Japan ruled by this one man’s face it would be almost criminal to stop. Be on the lookout in 2009 for “I Come With the Rain” starring Takuya and Korean actor Byung-hun Lee!

Surprised I didn’t make any totally out-of-line comments about Takuya’s acting, movies or dramas yet? Next time Ningin.

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