Sho Sakurai

Early life

Sakurai was born in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture, and grew up in Minato, Tokyo, the oldest of three children. His father, Shun Sakurai (桜井 俊), is a former government official who served as Vice Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, and Vice President of Dentsu Group. Sakurai has a younger sister, Mai (舞) (b. 1986), who was a journalist for Nippon TV, and a younger brother, Shu (修) (b. 1994). a rugby player.

Sakurai attended Keio Yochisha Elementary School, an affiliated elementary school of Keio University. From age three to ten, he did many extracurricular activities, including kendo, swimming, football, oil painting, calligraphy, and scouting. He began music lessons in early childhood, starting with the electric organ at age three and switching to piano in fourth grade. From fourth grade to sixth grade, he played trombone for his school's brass band. He also played trumpet and attended cram school. He joined a local football club after developing a strong interest in football during the J.League boom in 1993. He wanted to play for a professional team and at one point considered studying abroad in Brazil to become a professional footballer. He played football until his second year of junior high school.

Despite already having an established career with Arashi by the time he graduated from high school, Sakurai went on to attend Keio University, graduating with a Bachelor of Economics degree in March 2004. In fact, he was a pioneer among all Johnny's, being the first to graduate from University, inspiring others to pursue higher education.

Career

In 1995, when Sakurai was thirteen years old, he sent an application to the talent agency, Johnny & Associates, and started activities as a Johnny's Jr.

On April 10, 2024, Sakurai posted, via Starto Entertainment's website, his opening a website of his own, as a means of contact point for job requests and inquiries. He commented on the news program "News Zero", in which he appears as Monday night support newscaster since 2006, that he did it as a part of the expansion of activities, as well as of his agent contract with the agency.

On May 9, 2024, he served as navigator for Morinaga's press conference for their health and beauty item Passienol. Sakurai not only led the talk session, but also provided commentary on his use of the product. After more than 11 years working with the company, it was announced, via its SNS, that Sakurai would end his work with Morinaga. As part of the post mentioning InJelly and Carre de Chocolat, the brands for which Sakurai is known for, the company thanked him for his work with them and wished him continued success. Sakurai is to graduate as image character on March 2, 2026.

During an audio live stream held for fan club members in April 2025, he revealed that he was planning to make his official blog "Otonoha" into a book. The paid blog articles (close to 250) have been available through the Family Club web (formerly Johnny's web), a smartphone site, since April 2008, but there was a limit to the number of back issues that could be viewed. Although the contents of the book have not been revealed at this time, there is a possibility these past articles could be reprinted.

He belonged to Arashi from 1999 until the group's end of activities, on May 31, 2026.

Music career

Sakurai is the designated rapper of Arashi and, although he had written rap lyrics (known to fans as Sakurap) for some of the group's earlier releases under the pen name "Show", his first major contribution was for the A-side song "Kotoba Yori Taisetsu na Mono". While not the first artist from Johnny's to take on rapping, his breakthrough made it easier for his juniors to rap as well, despite being idols. According to Taichi Kokubun of Tokio, ex-KAT-TUN member Koki Tanaka (田中 聖, Tanaka Kōki) began to rap because of him.

He became the first member in Arashi to hold a solo concert called The Show in 2006. Sakurai was also a part of a special group with his Kisarazu Cat's Eye World Series co-stars that same year. Specially formed to promote the movie, they released the movie's theme song "Seaside Bye-Bye" (シーサイドばいばい; "Shisaido Baibai") as a single on October 25, 2006.

Sakurai co-wrote the lyrics of six songs on the August 2010 Arashi album Boku no Miteiru Fūkei. These songs are "Movin' On," "Mada Ue o", "Taboo" (Sho Sakurai solo), "Let Me Down," "Sora Takaku", and "Summer Splash!".

In February 2022, KAT-TUN announced the release of their digital single "Crystal Moment", as the theme song for NTV's coverage of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, the rap lyrics were written by Sakurai. One year later, Sakurai was announced by KAT-TUN'S Ueda as a co-writer for two songs he would be singing in his solo concert in January 2024.

It was announced on January 9, 2025, that Sakurai would be included on the song "come again *Reloaded" in M-Flo's new "M-Flo loves..." series' album "Superliminal", scheduled to be released on February 18.

Acting career

Unlike the other members, who made their major acting debut on stage, Sakurai made his debut on television in Arashi's volleyball-centered short drama V no Arashi (Vの嵐) in 1999. With bandmate Kazunari Ninomiya, he co-starred in the manga-based comedy drama Yamada Tarō Monogatari in 2007. Sakurai had a small guest appearance on the final episode of the drama My Girl in 2009, which was bandmate Masaki Aiba's first starring role in a serial drama. That year, he also had a brief appearance on bandmate Satoshi Ohno's comedy drama series Uta no oniisan, as himself. On January 9, 2010, Sakurai co-starred with the other members of Arashi in the human suspense drama special Saigo no Yakusoku.

In 2001, he took part in his first drama series called Tengoku ni Ichiban Chikai Otoko 2 (天国に一番近い男 – 教師編, The Man Closest to Heaven 2) with Masahiro Matsuoka as his teacher. His role as a student with two conflicting characters won him Best Newcomer in the 5th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix Awards.

In 2003, Sakurai was given his first lead role in the drama Yoiko no Mikata (よい子の味方, Ally of Good Children). He portrayed Taiyō Suzuki (鈴木太陽, Suzuki Taiyō), a man who strives to prove himself capable of being a nursery school teacher. After Yoiko no Mikata, Sakurai took up many drama specials and mini-dramas until 2005. He even acted in a NHK late-night drama series called Tokio, in which each episode lasted for fifteen minutes each.

Although there was no release of dramas, movies or stageplays from Sakurai in 2008 due to his involvement with the Olympic Games in Beijing and Arashi's concert tours, 2009 saw his first lead role in a drama series since Yoiko no Mikata in 2003.

In 2009, in the drama The Quiz Show 2 with You Yokoyama, he portrayed an amnesic host of a live TV quiz program. He portrayed Yukio Tomizawa (富澤友紀夫, Tomizawa Yukio), a 28-year-old life insurance salesman who is caught up in a building hijack. Sakurai appeared in the docudrama special Kobe Shimbun no Nanokakan (神戸新聞の7日間, 7 Days of the Kobe Newspaper) on January 16, 2010. He portrayed Tomohiko Mitsuyama (三津山朋彦, Mitsuyama Tomohiko), a real photo reporter who worked for the Kobe Shimbun and helped keep the newspaper running without interruption despite the damage inflicted from the Kobe earthquake.

On January 17, 2010, TBS aired the first episode of Sakurai and Maki Horikita's comedy drama Tokujo Kabachi!! (特上カバチ!!, lit. Extraordinary Quibbling).

Hosting and coverage duties

Radio

From October 5, 2002, to March 30, 2008, Sakurai hosted his own radio show called Sho Beat on FM Fuji.

Variety TV Show

Sakurai hosted his first solo MC program in 2014. The program, "Ima, Kono kao ga Sugoi", co-hosted with Hiroiki Ariyoshi, took over Arashi's "Himitsu no Arashi chan" spot when it ended. The pair continues hosting the "Sakurai Ariyoshi The Yakai" series ("Abunai", "Yakai House", and the current "Yakai Cafe", as of July 2025).

Starting in January 2021, Sakurai hosts "1 Oku 3000 mannin no Show Channel", a new variety program substituting Arashi's signature program Arashi ni Shiyagare, which ended in December 2020. In September 2022, the program's format and name changed. "Zenkoku Chokusō News Variety no Show Channel" was a news–format program covering gourmet food, local stories, tourist information, etc. from all over the country. The program ended as a regular in March 2024, with a special episode with Sakurai and regulars Eiji Kotoge, Shinichi Hatori and Takashi Yoshimura, under the name "Show Channel otona no shakaikakengaku", with the team visiting different historical sites in Kyoto and Osaka. Two months later, the first individual episode aired, continuing the format of the last regular episode. The show has continued as individual episodes with the four traveling around Japan visiting historical and heritage sites (2025).

Newscasts, documentary and informative series

In 2006, he became a newscaster for the Nippon Television news program News Zero with newscaster Nobutaka Murao and actress Mao Kobayashi. He continues co-hosting Monday's edition, with main newscasters Yumiko Udo (2018–2024) and Takahiko Fujii (2024- )

On June 7, 2009, Sakurai was one of the main newscasters for a special program titled Touch! Eco 2009, which focused on environmental issues.

Sakurai has participated in News Zero's election coverage specials. In 2007, he was chosen to participate in Zero x Senkyo 2007 (Zero×選挙2007, Zero x Election 2007), a special program which focused on the 2007 House of Councillors elections. Sakurai became the first pop idol to host such a program. On August 30, 2009, he was appointed the navigator for the second part of Zero x Senkyo 2009 (Zero×選挙2009, Zero x Election 2009), which covered Japan's 2009 general elections. On July 11, 2010, he took on the role of a navigator for the second half of Zero x Senkyo 2010 (Zero×選挙2010, Zero x Election 2010), which focused on the 2010 House of Councillors elections. In 2012, he was part of the special, covering live from Tokyo Dome. On 2013 he hosted the second part of the special, with a focus on voter turnout. 2014's Zero x Senkyo was Sakurai's sixth NTV election coverage appearance, being navigator for the second part once again. Sakurai, 34 at the time, continued with the 2016 edition (his seventh appearance), now as co-host for the special program. This year's program covered the first time young adults from age 18-19 were given the right to vote. As promoter of the youth vote since 2006, Sakurai commented: "After 70 years... it will be a historic night for the younger generation". He continued as co-host for the 2017 (hosting the "My Voice" corner), 2019, 2021 and 2022 elections. On October 15, 2024, his participation for the 2024 elections was confirmed, making it the 12th time as navigator and/or co-host. He continues as part of the NNN team covering the 2025 Japanese House of Councillors election in Japan, this time including a special campaign project called "Think before you vote: Is that true?", focused on stopping misinformation. The program talked about the influence (good and bad) social media has had on the information shared during election periods. Sakurai participated again in NNN's coverage of the 2026 Japanese general election as special commentator. Continuing with the project called "Think before you vote: Is that true?", this time's election campaigns are one of the shortest, with only 16 days, after the decision to dissolve the House and Prime Minister Takaichi's comments on Taiwan and its repercussions.

Sporting event coverage

In 2007, he was chosen as the main caster for Fuji TV's broadcast of the 2007 Volleyball World Cup, marking it the first time in eight years that he has been involved with the Volleyball World Cup. In 2008, Sakurai was a newscaster for the 2008 FIVB Women's World Olympic Qualification Tournament and the main newscaster for the news coverage of the Olympic Games in Beijing on NTV.

Sakurai was the special newscaster for NTV's coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics with Shizuka Arakawa as the main newscaster. They repeated for the 2026 Winter Olympics. On May 13, 2012, NTV announced the appointment of Sakurai as the main caster for their coverage of the 2012 London Summer Olympics, from July 27 to August 12, 2012. It is Sakurai's third consecutive Olympic main caster appointment for NTV after 2008 Beijing and 2010 Vancouver. He was chosen, alongside his Arashi co-member Masaki Aiba, to host the NHK special program coverage for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, celebrated from July 23, 2021. With the appointment as the NTV caster for the Paris Olympics in 2024, Sakurai will have presented the event for the 9th time. As part of the hosting duties for NTV, Sakurai and guests Shinya Ueda and Sanma Akashiya share facts and memories about Japanese athletes in the Olympics, in the Paris Olympic special program Shin jijitsu! Orinpikku-mei bamen saikyō-kin medal award, airing July 22, 2024.

He has been covering rugby events, for both the local teams and for the Rugby World Cup and the Japan National Team, "Brave Blossoms". The NTV programs in which he has appeared covering rugby, including the sports section in News Zero, has had Arashi's song Brave, for which he wrote the rap, as background music. "I wrote it while thinking about all the players who will be fighting hard, like when they're in a scrum", he said about it. He appeared in the "100 days to go" event before the start of the Rugby World Cup 2019. Sakurai was named host of the NTV program "One Rugby", a monthly special (September 6, 2019 – March 24, 2022; May 21, 2022, July 4, 2022) that analyzed the matches for both the local games and for the World Cup. Sakurai was appointed "Japan Rugby Ambassador 2023" for the Japan Rugby team for the France Rugby World Cup. The new position was established by the Japan Rugby Football Union to raise awareness of the Japan Rugby National Team and build momentum for the Rugby World Cup 2023 in France.

Music events and programs

Nippon TV Best Artist (日テレ系音楽の祭典 ベストアーティスト) Main Host (2009–2025)

Nippon TV Music Festival – The Power of Music (日テレ系音楽の祭典 音楽のちから2012) Main Host (2012)

Nippon TV THE MUSIC DAY Main Host (2013–2026)

NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen White team host (solo, 2018, 2019; as part of Arashi, 2010 – 2014), special navigator (2022)

Netflix Timelesz Project episode 18 (final) Moderator (2025)

Music Expo Live 2026 in Taipei, MC

Telethon

Sakurai appears as main personality in NTV's 24-Hr TV for 6th time, 5 with Arashi (2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2019) (24時間テレビ) and 1 by himself (2017)

Other events and ambassadorships

Sakurai appeared in the closing ceremony of the Osaka Expo 2025 on October 13, 2025. His appearance together with that of Yumiko Udo resulted in many comments on SNS referring to the pair's former relationship as co-anchors in NTV's News Zero.

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Winnie the Pooh, Disney Japan is hosting a new project, with Sakurai, Snow Man's Ryohei Abe, and Travis Japan's Noel Kawashima chosen as ambassadors. "Pooh Time" was launched as an initiative to provide everyone who works hard in their busy daily lives a gentle moment to "do nothing". Regarding the project and the ambassadorship, the three coincided that now, as adults, the character has changed their point of view. They see now how profound and even philosophical its presence has been, and that, in a busy–busy world, it is nice to sometimes take some time to "enjoy the moment". The project starts on October 14, 2026, Pooh's "birthday".

Other activities

Personal exhibition

"Sho Sakurai: Words for the Future", is Sakurai's first exhibition centered on his words, both as part of Arashi and as an individual, thought of since 2018, to convey his feelings and words expressed in different ways, like in the reinterpretation of his "Sakurap", and words shared in various media (like narrated excepts from the 2019 Newsweek Japan special feature "Sho Sakurai and the Memory of War"). It was held from April 14 to May 5, 2023, at the Roppongi Museum in Tokyo. A revised edition of the exhibition, called "Playful", started in Play! Museum, in Tachikawa, Tokyo, with venues around the country, starting on January 18, 2024, until April 14, 2024. A new edition of the exhibition opened in 2025, on February 22 in Osaka, March 15 in Nagoya and April 26 in Fukushima.

Writer

Sakurai participated in a corner in Casa Brutus magazine in September 2010, becoming serialized under the name Sho Sakurai's Architecture Learning Trip (櫻井翔のケンチクを学ぶ旅, Sakurai Sho no Kenchiku o Manabu Tabi) in March 2011. Sakurai traveled along the whole country, meeting with famous Japanese architects. On August 21, 2025, it was announced that the series consisting in more than 150 buildings visited, and meeting architects the likes of Tadao Ando, Toyo Ito, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Kengo Kuma, Terunobu Fujimori, SANAA, Shigeru Ban, Sou Fujimoto, Jun'ya Ishigami, Tsuyoshi Tane, and many others, would be condensed in a book, under the name Sakurai Sho's Architectural Journey. (櫻井翔の建築を巡る旅。, Sakurai Shō no kenchiku o meguru tabi.). The book was released on October 21, 2025. Sakurai's book reached the second spot in the November 3, 2025, Oricon Weekly Book Ranking in its first week of sales, with nearly 14000 issues sold.

Sakurai wrote two articles for Newsweek Japan. The first one was commemorating the 10th anniversary of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The second article was a two–parter on the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Both articles were written in 2021.

SNS

On April 2, 2025, Sakurai opened an official Instagram with a video of his private trip to Ghana, posting in both Japanese and English. This is his first trip to the African country, and with this account he said he wishes to share more.

Commercials

(櫻井翔#CM)

Able Inc. (ja) real estate company (2008–2011)

Aflac Japan (2011–2023)

Ajinomoto Frozen Foods (2011)

Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd.

Asahi Soft Drinks "Mitsuya Cider" (2009–2010, 2020–2023) In 2020, with Arashi as a group, including a video of himself with audio from Satoshi Ohno. In 2021–2023, together with fellow Arashi member Masaki Aiba, and including Hey! Say! JUMP member Ryosuke Yamada, Snow Man members Ryohei Abe and Ren Meguro and Johnny's Jr. group Bishounen in a series of commercials for Spring and Summer.

Asahi Breweries "New Clear Asahi" beer (2019)

Benesse Corporation Shinkenzemi Junior High School Seminar (ja) (2011–2013)

Japanese Cabinet Office 2005 Low-carbon economy (2008)

House Foods Vermont Curry (2023)

House Wellness Foods Co., Ltd. (ハウスウェルネスフーズ)(ja) "C1000" (beverage) (2006–2007)

Japan Airlines (2021–2023) With fellow Arashi member Jun Matsumoto

Japan Post Co., Ltd. New Year's postcard campaign (2008–2009), also with Arashi (2019)

JINS Co., Ltd. (ja) chain stores and shopping centers (2012–2014)

Johnan Academic Preparatory Institute (城南予備校)(ja) (2005)

JustSystems Smile Seminar (2021–)

Other endorsements

Vans Japan (Get On magazine, 2004)

Personal life

On September 28, 2021, Sakurai announced his marriage through a letter he released in their fan club website.

Sakurai announced the birth of their first child on February 15, 2023, through official site. Date of birth and child's gender were not revealed.

Discography

Other solo songs

Pen no sasu kata e (2021, lyrics, Keio Kindergarten 150th Anniversary version)

Other written songs and collaborations

Crystal Moment (KAT-TUN) (February 2022) (Sakurai wrote the rap part)

ギリスト！ (Tatsuya Ueda's EP) LCDA-0084 (release on February 7, 2024) (digital and streaming)

ギリスト！ (Girist) (co-written with Ueda)

光射す方へ (Hikari sasu kata e) (co-written with Ueda)

come again *Reloaded (from M-Flo's album Superliminal) (release February 11, 2026, digital and streaming and February 18, CD) (guest, credited as m-flo loves 櫻井翔)

Filmography

Books and magazine articles

Sakurai Sho no kenchiku o meguru tabi. (ISBN 978-4838733583, publisher: Magazine House, release October 21, 2025)

Newsweek Japan (2021–03, 2021-12)