Domoto Tsuyoshi

Domoto Tsuyoshi was born in Nara on April 10, 1979. Before joining the entertainment company Johnny’s Entertainment, Tsuyoshi performed as a child actor under the stage name Domoto Naohiro. The name “Naohiro” was taken from his sister’s first love.

His mother and sister sent in an application to Johnny’s in 1991, without his knowledge, and he was quickly accepted. He was placed in a group with Domoto Koichi—with whom he shares his last name, but has no blood relation to—the next year. They received the name KinKi Kids in 1993, but did not make their CD debut until the release of Garasu no shounen in 1997. The two have since gone on to become one of the best-selling duos in the history of Japan.

Despite the incredible success of KinKi Kids, Tsuyoshi struck out as a solo artist with the single Machi / Dekiai Logic in 2002. His first solo album ROSSO E AZZURRO was released a few months later. Tsuyoshi also took the time to create some of the illustrations for the album’s jacket and design live goods for the tour.

In 2005, Tsuyoshi formed the temporary unit Toraji Haiji with Kokubun Taichi from TOKIO, which released a single called Fantastipo to promote a movie the duo had starred in together. It reached the number one spot on the Oricon charts and became one of the best-selling singles of the year.

Tsuyoshi changed the name of his solo project to ENDLICHERI☆ENDLICHERI in 2006 and released a plethora of albums, singles and DVDs. The name was taken from a type of fish. Tsuyoshi has often referenced his love for fish and has confessed to having a room filled with aquariums.

Another name change to the even more bizarre 244 ENDLI-x (pronounced “Tsuyoshi Endlix”) followed in 2008.

This turned out to be just as short-lived as, after a few releases under that name, while working on his Bigaku project Tsuyoshi traded it in for an alternate spelling of his given name, becoming simply “Tsuyoshi.” This was temporary as well, and he has since reverted back to the original kanji for Domoto Tsuyoshi.

Despite all these changes, Tsuyoshi has remained very popular. His album Shamanippon – Rakachinotohi, which came ten years after his solo debut, quickly shot up to number one on the Oricon charts, showing his continuing longevity in his home country. He has also shown an interest in branching into the Western market in recent years, as his album NIPPON was released in Europe by Gan-Shin Records in 2011.

With such an impressive career behind him, it seems safe to say that fans can expect to hear exciting things from Domoto Tsuyoshi for years to come.