Shibutani Subaru

Profile

* Name: 渋谷すばる
* Name (romaji): Shibutani Subaru
* Nickname: Shibuyan, Baru, Babu, Occhan, Shibuya, Chichai ossan ("little old man")
* Profession: Singer, actor and lyricist
* Date of birth: September 22, 1981 (1981-09-22) (age 26)
* Birthplace: Osaka, Japan
* Height: 165cm
* Blood type: O
* Star sign: Virgo
* Jpop group: Kanjani8
* Talent agency: Johnny's Entertainment

History

Shibutani entered JE in 1996 on his birthday, September 22 (along with future fellow Kanjani8 member Ryūhei Maruyama) after passing an audition. He did not hear from the agency until December 1996, when he was called to a second audition for a Kinki Kids concert. It was there where he first met two other future fellow members Yu Yokoyama and Shingo Murakami.

Shibutani's singing talent first became apparent during the recording of an original Kansai Jr. song "Boys in the West Side", theme song for Kanjani Knights, a Kansai Jr. show that ran in 1998. He was a regular on the show together with Yokoyama and Murakami. The trio went on to appear on many Jr shows together, becoming close co-workers and dubbing themselves "3baka" ("the 3 idiots"). Together with Ryo Nishikido, they were the four top Kansai Jrs. This meant increased exposure, with opportunities to appear in many Jr shows in Tokyo as well. Shibutani's big break was an outstanding solo performance on Music Station which would see him move to live in Tokyo, followed shortly by Yokoyama and Murakami. At Tokyo, he received many singing jobs and the 3baka became a fixture in the Tokyo Jr TV programs; They went on to star in their own TV series, IkeIkeIkemen, and were regulars on Domoto Koichi's show Pikaichi.

Around 2000 to 2001, work offers from the agency diminished greatly for the Kansai Jrs; Shibutani was the first among the top 4 to be affected. Out of work in Tokyo, they moved back to Osaka, and found part-time jobs to supplement their meagre Jr. salaries. During this quiet period, Shibutani came close to quitting Johnny's for good, but persevered for the love of the stage and singing.

In 2002, Johnny Kitagawa had the Kansai Jrs put on an old play previously performed by their seniors, SMAP and Kinki Kids, called Another. This marked a revival of Kansai Jr activities but Kitagawa's strategy this time was to localize the Kansai Jrs' activities and keep them based in Kansai. Shibutani could finally return to the stage. He also appeared on TV regularly, on J3Kansai.

In 2003, Johnny Kitagawa formed Kanjani8 using the top Kansai Jrs. He decided to have Shibutani sing enka and debut Kanjani8 with him as lead singer. In August 2004, the group released its first single, Naniwa Iroha Bushi, an enka song infused with rap. Sales were so good that the single made it to #8 on the Oricon singles chart despite its Kansai-limited release. This prompted a nationwide release the following month that shot Naniwa to the top of the chart. Shibutani and his fellow members famously learned about their official debut through the newspapers. Shibutani did not react negatively to the enka-style debut - on the contrary, he was happy for the new challenge as a singer, and saw the unconventional debut as a greater chance for the group to make an impact, as opposed to debuting in the typical boyband pop-dance-and-song fashion. He proved his talent and versatility as a singer by easily taking on the enka-style of singing, becoming, in his own words, "Johnny's first Enka singer".

Kanjani8's songs encompass a wide range of styles besides enka and pop; rap, jazz, funk, rock-and-roll, blues, dance, ballad, and disco are among the other styles featured. In addition, Shibutani is also the main vocalist for Kanjani8 subgroups, SanKyoudai, an acoustic music group, and SubaruBand, a rock band. Switching effortlessly from one style to the next, Shibutani always retains his distinct identity, bringing his own flavour to each style. He also plays several instruments, the guitar, harmonica and shamisen. He played the piano from kindergarten to 5th grade.

Shibutani possesses a natural flair for writing lyrics. As a Jr., he wrote several original songs in collaboration with the guitarist of Jr. band FIVE, Nakaegawa Rikiya, who composed the melodies. These songs were performed by Shibutani with FIVE. Nowadays, as part of Kanjani8, he collaborates with main guitarist, Shota Yasuda. The two write the songs for their band, SubaruBand (ONE, High Position, DownUp). He regularly writes the lyrics for his concert solos as well. Songs (lyrics) written by Shibutani Subaru:

* 2001 「SA☆WER」「Window」
* 2002 「Pray」
* 2003 「Soul way」
* 2004 「Eien」「Aoi Sora」「ONE」
* 2005 「greedy」
* 2006 「Gunjoru」「High Position」
* 2007 「Ruwa」「Down Up↑」

Trivia
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The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

* The anniversary of Kanjani8's first single release (Naniwa Iroha Bushi, 2004), Subaru's birthday and the date of his audition and entry into Johnny's Entertainment (1996) all fall on September 22nd.
* His mother bribed him with 5000 Yen so that he would attend his first JE audition. She had sent an application for him behind his back.
* Was one half of a Manzai unit formed with fellow Kanjani8 member Shingo Murakami, for a while. They called themselves Matsubara kazuhiro.
* At work, he conceals the back of his right hand (usually with a glove or hand mitt, or by wearing tops with extra long sleeves) to cover his tattoo even after he lightened it. This started around the time Kanjani8 debuted.
* Claims to be extremely shy and helpless in dealing with strangers and making friends. Friends outside Kanjani8 are members of bands RIZE and Nightmare.

Discography
For releases as a member of Kanjani∞, please see Kanjani∞.

Concerts/Tours

* X-mas Party [Christmas concerts] (2002 -2005) at Osaka Shochiku-za

* Osaka-jo Hall Zenyasai 1st live (Summer 2005)

* F.T.O.N. (Funky Tokyo Osaka Nagoya) 1st tour (Summer 2006)

* Shibutani Subaru with OhkuraBAND (「渋谷すばるwith大倉BAND」) (東京国際フォーラム ホールA)1st solo concert (8/29-9/17 2006)

* 1st Nationwide tour (Fall/Autumn 2006)

* 2nd Nationwide tour (Winter 2006)

* WHAT! REALLY!? SURPRISE!! Kanjani8 Dome Concert in OSAKA (February 24-25, 2007) at Kyocera Dome Osaka

* Kanjani8 Nationwide 47 Prefecture Tour ""Eh?Honma?!Bikkuri! Tour 2007" (May 3 to September 30, 2007)

Activities

Weekly Variety Shows

* Honjani (Kansai TV & Fuji TV, 2003.06.10 - present)
* Mucha Buri (TV Tokyo, 2007.04.03 - present)
* -ended- Suka J (TV Tokyo, 2005.10.04 - 2007.03.27)
* -ended- Mugendai no Gimon (TV Tokyo) {2005.04.05 - 2005.09.27}
* -ended- Urajani (TV Tokyo) {2004.04.06 - 2005.03.29}
* -ended- J³Kansai (Kansai TV) {2002.10.02 - 2003.03.26}

TV Dramas

* Double (KTV, 2006)
* Platonic Sex (2001)
* Worst Dates in History (2001)
* Abunai houkago (1999)
* Kowai Nichiyoubi (1999)
* Shichinin no Samurai J ke no Hanran (七人のサムライ J家の反乱) (1999)

Stage

* Kyo To Kyo (1997)
* Mask (1997)
* Kyo To Kyo (1998)
* Millennium Shock(2000)
* Another (2002)
* Douton Boys (2003)
* Summer Storm (2004)
* Never Gonna Dance (2005)
* Hey!Say!Dream Boy(2005)
* Magical Summer (2005)
* Dream Boys(2005)
* Another's Another (2006)
* Dream Boys (2006)