Though he technically failed his audition on November 8, 1998, he was told to stay when he tried to return his number plate to a man who happened to be Johnny Kitagawa himself.
[4] After he was made a Johnny's Jr. member in 2000, Akanishi was part of a number of groups like Musical Academy Dancing, J2000 and B.A.D.,[1] before being drafted into a six-member unit in 2001 with other juniors Kazuya Kamenashi, Junnosuke Taguchi, Koki Tanaka, Tatsuya Ueda and Yuichi Nakamaru.
[1] Much to the Japanese public's surprise, Akanishi announced in a press conference on October 13, 2006, that he was leaving the country to study English abroad for an indefinite amount of time.
[1][5] Despite his absence, KAT-TUN were obliged to continue its activities[6] Akanishi finally returned from Los Angeles in the United States after six months on April 19, 2007.
[17] In 2012, on January 26 his second US digital single "Sun Burns Down" was released,[1] and reached the number one spot on the iTunes Dance Charts again.
", which was chosen as the first official theme song for the Tokyo Girls Collection fashion show, which was held on the 31st of that same month at the Saitama Super Arena.
[17] On October 2 was released the fourth single "Ai Naru Hō e" (To Where Love Rings),[26] which reached number three on the charts.
The self-produced album included all the singles released in Japan since his solo debut in 2011, and a second bonus disc featured songs written in English during his Japonicana era.
[17] In 2014, on March 2 was made known to the public that Akanishi had decided not to renew his contract with Johnny & Associates, and had left the agency as of February 28.
[28] On July 4, was announced that he had set up his own independent label, Go Good Records, and that opened his new fan club, "JIP's" (Jin's Important People).
Akanishi made his debut as an actor in 1999 in a cameo appearance in the second episode of NTV's romance comedy, P.P.O.I., and also had small roles in TV Asahi's Best Friend, Omae no yukichi ga naiteiru and in NHK series, Haregi, Koko Ichiban.
Akanishi returned to the small screen in 2005 in the second season of the award-winning and popular NTV school drama, Gokusen, starring opposite Yukie Nakama and former bandmate Kazuya Kamenashi.
In 2007, Akanishi starred in his first lead role in Yukan Club, a school comedy series, with ex-bandmate Junnosuke Taguchi and was voted "Best Actor" at the 11th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix.
[41] Thus, he turned out to be the second Johnny & Associates artist within the agency after Ninomiya Kazunari in Letters From Iwo Jima to star in a Hollywood movie and the third overall to work with an American director.
Akanishi wed Japanese actress and model Meisa Kuroki in a private ceremony on February 2, 2012, just two weeks after they'd released official statements denying they were seeing one another.
[50][51] On December 25, 2023, Akanishi and Kuroki announced through their respective social media accounts that they have decided to part ways.