[2] [3] A 1996 television drama series, Long Vacation, in which he landed his first lead role, became a massive success, creating a phrase called the "Lon-bake phenomenon".

[4] He also starred in blockbuster films, including Love and Honor (2006), Hero (2007) and Howl's Moving Castle (as a voice actor, 2004).

In addition to Yamashita, "Next Destination" also features songs written by Kyōka Suzuki, Sanma Akashiya, Man with a Mission, and Shigesato Itoi.

[12][13] The album includes 11 tracks written for Kimura by prominent Japanese artists such as Ryota Yanagisawa of SUPER BEAVER, Toshinobu Kubota, Kazuki of s**t kingz, Takuro Yoshida, and Tsuyoshi Domoto of KinKi Kids.

[16][17] With this achievement, Kimura secured three consecutive album debuts at the top of the Billboard Charts, following his previous two solo releases.

The series became a massive hit, with the final episode marking above the 40% household share rating and becoming the highest-rated program for that slot (Sunday 9:00pm).

[19] In 2001, Kimura reunited with Takako Matsu in the legal drama Hero as a public prosecutor, which became the all-time highest-rated television series in Japan and the only program in history to have all episodes mark above the 30% household share rating.

That year, People Magazine named Kimura in its 2006 "Sexiest Man Alive" list in the category "International Males: Hot Around the Globe".

Additionally, since Kimura was also popular within Japanese fandom for over two decades by the time the film was made, he felt that his appeal would attract a bigger audience.

[29] Blade of the Immortal was eventually screened out-of-competition at the Cannes Festival, making this Kimura's second appearance at the event.

[30] In 2021, it was announced that Kimura would be starring in the television adaption of German author Frank Schätzing's environmental thriller, The Swarm.

[31] In 2022, Kimura was announced to star as historical figure Oda Nobunaga alongside Haruka Ayase as Nohime in The Legend and Butterfly, a film to commemorate Toei's 70th Anniversary in 2023.

[35][36] In 2024, Kimura reprised his role of Natsuki Obana from the critically acclaimed TBS television series La Grand Maison Tokyo, for its feature-length movie sequel entitled La Grande Maison Paris, set to premiere at the upcoming San Sebastián International Film Festival.

"[37][38][39][40] Kimura also dyed his hair blonde in honor of Japanese chef, Kei Kobayashi, who supervised the culinary scenes for the film.

[41] As part of promotion for La Grande Maison Paris, Kimura and fellow co-star Yuta Tamamori of Kis-My-Ft2, made a surprise appearance at the 2025 Michelin Guide Ceremony, held in Tokyo on October 17, 2024.

[43]On February 6, 2025, it was announced that the film had drawn approximately 2.44 million viewers in its 38 days in theaters, earning over 3.5 billion yen at the box office.

[44] In 2025, Japanese entertainment company Shochiku announced that Kimura, alongside Chieko Baisho, would star in renowned director Yoji Yamada’s latest film, Tokyo Taxi.

[48] Tokyo Taxi serves as the centerpiece of Shochiku’s 130th anniversary celebration and marks Kimura’s reunion with Yamada after 19 years, their last collaboration being the critically acclaimed Love and Honor in 2006.

It also commemorates 21 years since Kimura and Baisho previously co-starred together in the 2004 animated classic Howl’s Moving Castle.

Since 2003, Kimura hosts an annual variety show entitled Santaku alongside comedian Sanma Akashiya to commemorate the start of a New Year.

Writer Toshihiro Nagoshi was afraid audiences would accuse them of toning down the character due to Kimura's popularity.

The game's dialogue was recorded in chronological order so players would feel Kimura's voice evolving as Yagami's character develops during the story.

[55] Due to Kimura's popularity within Judgment, Japanese fans have often nicknamed the game Kimutaku ga Gotoku (キムタクが如く, lit.