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Overview
Furukawa Yuki, born on December 18th, 1987, is a Japanese actor. He was born in Tokyo and moved to Canada with his family at the age of 7. When he was 19, Furukawa went back to Japan to start studying for his bachelor’s degree at Keio University. In 2009, he won the first prize in “Mr. Campus” Competition, which is a beauty contest held by his university. In March 2010, he received the Jury’s Special Award at the “Horipro’s 50th Anniversary Actor Audition”, which made him finally decided to be an actor. He is known by Chinese fans for the leading role as Irie Naoki in the hit television drama Itazura na Kiss: love in Tokyo in 2013.

Early time
Furukawa Yuki was born on December 18th, 1987, in Tokyo. His father is a word’s famous brain specialist, therefore, Furukawa always saw himself as a doctor when he was young. “Although I am not as talented as my father, I thought I should also be a doctor when I was a child. So I chose the Faculty of Science and Technology in university in order to be prepared to go to the Department of Medicine in the future.” At the age of 7, his family moved to Canada, where he grew up until he was 16. After that, he went to USA alone and became a boarder at Keio High School in New York. At that time, he was a member of the basketball club and took up break dancing as well. He went back to Japan after graduated from high school and studied at the Faculty of Science and Technology in one of the top universities- Keio University. At there, he became the leader at one of the most popular coubs named Revolve, which is a break dance club and held many events every year.

Turning point
Furukawa says that until he was a third-year student, he didn’t really think about what his future would be. He didn’t know what his dream job is. He was very confused at that time. In one of the interview held by Souhu, a leading media company in China, Furukawa said that during that period, he received the invitation to participate in the “Mr. Campus” Competition held by his university. This competition is aimed to find out the most outstanding guy in the university by considering their appearances, talents and the way they behave. Initially, he just wanted to try something different so he participated in it and surprisingly won the first prize. He kept dancing during his university days, but he had to do something else to get a job. In 2010 (the year after the “Mr. Campus” Competition), it was the 50th anniversary of Horiproduction (his current company). As part of the commemorative activity, they held a “Horipro’s 50th Anniversary Actor Audition”. The participants were “Mr. Campuses” from all the universities plus ordinary people. During the audition, he first realized being an actor was an interesting thing to do and he was really impressed. This was the first time in his life that he found something he wanted to do. He was also passed his university’s postgraduate qualifying exam but he gave up this opportunity and tried his best to be a good actor. He found the pleasure of acting because he could release another side of himself. Every different character could enable him to find a different side of himself. Furukawa also admitted that although his parents initially didn’t agree with his decision, they gradually become more supportive after they saw his movies.

However, compare to other actors in Japan, Furukawa started his career at an older age. Therefore, he is working really hard to be a good actor. In order to improve his acting, he had performed many ridiculous minor parts in some movies. For example, in the movie Miss Boys, there are many scenes that he had makeup on his face and dressed up like a woman. But because of the experiences of all these inconspicuous parts, he showed a breakthrough of his acting skills and impressed the audience of the hit television drama Itazura na kiss.

Increased popularity
The year 2013 was a breakthrough year for Furukawa. This is the first time that he could be the protagonist in a show. He successfully presented a new image of the classical manga role of Irie Naoki, and starred opposite of Miki Honoka who played his love interest.

As a result of Internet simulcasts of this drama in China, he gained popularity among Chinese fans. His fans called him “the Irie Naoki in real life” because of his fluent English, excellence in sports and being a top student in Keio University. In less than four months after coming on Weibo, the Chinese shanzhai equivalent of Twitter, the number of his followers has rocketed to more than 820,000. The Chinese fans even form a fan club for him.

On July 21st, 2013, Furukawa held his first fan meeting in Shanghai. This is the first time that a Japanese actor held his fan meeting in China. There were 1200 people participate at there. After that, he also held another two fan meetings in China.

Now Furukawa is preparing for his new movie 洁く柔く, which will be released soon.

Fans Meeting
2013.07.21 Fans meeting in Shanghai

It is the first time a Japanese actor hold his fans meeting in China and about 1200 people attend this event.

2013.08.11 Fans meeting in Hong kong

Furukawa and Miki Honoka who played his love interest in Itazuna ra kiss: Love in Tokyo went to Hong Kong and were warmly welcomed by fans.

2013.08.10 Signing sales event of the album in Shanghai

Fans are really excited about this event and all signing quotas were sold out within 2 seconds on the Internet.