Naoki Nokubo

Naoki Nokubo (野久保 直樹, Nokubo Naoki, born 14 May 1981) is a Japanese variety star from Iwata, Shizuoka. He is also in management at Breakpoint Inc. Nokubo was born in Iwata, Shizuoka, formerly known as Toyodachô, Iwata-gun, Shizuoka.

After graduating from Kinshin High School, Nokubo attended acting school in Tokyo with the intention of entering the entertainment industry. He later signed with Watanabe Entertainment, and, in August 2004, became one of the first members selected for the D-Boys group at the First D-Boys Audition. This event selected the members for the upcoming young actors' group.

Nokubo appeared in the television drama Mother & Lover in October 2004. In 2005, he appeared in H2~Kimi toita Hibi, which is considered his most notable debut work. He appeared on the "Entertainment Industry's Underwater Swimming Competition" section of the show Quiz Present Variety: Q-sama!! in July 2006. During a two-hour special aired in September 2005, he broke the 115 meter Japan record previously set by Yasuda Dai Circus' Dancho Yasuda for DNF (dynamic apnea without fins) diving, establishing the Japan DNF record at the time at 116 metres (381 ft). Since then, he has appeared in this Q-sama!! feature several times.

Nokubo also made his first appearance on the quiz variety programme Quiz! Hexagon II on 29 November 2006. He later became a regular guest on the show in the summer of 2007, where he became well known as an 'obaka tarento', a celebrity known for their strange and often unintelligent comments. In that same period, Nokubo formed the band Shūchishin with fellow obaka tarento Takeshi Tsuruno and Yusuke Kamiji, and they made their CD debut with the release of their eponymous single 'Shūchishin' in April 2008. The single was a hit and his increasing popularity allowed him to expand to films. His personal career advanced with appearances on dramas while he also continued appearing on variety shows.

In January 2009, he appeared in Shūchishin's performance despite having left the band, however, he made significantly fewer appearances early that year due to controversy surrounding his relationship with Watanabe Entertainment that began in April 2009. On 26–27 July 2009, Shinsuke Shimada hosted the FNS no Hi 26-Jikan TV 2009: Chō Egao Parade Bakushō! Odaiba Gasshuku!! and announced at the end that Nokubo had taken a temporary break from the entertainment industry. Nokubo made no further public appearances and he effectively withdrew from Hexagon II.On 1 April 2010, his profile and blog were deleted from Watanabe Entertainment's official website, making it clear he was no longer with the company. He made a return to acting with the stage play Kimazuge: Ai no kotoba. His appearance in the play was announced on Gekiden Taishū Shōsetsuka's official website a few days after his profile was removed from Watanabe Entertainment's website.

In June 2010, he joined the acting group Ai no Katamari (renamed ai-kata in 2011), formed from Gekiden Taishū Shōsetsuka. He also started a personal Twitter account and gave Breakpoint Inc. the responsibility of accepting his fan letters, as the business was a partner of the acting group. Nokubo was active in managing events and forming fan clubs in addition to his stage appearances for ai-kata.

Nokubo made a surprise performance at Hexagon Family Concert 2011 We Live Hexagon, the last live performance of Quiz! Hexagon II, held at Makuhari Messe on 26 November 2011. Shūchishin were also reunited for one day and their dissolution was announced at the same time.

In January 2012, Nokubo was treated as in the public sphere for the first time in three years at the production press conference for the stage play Legend of the Galactic Heroes Chapter II: Free Planetary Alliance, which was performed in April 2012. In September 2012, he appeared in Tokyo MX's Danshi-ing!!, his first television drama appearance for the first time in three and a half years.