Background
Kusanagi grew up in Kasukabe, Saitama, Japan.
He made several long visits to South Korea in 2003, auditioning and appearing on variety TV shows and commercials. He released a Korean language CD in Korea and Japan.
In 2004, he hosted his own variety show Chonan Gang (チョナン・カン, Chonan Kan?) with Korean guests and themes. The show was named after himself, as Kusanagi uses Chonan Gang (초난강), the Korean reading of his name, as his stage name in South Korea. He has also hosted a program in which he talked with South Korean President Roh Mu-hyun in Korean, while the president was on an official visit to Japan in June 2003.
He had the lead role in the movie, Yomigaeri (黄泉がえり?) (January 18, 2003; a Japan public presentation.) Moreover, his Korean-language-Japanese-produced movie Hotel Venus (ホテルビーナス, Hoteru Bīnasu?) (March 6, 2004 Japan public presentation) was submitted to the Moscow International Film Festival on June 25, 2004.
Although not one of the more popular members of SMAP at first, following his well-received performances in a variety of roles, and riding the hanryū wave in the wake of the success of Winter Sonata in Japan, Kusanagi has come to be one of the more popular members of SMAP.
Read more about this topic: Tsuyoshi Kusanagi
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