櫻井 翔(Sho Sakurai) is a Japanese idol, singer, lyricist, rapper, actor, TV show host, news anchor and writer. He is a member of the national boy band 嵐 (ARASHI). Sakurai currently serves as a news anchor on NTV’s news zero, as well as a host of weekly TV shows; NTV’s SHOWチャンネル and TBS’s 櫻井·有吉THE 夜会. Because of his ability to create seamless flows during live broadcasts, Sakurai is often offered to host nation’s special programs. Sakurai has been an Olympics news anchor for eight consecutive Olympic Games since 2008, and has served as a special ambassador for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with his bandmate Masaki Aiba. He also served as a special supporter for Rugby World Cup in 2019.

Born January 25, 1982, Sakurai’s solid educational background started at his young age, when he attended Keio Primary and Secondary School, a prestigious private school in Tokyo, Japan. Sakurai had been perfectly balancing his performing and academic activities since he joined Johnny’s & Associates at the age 13. He never missed a day of school for three years in high school, even when he was active as Johnny’s Jr. and ARASHI. He entered 慶應義塾大学 (Keio University) as an Economic Major with excellent grades and graduated straight without having to retake any courses in 2004. He continued his career as ARASHI after his graduation, but his pioneering spirit didn’t limit his job as being a singer or an actor, which was what most idols at Johnny’s were expected to do at that time. He vigorously engaged in new challenges in a variety of fields, from writing rap lyrics to reporting news as an anchor.

While Sakurai was at the university, he played his first main role in J-Drama よい子の味方~新米保育士物語~ (Yoiko No Mikata) in 2003. Ever since, he has appeared in numerous dramas and films. Sakurai attended ヤッターマン (Yatterman) World Premiere at NYCC in 2009, and 謎解きはディナーのあとで (The After-Dinner Mysteries) World Premiere in Singapore in 2013. Sakurai’s latest work 映画ネメシス 黄金螺旋の謎 (Film Nemesis), a film based on NTV’s popular J-Drama ネメシス (Nemesis), is scheduled to open in March 2023 in theaters nationwide.

Since the release of ARASHI’s album HERE WE GO! in 2002, Sakurai has written numbers of rap lyrics for ARASHI as well as for his solo songs. With a MiniDisc containing his own rap songs in hand, Sakurai visited the popular rapper VERBAL of m-flo at his private residence seeking for advice in 2001. Sakurai wanted to write and perform his own rap lyrics because he felt that his future rap songs, if written by others, would just be “Rap-like” and definitely not Hip Hop. This brought Sakurai to the next level not only as a performer but also as an artist, in which his signature rap lyrics often referred as “Sakurap.” Sakurai also worked with COUNT FORCE, a special unit formed with the members of 韻シスト(In-syst) in his popular solo song Hip Pop Boogie, in which he referred himself as “a college-educated idol taking away the title” and “a weed in the greenhouse”.

Sakurai’s excellent ability to grasp of situations and give good judgement with his keen insight are put to best use in his works beyond entertainment business. Sakurai has been a news anchor for the NTV’s “news zero” since its first broadcast in 2006. One of the reasons why he became interested in the news media field was the September 11 attacks in 2001. His two focal points working in the press has been “War” and “Disaster.” Based on his experience as an anchor, Sakurai has written three articles for Newsweek Japan. Sakurai’s article to summarize his 10 years’ worth report about 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, which was 9 pages long over 10,000 letters, was published in the March 16, 2021 issue. Sakurai also wrote a two-week series of World War II articles in the December 14 & 21, 2021 issues. The article was written from Sakurai’s perspective as a bereaved family and included the story of his own great-uncle who was a naval officer.