Tetsuya Tsuchida (土田哲也; Tsuchida Tetsuya, born February 18, 1981, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa), better known by his stage name Tetsuya and Exile Tetsuya (stylized as TETSUYA and EXILE TETSUYA), is a Japanese dancer, actor, businessman and lecturer. He is a member of Exile and Exile the Second. He was also a member of Dance Earth Party and J Soul Brothers' second generation Nidaime J Soul Brothers until their migration to Exile in 2009.
Tetsuya is represented with LDH. He is engaged in various activities in the field of dance education and has graduated with a master's degree in sport sciences from Waseda University in 2018. Furthermore, he is the director of the "EXILE Performance Institute (EPI)", the coffee brand AMAZING COFFEE and "EXPG High School".
Early life Tetsuya Tsuchida was born on February 18, 1981, in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. He is a Yokosuka City Elementary School and Yokosuka City Shinmei Junior High School graduate. After graduating from high school, Tetsuya went on to study agriculture in high school due to the influence of his parents who are engaged in farm work. After graduating from high school, he worked at his father's company. Tetsuya was an active swimmer for 10 years from elementary school to high school and started practicing dancing aged 19.
In 2002, Tetsuya, Tsun, and John J. O'Connor together formed the dance team poly-3. The name poly-3 was created by John deriving from the terms polyglot, polychromatic, and polyphony. Later, Kenchi Tachibana joined as a new member with other local dancers from Yokosuka. In 2004, Tetsuya appeared in Exile's stage-play HEART of GOLD ~STREET FUTURE OPERA BEAT POPS~. A year later, in 2005, he formed the dance team FULCRUM alongside Kenchi, Keiji Kuroki and others. The team lasted until 2006, when he joined the Krump team RAG POUND.
Career On January 25, 2007, he was selected as member of the second generation from the group J Soul Brothers and his stage name became TETSUYA. On May 7, 2008, he made his official debut in Nidaime J Soul Brothers with the single "WE!". The group announced their indefinite hiatus after releasing one album in 2009 and all members joined the line-up of Exile shortly after.
On August 4, 2009, it was announced that Tetsuya would make his acting debut in the Fuji TV drama Shin Oishinbo 3 Kaibara Yūzan vs Kyūkyoku Nana-ri no Samurai!.
In 2011, Tetsuya established the "EXILE Performance Institute (EPI)" and became the director of the company. He also designed the training system "E.P.I. Training".
On March 30, 2012, it was announced that he would play his first leading role in the drama Kimi to Boku to no Yakusoku (君と僕との約束; Promise Between You and Me) alongside fellow Exile member Keiji Kuroki. On July 1, 2012, Tetsuya joined the Exile sub-unit Exile The Second alongside his fellow former Nidaime J Soul Brothers members Shokichi, Nesmith, Keiji and Kenchi. In August of the same year, he was appointed as a lecturer for NHK-E's program E Dance Academy together with Exile's Üsa. It would serve as an educational program for amateurs interested in dancing and include dance lessons with children who are elementary school students and dance beginners. The public response to E Dance Academy was great, including being actually used as a reference in school classes. For this reason it was decided to become a regular program.
In 2013, he participated in Üsa's DANCE EARTH project by being part of the coed unit Dance Earth Party as a performer.
On April 29, 2015, Tetsuya became a fixed member of Dance Earth Party alongside Üsa and Dream Shizuka. On December 28 in the same year, it was announced that he would undergo surgery on his left shoulder in early 2016 due to a joint dislocation.
On October 6, 2016, he was appointed as a "Yokosuka Excitement Ambassador" alongside Kenchi Tachibana. Both being Yokosuka locals, they remained strongly attached to their hometown even after joining Exile and continuously contribute to the development of the children of the city. In the same year, Tetsuya became a visiting associate professor at Mimasaka University to examine the impact of dance on children.
On March 26, 2018, Tetsuya graduated from Waseda University Graduate School of Sports Sciences with a master's degree after completing a one-year master's program. He published his master's thesis on the theme of "The present situation and prescription of modern rhythm dance classes at junior high schools after the mandatory education ~Class design and auxiliary video teaching materials for students who enjoy and teachers who have difficulties in teaching~". His master's thesis won the Excellent Paper Award of his university. On December 4 in the same year, all Dance Earth Party members announced the group's indefinite hiatus. Tetsuya would go on with his activities as a member of Exile and Exile The Second.
On May 13, 2019, it was revealed that he was diagnosed with bilateral patellar subluxation syndrome and would be halting his activities as performer in order to receive treatment and fully recover. On September 27 in the same year, it was announced that he would return as an instructor on E Dance Academy and thus resume his activities as a performer. On November 25, it was announced during a press conference that he was appointed as the president of "EXPG High School", a joint project between EXPG Studio and the correspondence school corporation Kadokawa Dwango Gakuen "N Prep-School" which would begin in April 2020. On December 23, Tetsuya will release his first business book titled Mitsuami Raifu (三つ編みライフ; Braid Life). The title of the book was chosen to represent his work in three completely different fields: dance, research and coffee business, combining them together in a "braid" style as his profession.
Personal life On March 5, 2019, it was announced via Exile related websites and news outlets that Tetsuya registered his marriage to a 37-year-old non-celebrity woman after 3 years of dating. It was also revealed the couple were expecting their first child that would be born around summer 2019. This made him the 6th married Exile member joining Hiro, Matsu, Makidai, Üsa and Takahiro and 5th to have a child. On August 20, 2019, Tetsuya revealed at the press conference for MACHI cafe's Amazing Ice Caramel Latte that his first child was born healthy and safely.
Participating groups Name Period of time Ref. Poly-3 2002 – unknown Fulcrum 2005 – 2006 Rag Pound 2006 – unknown Nidaime J Soul Brothers 25 January 2007 – 1 March 2009 Exile 1 March 2009 – Exile The Second 2012 – Dance Earth Party 2013 – 2018
Filmography
※His roles in bold are his starring works
Stage Year Title Role NotesRef. 2004 Heart of Gold –Street Future Opera Beat Pops– 2008 Crown Nemuranai Yoru no Hate ni... 2009 Attaku No. 1 Chief of Staff Sergeant Katsushiro Kashida, Chief of Staff Sergeant Katsumori 2010 Fukuro no nezumi Ichitato Segawa Night Ballet Oga 2011 Moshimo Kimi ga. Yumoto 2012 Love Letters 2012 22nd Anniversary Andy 2013 Dance Earth: Seimei no Kodō Salta Sadako: Tanjō Hiwa Voice cast 2014 Dance Earth: Changes Inaba
TV dramas Year Title Role Network NotesRef. 2009 Shin Oishinbo 3 Kaibara Yūzan vs Kyūkyoku Nana-ri no Samurai! Keiichi Hiratsuki Fuji TV Gyōretsu 48-jikan Akio Someya NHK-G 2010 Pandora II Kiga Rettō Shunsuke Isoda WOWOW Keiji Teinen Takashi Takagi BS Asahi Episode 9 2011 Kazoku Hōtei Yoshihiro Onodera Ōsama no Ie Stationary Episode 9 2012 Counter no futari Yuichi Akiba TwellV Episode 6
Internet dramas Year Title Role WebsiteRef. 2012 Kimi to Boku to no Yakusoku Yohei Akiyama Bee TV
Films Year Title Ref. 2006 Backdancers! 2016 Exile University: Anata no Yume wa nandesu ka?
TV programmes Year Title Network NotesRef.2011EXILE FOR JAPAN Yume no ChikaraFuji TV 2012 Mecha-Mecha Iketeru! "Hisshū Dance: Kaere ma Step" lecturer2014Honō no Taiiku-kai TVTBSSwimmer2012–presentE Dance AcademyNHK-ELecturer
Advertisements Year Title Ref. 2011 Recruit Hot Pepper Gourmet 2012 Fujitsu Arrows Angfa "Scalp D" 2013 Angfa "Scalp D Beaute Pure Free Eye Rush" Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical "Air Salon Path" The Coca-Cola Company Coca-Cola Zero Daiichi Kosho Company "Smart Dam" 2015 Yōfuku no Aoyama 2016 SoftBank Group "Sponach Live" Washin "UTMO"
Radio Year Title Network 2013 Radio Mashup FM Yokohama
Magazine and newspaper serializations Year Title Notes Ref. 2012 Tokyo Headline "Dance no Michi" Monthly series Get Navi "Training 360" 2013 Yokohama Walker "Hamaxile" 2017 2nd
Others Year Title Notes Ref. 2015 Furusato Matsuri Tokyo: Nihon no Matsuri furusato no Aji Japanese festival navigator 2016 Yokosuka Excitement Ambassador 2018FUN+WALK PROJECT Ambassador
Productions Year Title Notes Ref. 2012 Training programme "Adi Pure Training" Adidas global trainer and co-devised 2014 Dance performance shoes "DP.01" Joint developed with Adidas 2015 Coffee shop "Amazing Coffee" 2016 Tipness dance fitness programme "Rhythm Workout" Supervisor
Awards Year Award Ref. 2013 Sleep of the Year 2013 "Best Nem List"
References
External links at Exile Official Website "Exile Tetsuya Dance no Michi"