Takaya Kamikawa

Who is Takaya Kamikawa?

Takaya Kamikawa is a Japanese stage, film, and television actor.

Takaya Kamikawa was born in Hachioji, Tokyo in 1965. He graduated from Hachioji-Kita high school in Tokyo. While studying economics in Chuo University, he acted in a minor theatrical group which was touring around Japan and performing at local schools. Kamikawa left Chuo University without a diploma, and joined the group Caramel Box to become a full-time actor.

In 1995, Kamikawa starred in a TV Drama by NHK, "Daichi no Ko," and played the leading role, Lu Yixin. The original author, Toyoko Yamasaki, initially wanted Masahiro Motoki to play the role. However, since the most of the drama was filmed in China and required a lot of travel, Motoki was not able to meet the tight filming schedule. Then one of the staff found Kamikawa, who was still unknown, in a magazine. Toyoko Yamasaki later commented that Kamikawa had been the right choice.

Kamikawa is nicknamed "cyborg" by his colleagues due to his extraordinary ability to memorize scripts. Although he did not understand or speak Chinese when he was offered the role of Lu Yixin, he somehow memorized all his lines in Chinese by ear for the role.