Takeru Satoh

Takeru Satoh (佐藤 健, Satō Takeru, born 21 March 1989) is a Japanese actor. He is best known for his leading role as Ryotaro Nogami in the Kamen Rider Den-O franchise, and as Himura Kenshin in the live-action Rurouni Kenshin film and its sequels.

Career

Satoh was scouted by an agent from Amuse, Inc. in Harajuku in Tokyo when he was in senior high school, and made his debut in 2006. His first drama was Princess Princess D (TV Asahi) where he played the role of Toru Kouno. In 2007, he guest-starred in Shinigami no Ballad (Kentarō Ishihara) and gained popularity in the seventeenth installment of the Kamen Rider series as Ryotaro Nogami. Satoh attributes the popularity of Den-O to its comedic timing.

Following the success and popularity of Kamen Rider Den-O and a further two films, in spring 2008, Satoh starred in the award-winning TBS drama Rookies as Yuya Okada. Okada belongs to a group of delinquents in a baseball club who are suspended from playing due to a previous violent match. Under their new teacher's guidance, the wayward club members rediscover their dream of going to the Koshien high school baseball tournament. Satoh considers his role in Rookies to be his breakout role even though he only played a minor supporting role. This was due to the fact that Rookies reached a much larger audience than any of his previous works as the drama was shown on prime time television. Satoh also featured in the special episode of Rookies and starred in the live-action in the summer of 2009.