Tetsuya Tsuchida (土田哲也; Tsuchida Tetsuya, born February 18, 1981, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa), better known by his stage name 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.
