Shinji Yamashita

Shinji Yamashita has been on Japanese screens for a very long time, and in an industry that replaces its faces constantly, that is the achievement. Born in December 1951 in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, he went from Shimonoseki Commercial High School to Chuo University, which he left before graduating, and built a career as an actor and television personality represented by From First Production. At 183 cm with a voice to match, he was physically suited to the kind of earnest, forceful roles Japanese television loved in the 1980s, and a generation grew up trusting that presence. What interests me more is the second half. Plenty of performers have one era and then disappear from the listings. He kept working into his seventies and is still on his agency's roster. Acting rewards age with texture, but only for the people who were still there when the texture arrived. Durability like that is rarely celebrated, and it should be.

Name (English)

Shinji Yamashita

Name (Japanese)

山下真司

Reading

やました しんじ

Born

December 16, 1951 (age 74)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Sagittarius / Rabbit

Origin

Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan

Height

183 cm

Occupation

actor / tarento

High school

Shimonoseki Commercial High School

University

Chuo University

• Official sitehttps://www.from1-pro.jp/talent/detail.php?id=8
• Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/yamashita.sinzi/
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinji%20Yamashita
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B1%B1%E4%B8%8B%E7%9C%9F%E5%8F%B8
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12971007

Tags

• Yamaguchi Prefecture
• actor
• tarento

Last updated

2026-08-07

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.