[caption id="attachment_133376" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Kazama as Page in Akihabara@DEEP"][/caption]

It's been announced that Johnny's Jr. member�Kazama Shunsuke will be playing the role of a teacher in the long-running NHK drama, "Middle School Diary" ("Chuugakusei Nikki").

Kazama will play 'Kanzawa Shunsuke', the homeroom teacher of class "3 nen B gumi" ('3rd year, class B'). Coincidentally, in 1999, Kazama earned acclaim for his portrayal of troubled student 'Kanesue Kenjiro', in the 5th season of the drama, "3 nen B gumi, Kinpachi Sensei".

"Middle School Diary" has been on air for 50 years and takes place at a middle school in Nagoya City. The character of Kanzawa becomes a teacher there after quitting the computer business he started, and attempts to change the school with his unique ideas. Kazama will be playing the role for a year, starting on April 8th.

Although Kazama has had lead roles in the Japanese anime, "Yu-Gi-Oh", and in the drama "Akihabara@DEEP", his acting career has not taken off as well as Ikuta Toma's, who's�from the same agency. In recent years, he's been out of the public eye, focusing mainly on stage productions.

However, this year may be the turning point for Kazama. In early March, he will be a guest star on an episode of the drama, "LADY~Saigo no Hanzai Profile~" (airing March 4th) and his movie, "Maebashi Visual Kei" will also be released. In addition, he is set to appear in the final season of "3 nen B gumi Kinpachi Sensei", which begins airing at the end of March.

Johnny's & Associates is known mainly for producing singers, but Kazama says he has no desires for a CD debut. He stated, "In the public, my agency doesn't have an image of acting, so Toma and I have said to each other that we want to change that." He added, "I want to become a famous supporting actor."

Source: Cyzo Woman via Excite