Yamashita Tomohisa (山下智久) was born in Chiba, Japan on April 9, 1985. He is an idol of Johnny's Entertainment, which he joined at the age of 11. He became part of Johnny's juniors because he greatly respected Takizawa Hideaki of the same agency. He graduated from Meiji University in Tokyo in the spring of 2008. Nicknames for Yamashita include Yamapi (coined by Takizawa Hideaki) or simply "Pi". During his junior time, Yamashita was in two different groups.