(born December 24, 1982) is a Japanese singer, actor, television personality, radio host and dancer under Johnny & Associates, later of Starto Entertainment. He was a member of the boy band Arashi until the end of activities of the group, May 31, 2026.
Aiba began his career in the entertainment industry when he joined the Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates in 1996, at the age of 13. Prior to his debut with Arashi in 1999, Aiba started an acting career when he was cast as the lead role of Gordie for the stage play Stand by Me, based on the film of the same name. In 2004, he became one of the co-hosts of the variety show , making him the first member of Arashi to regularly participate in a variety show not primarily hosted by Arashi.
Early life Aiba was born in Hanamigawa, Chiba as the first child of his family. He has a younger brother who is four years younger. Aiba was raised by his grandparents until he was four years old because his parents were busy running their newly opened Chinese cuisine restaurant then.
Prior to joining Johnny & Associates, Aiba watched a program called and saw SMAP playing basketball on television. Wanting to play basketball with them, he sent in the application to join the talent agency himself, without exactly knowing what the agency specialized in until the day of auditions. Aiba became a Johnny's Jr. in August 1996 at the age of .
Music career
In collaboration with the other members, he has written the lyrics to "Fight Song" and "5x10".
For his solo song "Hello Goodbye", Aiba played the blues harp harmonica in the interlude portion of the song. Aiba also used to play the saxophone; however, due to the collapse of one of his lungs in 2002, he was forced to stop playing.
Acting career Stage Aiba began acting in a 1997 stage play based on an American coming of age film called Stand by Me with future bandmates Jun Matsumoto and Kazunari Ninomiya.
In 2005, Aiba took up the lead role of , a naive but honest station attendant living in a world after a World War III nuclear war, in .
In 2007, Aiba portrayed Adam, a shy young man with a heart defect, in . It was the first stage adaptation of the 1993 film Untamed Heart.
In early 2008, Aiba was given the lead role of Colin Briggs in the stage play called Greenfingers, which was adapted from the movie of the same name.
Aiba reunited with director , who has been the director for his stage plays since 2005, and took on the lead role for , which ran from May 5 to 24, 2010. He portrayed a young man hovering over life and death due to a violent traffic accident.
In October 2024, Aiba took the role of Psychologist Edmund Einhard in Sony Music Group's room NB's project Reading High noir reading play "Thanatos", sharing the stage with Akio Otsuka and Saori Hayami. It is the first time Aiba participates in this kind of stage play.
Drama In 1997, Aiba made his drama debut portraying Akira, one of the many children left to survive in a city under government lockdown after a mysterious disease wipes out all the adults, in the drama . After the announcement of the formation of Arashi in September 1999 and their position as supporters for the 1999 Volleyball World Cup competition, all five members starred together for the first time in the volleyball-centered short drama V no Arashi.
Although Aiba was featured in a number of dramas such as and , he became more known for his appearances in variety shows instead and went on to focus on stage productions after Yankee Bokō ni Kaeru.
On August 2, 2009, it was announced that Aiba would not only act in his first drama series in nearly six years but also star as the lead actor for the first time. In My Girl, Aiba portrayed a young man who discovers that he has a five-year-old daughter after receiving the news that his girlfriend, who he has not seen in six years, was killed in an accident.
In January 2010, Aiba co-starred with the other members of Arashi in the human suspense drama special Saigo no Yakusoku. He portrayed , a 28-year-old coffee shop employee who is caught up in a building hijack. Starting January 2011, Aiba starred as genius bartender in the drama adaptation of the manga Bartender. Aiba also made a guest appearance on the final episode of bandmate Ninomiya's drama , which aired on December 21, 2010. In April 2012, Aiba once again starred in a lead role as "Katayama Yoshitaro" in the NTV drama adaption of the similarly named novel series, " Mikeneko Holmes no Suiri (三毛猫ホームズの推理). In 2013, took the lead role as a doctor in "Last Hope".
Film In 2002, he made his motion picture debut in , Arashi's first movie together, as the lead character Shun. He subsequently reprised his role for the 2004 sequel .
The group once again came together in 2007 to co-star in with Aiba portraying an aspiring singer in the 1960s.
Animation Aiba's debut as voice actor for a full-length animation film is with "Pui Pui Molcar The Movie ~ Molmax", a CG version of the series, released on November 29, 2024. Aiba has appeared in anime before, in one episode of KochiKame anime, with the other members of Arashi, in a mini sketch before the ending song Nice na Kokoroiki, which is sung by the group; in Crayon Shin-chan, in a short at the end of episode 983, as his character from his drama Boku to Shippo to Kagurazaka, and as character inspiration and voice actor for , a mini anime from snack company . For Molcar's movie, Aiba will play a human character in the Molcar's world. Details of the movie and of his character have not been revealed yet.
Other ventures Radio Since October 5, 2001, Aiba has his own radio show Arashi's Aiba Masaki no Rekomen! Arashi Remix, which currently broadcasts on JOQR. On August 7, 2026, it was announced that the program would end at the end of September, closing a 25 year history with the station. Regarding this, Aiba commented that he would like to do another radio program in the future, as well as something with Nippon Cultural Broadcasting.
On May 17, 2009, Aiba hosted a special radio program on Tokyo FM called .
Variety show host In 2004 Aiba became a regular part of Ken Shimura's variety show Tensai! Shimura Dōbutsuen. With co-hosts of the show such as Tomomitsu Yamaguchi, Sayaka Aoki and Becky, Aiba interacts with various wild animals such as tigers, pandas and crocodiles in zoos both in and out of Japan, such as Singapore, South Africa, Philippines and Indonesia. After Shimura's passing on March 29, 2020, Aiba was given the lead of the show. The name for the show remained as a tribute to Shimura. As of June 3, 2020, NTV decided to end broadcasting "Tensai!" in September, stating as a reason that to continue filming on that stage, with all the memories gathered throughout almost 16 years that the show was on air, would be painfully difficult and heartbreaking. However, Aiba would continue as host of a new program with basically the same theme: the love for animals. The new show, , started airing in October. The show's format and name remained until April 2022, when it was renamed , focusing now on the people who take care of rescued animals, mainly dogs and cats. Aiba, besides hosting the show, has an occasional corner trimming and washing rescued dogs, as part of his desire to take care of animals.
In 2013 Aiba began hosting a variety show airing in TV Asahi. Aiba and the audience enrich their knowledge about Japan through cooking and the local ingredients used, making ingredients (such as miso, tofu, soy sauce, etc.), making kitchenware from scratch, keeping indoor gardens. As part of the 10th anniversary celebration of the program, Aiba Manabu released on December 15, 2023, a recipe book with a variety of vegetable recipes chosen by Aiba and his co-hosts Eiji Kotoge and Yū Sawabe. In an interview regarding the book, Aiba said "This is the crystallization of 10 years of learning, for both performers and staff. I would be happy if readers could relax while reading this book, have fun thinking, 'What should I make next?' and get excited about cooking." On April 5, 2026, Aiba Manabu begins a new project imagined by Aiba. Using a 180–year old house as base, Aiba and team start with remodelations and adaptations to the house and the land around it. Taking advantage of the vast space behind the house, Aiba pilots an excavator to dig up the ground, and they cultivate fields for the summer. His plan is to turn the "Manabu House" into a base of operations, with possible expansion in the future to include a sushi store, a rotenburo and a pizza oven.
In 2014 he was one of the hosts for a two-week special live show that aired as part of TV Tokyo's 50th anniversary and Tokyo Tower's 55th anniversary celebrations, , where 5 of Johnny's members alternated hosting the show every weeknight. Before the program started airing, members of the audience sent in messages sharing their joys and worries. The hosts tried to offer advice, while the audience voted with their TV for the options given. Aiba was the Wednesday host. The show became a regular program, with the same 5 hosts, airing every Sunday from October 2014 to September 2015.
In 2019, Aiba started hosting the program , in which guests get to know their "farthest relatives". Legally, a relative is considered to be the person with whom another is related, up to the sixth level of blood kinship, or by marriage, up to the third level. But the program examines the relationships between persons far removed from those limits. One of those examples was the family tree of singer and actor Daigo, who found out he was related (by in-law relationships) to John Lennon. Aiba continued as host in 2020, twice in 2021, twice in 2022, and again in 2023. Aiba hosted the special once again in 2024, making it the 8th time.
Starting in January 2021, Aiba hosts , which substituted Arashi's signature program VS Arashi, ended in December 2020. Aiba's program ended in Autumn 2023, after two incarnations (the original and Gradation), and coinciding with member Yuta Kishi leaving the agency and the Network's program reorganization period in October. A substitute program had not been revealed at the time, nor if Aiba would be hosting it. The substitute program was revealed on September 4, 2023, , and the original idea of the program was of having school club-like activities, not available in school, with celebrities holding their own club activities, with Aiba and others in-studio watching over the challenges. The program started on October 26, and ended in March 2024, with its substitute's broadcast day changed to Saturday, shortened to 30 minutes, and broadcast area to the Kanto region. ending a long history of a national Arashi or Arashi member-hosted Thursday "Golden Hour" programming. Aiba's new program, , scheduled to start on April 13, originally continued with some of the activities of its predecessor.
Music show host As part of Arashi, he led NHK's Kouhaku Uta Gassen's White Team from 2010 to 2014, and as himself, he was the 67th White Team Leader in 2016.
He hosted Fuji TV's FNS Kayōsai, aired on December 4 and 11, 2019, together with Mezamashi TV's Yūmi Nagashima. They repeat as hosts for FNS's Spring (2022), Summer (2020–2023), Autumn (2021) and Winter shows (2020–2022) For the 2023 Winter edition, he shares hosting duties with Fuji TV announcer Seika Inoue, since Nagashima would be on maternity leave. Inoue and Aiba continue for the Summer (2024–2026) and Winter (2024–2025) editions
Sports From July 18 to 19, 2009, Aiba was appointed a Field Navigator for the . He was once again a navigator on October 18, 2009, for the .
In July 2010 Aiba was a Field Navigator for the . Aiba was the official navigator for Fuji Television's coverage of the 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, which was held in Rotterdam, Netherlands from October 16 to 24, 2010.
In 2016 he began hosting a sports show in NHK called , holding weekly warm discussions with guest athletes.