Meet Raul 'Snow Man', the First J-Pop Idol from Johnny & Associates to Walk at Paris Fashion Week

                                                                                  Neysa Alicia | Beautynesia
 
Jakarta - Hi, Beauties! Being an idol is often 'demanded' for everything. In addition to singing and dancing, an idol usually also studies other fields that are still related to the entertainment world.
Like being an MC, radio DJ, to acting. Therefore, many idols also pursue careers outside of singing, according to their field of interest. Not long ago, there was a Japanese idol from Johnny & Associates, Raul 'Snow Man', which became a hot topic among netizens.
 
Different from his fellow idols, Raul chose to set up his career in the modeling world. No kidding, Raul finally made his runway debut at Paris Fashion Week Menswear Spring/Summer 2023!
 
Intrigued by the figure of this tall guy? Come on, get to know Raul 'Snow Man'!
 
Personal life
 
Raul was born with the full name Murakami Maito Raul, on June 27, 2003, in Tokyo, Japan. He has mixed Venezuelan blood from his father, and Japanese from his mother. Even though his father is Venezuelan, Raul says he doesn't speak Spanish.
 
Last February 2022, Raul recently graduated from Horikoshi High School, and currently he is continuing his education at Waseda University.
 
Former Child Dancer
 
Since childhood, Raul has been interested in the world of dance. When he was in elementary school, he joined the dance group of Rie Hata, a famous dancer and choreographer who has also composed dances for many K-Pop groups.
 
Together with his group, Raul has participated in and won various dance competitions even at the international level. Because of his love for dance, Raul even wants to be able to continue dancing to live in the future.
 
Join Johnny & Associates
 
In 2015, at the age of 12, Raul passed the audition and officially joined Johnny & Associates, a large Japanese agency that has spawned many successful idol groups such as ARASHI and KAT-TUN.
 
As a Junior (as Johnny & Associates trainees are called), Raul trained with the pre-debut group 'Shonen Ninja'.
 
Debut with Snow Man
 
2019 has been a surprising year for Raul. Together with two other Juniors, Mukai Koji and Meguro Ren, Raul was transferred to the 'Snow Man' group.
 
Not only being the youngest member, Raul who was then 15 years old was also given the trust to fill the center position in 'Snow Man'. His new life with 'Snow Man' was quite hard for Raul, because 'Snow Man' is a pre-debut group consisting of seniors at Johnny & Associates.
 
With the joining of Raul, Koji, and Meguro, 'Snow Man' officially contains 9 people, and successfully made their debut on January 22, 2020.
 
Plunge into the Modeling World
 
Having a stature with a height of 190 cm, and charming visuals, Raul tries his luck in the modeling world. Her first runway debut was on the Tokyo Girls Collection 2019 stage.
 
After his first appearance, Raul was trusted to always appear at the event. In 2022, Raul is also back at the Tokyo Girl's Collection with an androghini concept.
 
Become a Cover Boy in Popular Magazines
 
As a rising idol-model in Japan, Raul has collaborated with a number of popular fashion magazines as a cover boy. In every photoshoot, Raul always manages to express himself into various different concepts, which makes readers and fans amazed with his charm.
 
Runway Debut at Paris Fashion Week
 
On the sidelines of his busy life as an idol, Raul has a dream to be able to walk on the stage of Paris Fashion Week. In fact, he wanted to be the first idol from Johnny & Associates to participate in this prestigious stage.
 
Many netizens doubted his dream, considering that Raul was an idol. Never back down, Raul managed to realize one of his biggest dreams.
 
In June 2022, Raul made his debut at the Paris Collection Menswear Spring/Summer 2023, organized by Paris Fashion Week. At the event, Raul presented the latest collection from Yohji Yamamoto POUR HOMME 2023 Summer Collection.
 
To be able to stand on the stage, Raul went to audition by himself until finally he was chosen directly by the designer. For Raul, his debut at Paris Fashion Week was a very thrilling and valuable experience for his future career, because it was his dream since before he debuted as an idol.
 
Not only that, Raul also prepared his appearance very carefully and carefully. Raul admitted that the designer, Yohji Yamamoto gave him a bit of a challenge to be able to impress the audience when he performed.
 
In order to fulfill this request, Raul reads a book written by Yohji Yamamoto to learn how he pours his emotions into the clothes he brings.