Japanese voice artist and singer Tetsuya Kakihara was born on December 24, 1982, in Düsseldorf, Germany. He moved to Japan to pursue a career in voice acting, and in 2001, he enrolled in the Amusement Media Academy to study voice acting. At the time, he worked part-time jobs to support himself. By 2003, Tetsuya Kakihara had made his professional debut as a voice actor. He continued expanding his career throughout the following years, playing various roles in several anime series such as Ah! My Goddess, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and Kirarin Revolution. In 2007, he received a nomination for Best Rookie Actor at the first Seiyuu Awards for his role as Mikoto Yutaka in Princess Princess. While initially working with talent agency 81 Produce, Tetsuya Kakihara became a freelancer in June 2013 and subsequently founded his own agency, Zynchro, in 2014. Tetsuya Kakihara expanded his talents into music in 2010, embarking on a music career and signing with Kiramune, a label by Bandai Visual and Lantis. This led to the release of his debut mini-album Still on Journey (2010). This was followed by other musical works, including singles like "String of Pain" (2013), which served as the ending theme for the anime Hakkenden: Eight Dogs of the East (where he voiced the main character Shino Inuzuka). Over the following years, he released the studio albums orange (2015) and I for U (2018), as well as five mini-albums that further solidified his presence in the music industry. In 2023, Tetsuya Kakihara released the acclaimed EP Waratte Ite…, which included tracks like "Summer Time Love" and the hit single "コト・モノ・トキ." In November 2025, he released the album Aitai.