Katori Shingo

Name: Katori Shingo
Chinese Name: 香取慎吾
Weight: 71kg
Birthday: January 31 1977
Height: 182cm
Hometown: Kanagawa, Japan
Star Sign: Aquarius
Blood Type: A

Shingo Katori (香取慎吾 Katori Shingo) is a member of SMAP, a very popular idol group from the agency Johnny & Associates. Shingo Katori has acted in several dramas such as Three Peace, and has appeared as a voice actor in such anime series as Akazukin ChaCha, where he played the werewolf boy Riiya.

Katori was cast as the main character of 2004’s Taiga drama, a historical drama aired on NHK. He plays Kondō Isami, the leader of the Shinsengumi.

Katori is also known for cross-dressing as the character 慎吾ママ(Shingo Mama) on the variety show Sata Suma; he even released a top-selling CD single 慎吾ママのおっはロック(Shingo Mama No Oha Rock) done in-character. Shingo Mama’s trademark phrase is おっは(ohha), short for おはよう(ohayō), meaning “good morning”. From 2000-2001 “Shingo Mama” promoted the use of ohha as part of a Ministry of Education campaign to encourage family communication.

After his boom as Shingo Mama, he went on to host his own English oriented show “SMA-Station” that featured mostly journalists discussing world news, as well as translation and vocabulary quizzes, where Shingo faced off against other celebrities in a battle of English comprehension. He also released a series of books under the title “English BeraBera” (BeraBera is the Japanese onomatopoeia of language being spoken fluently). He is also quite critical of President George W. Bush and dedicated a whole show to mocking the President’s various Bushisms and blunders just prior to the 2004 Elections. His interest in English somewhat mirrors Tsuyoshi Kusanagi’s interest in Korean language and culture.

He is also famous for having a big mouth, literally, as he can place his whole fist into his mouth. This was useful when he played the part of the Isami Kondo in the NHK production of Shinsengumi.

Recently, he has gained internet popularity as the main character in a Power Rangers parody. During 2005, Japan Airlines introduced a Boeing 777 jet with Katori’s picture on it. In 2005/2006 he features as Son Goku(Sun Wukong) in the Japanese remake of Journey to the West(also known internationally as Monkey Magic.)

Extra Info:
Out of interest, Shingo Katori was chosen by Johnny’s entertainment when he was 11 years old, and at the time of joining SMAP, was the youngest as well as the smallest member in his group. Now, while still being the youngest, he’s also the tallest. But that doesn’t stop him from still be considered the most childish. He has a dog named Apple, and his life hero is Goku, the main character from the cartoon Dragonball. One of the reasons Shingo is so popular is that a complete goof-off. Except when he’s tired (and you can tell when he is) he will do the craziest and stupidest things in order to lighten the tone of a dull conversations. On Bistro SMAP, for example, at one time when the guest was testing the foods he and his group had made, he got bored with her and squeezed off to the other tables where he jokingly made fun of the way she droned on. You can find out a little more about Bistro SMAP at this page. His reactions to comments and things said are never subtle; you can always tell exactly what he’s thinking by his face, or else he’ll be quick to tell you. Read more at Shingo Mama Magic.

More Websites:
Katori Shingo Videos at youTube
Katori Shingo Directory
Katori Shingo Filmography at IMDB

Popularity: 8% [?]

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