Masashi Tashiro facts for kids

Masashi Tashiro (田代 まさし, Tashiro Masashi) (born August 31, 1956) is a Japanese television personality, singer, actor, and film director. He was a founding member of the popular band Rats & Star. Tashiro started as a tenor singer with the band. Later, he became a well-known TV entertainer in Japan. He also directed a film after his band, Rats & Star, stopped performing together. In recent years, he has started a YouTube channel called Marcy's Channel.

Early Life and School

Masashi Tashiro was born on August 31, 1956, in Saga Prefecture, Japan. When he was six years old, he moved to Tokyo with his mother. He went to a missionary kindergarten and later attended Toyama Elementary School.

When Tashiro was a teenager, he enrolled in Shibaura Institute of Technology Senior High School. There, he studied mechanical engineering. This is where he met Masayuki Suzuki. They later formed a doo-wop band called the Chanels with Nobuyoshi Kuwano. In the band, Tashiro sang baritone, Suzuki was the lead singer, and Kuwano played the trumpet.

After graduating from high school in 1975, Tashiro became interested in cars. He owned several different types of cars over the years. He also worked at a gas station and later became a truck driver. Even while driving trucks, he continued to work with his band.

Entertainment Career

The Chanels and Rats & Star

The Chanels band started in 1975. They began performing as an amateur group in 1976. They even won first place on a Japanese television show called Ginza Now. They also won a music contest sponsored by Yamaha.

Tashiro officially debuted as a band member in 1980. The group became famous for their rhythm and blues music style. Their first song, "Runaway," sold over one million copies! Another one of their songs, "Hurricane," was later covered by the popular group Puffy AmiYumi in 2001.

In 1983, the band changed its name to Rats & Star. They did this because their old name was similar to a French fashion brand. The group stopped performing together in 1986. This happened after the band's leader, Suzuki, released a solo song. Tashiro also appeared on a TV music show called The Best Ten. He even wrote songs for singer and actress Kyōko Koizumi. As a solo artist, he released a record called The Legend of Niijima.

In 1996, Rats & Star reunited for six months. They covered a song by Eiichi Ohtaki called "If I Could Meet You in a Dream." This song was a big hit! They even performed on NHK's Kōhaku Uta Gassen on New Year's Eve that year.

Becoming a Comedian

After Rats & Star stopped performing, Masashi Tashiro's talent for comedy was discovered. Drifters member Ken Shimura helped him become a television comedian. As a comedian, people nicknamed him the "King of puns" and the "Genius of props."

In 1988, Tashiro opened a shop called "Marcy's" on Takeshita Street in Shibuya, Tokyo. The shop was named after his nickname. He appeared in many television commercials and hosted TV shows. He also wrote books, directed a film, and was the main character in a video game for the Famicom called Tashiro Masashi no Princess ga Ippai. In 1993, Tashiro appeared in a film called Crêpe.

Public Attention

Online Voting Incident

In 2001, something unusual happened online. Users of an internet forum called 2channel (2ch) voted a lot for Tashiro to be Time Magazine's Person of the Year. This event was known as the "Tashiro Festival."

People on 2channel even created special computer programs to vote for him many times. These programs were so powerful that they temporarily crashed Time magazine's website! For a short time, Tashiro was in the number-one spot for the Person of the Year. He even passed famous people like Osama bin Laden and George W. Bush. However, Time magazine's staff found out about the unusual voting and removed him as a candidate.

Appearances

Television Shows

• Monomane Ōza Ketteisen (ものまね王座決定戦, The Mimic Champion Contest) (Fuji Television)
• Star Dokkiri Daisakusen (スターどっきり大作戦, Star candid great Strategy) (Fuji Television)
• Yūyake Nyan-Nyan (夕やけニャンニャン, Sunset Nyan Nyan) (Fuji Television)
• Shūkan Stamina Tengoku (週刊スタミナ天国, Weekly Stamina Heaven) (Fuji Television)
• Takeshi, Itsumi no Heisei Kyōiku Iinkai (たけし・逸見の平成教育委員会, Takeshi and Itsumi's Heisei Board of Education) (Fuji Television)
• Naruhodo! The World (なるほど!ザ・ワールド, Indeed! The World) (Fuji Television)
• TV Crews Tonari no Papaya (TVクルーズ となりのパパイヤ, TV Crew next-door Papaya) (Fuji Television)
• Tokoro-san no Tadamono Dewa nai! (所さんのただものではない!, Mr. Tokoro's You are not ordinary!) (Fuji Television)
• Quiz Derby (クイズダービー) (TBS)
• Tokusō TV Gaburincho (特捜TVガブリンチョ, Special Investigation TV Chomp) (TV Asahi)
• Downtown DX (ダウンタウンDX) (NTV)
• Super J Channel ANN (スーパーJチャンネル ANN) (Friday, TV Asahi)
• Soreyuke! Marcy (それゆけ!マーシー, Let's go! Marcy, A program sponsored by a business enterprise) (MBS)
• Guruguru Ninety-Nine (ぐるぐるナインティナイン, guruguru naintinain)
• It's so cool! (めちゃ2イケてるッ!, mecha-mecha iketeruu!)

Radio Shows

• Tashiro Masashi no Super Gang (田代まさしのスーパーギャング, Masashi Tashiro's Super Gang) (Thurdsday, TBS Radio) – October 1986 – March 1987
• Tashiro Masashi no Say! Young (田代まさしのセイ!ヤング, Masashi Tashiro's Say! Young) (QR)
• Tashiro Masashi no All Night Nippon (田代まさしのオールナイトニッポン, Masashi Tashiro's All Night Nippon) (LF)

Films

• Ultraman Gaia: The Battle in Hyperspace (1999)

Music

For his work as a member of Chanels and Rats & Star, see Rats & Star.

• Nījima no Densetsu (新島の伝説, The legend of Nījima) (August 27, 1986)
• Paradis Latin no Yoru wa Fukete (パラディラタンの夜は更けて, Late in the night of Paradis Latin) (September 21, 1987, as "Shinnosuke & Marcy")
• Unjarage (ウンジャラゲ) (November 2, 1988, as Ken Shimura & Masashi Tashiro and Daijōbudā family)
• Nettaiya (熱帯夜, Sultry night) (July 1, 1994, as Marcy & Izumi)
• Bāsama to Jīsama no Serenade (婆様と爺様のセレナーデ, Serenade for an old man and woman) (December 17, 1993, as Ken & Marcy)
• Ai ga Natsukashii (愛が懐かしい, Nostalgia for love) (March 8, 1995, as Masashi Tashiro & Kuniko Asagi)
• Ultra Tengu (ウルトラ☆テング, The ultra long-nosed goblin) (August 14, 2010, as Marcy & Frontier Create)

Books

• Tashiro Masashi no Dōtoku Yomihon (田代まさしの道徳読本, Masashi Tashiro's moral handbook) (May 1988, Kōdansha) – ISBN: 4-06-103101-5
• Marcy no Chōhōsoku (マーシーの超法則, Marcy's super law) (April 1994, Magazine house) – ISBN: 4-8387-0534-4
• Shinema de Aishite—Eiga no kazu hodo, Koishitai (シネマで愛して—映画の数ほど, 恋したい, Love me in the cinema—I want to be in love almost as same as the number of films) (October 1993, Japan Literary Arts Company) – ISBN: 4-537-02384-8

Images for kids

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  Toritsu-Daigaku Station

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  Osama bin Laden

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  George W. Bush

See also

In Spanish: Masashi Tashiro para niños

• Takeshi Kitano
• Nobuyoshi Kuwano
• Ken Shimura
• Sosuke Sumitani
• Masayuki Suzuki
• Akiko Wada