Zomahoun Idossou Rufin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Zomahoun Idossou Rufin (b. June 15, 1964), popularly known as Zomahon (ゾマホン), is a Beninese foreign personality (gaijin tarento) in Japan.

Zomahoun was born in Dassa-Zoumé, Benin. He attended Benin National University and Beijing University of Language and Culture in Beijing, China. Since 1996, he has been a student at Sophia University in Tokyo, where he is completing a Ph.D. in sociology. He can speak Yoruba, Fon, French, English, Chinese and Japanese.

In 1998, Zomahoun was "discovered" by a TBS executive and became a cast member of Koko ga hen da yo, nihonjin (ここがヘンだよ日本人 This is what's strange about Japanese people!). In a pool of 100 foreigners voicing their displeasure about certain aspects of Japanese society, he was usually picked due to his hyperactive Japanese speech, causing him to trip over his words and prompting the celebrity panel to yell "Speak slowly!" (ゆっくり話しなさい！) at him. He was one of the show's leading stars until its end in 2002. During this time, he was also romantically involved with comedienne Hanako Yamada. With the help of host Takeshi Kitano, Zomahoun built four schools in Benin, two of which are named after Kitano (Takeshi Elementary School and Takeshi Japanese School).

He won a People's Honor Award in Benin in 2002 because his achievements were recognized.