Shingo Katori
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| Shingo Katori | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 31, 1977 |
| Origin |  Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan |
| Genre(s) | Japanese Pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1991-present |
| Label(s) | Johnny & Associates |
| Website | Johnnys net |
Shingo Katori (香取 慎吾 Katori Shingo?, born 31 January 1977) is the youngest member of SMAP, a very popular idol group from the agency Johnny & Associates. He is from Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Shingo Katori has acted in several dramas such as Three Peace, and has appeared as a seiyū in such anime series as Akazukin Chacha, where he played the werewolf boy Riiya.
Katori was cast as one of the main characters 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 "Shingo Mama" (慎吾ママ) on the variety show Sata Suma; he even released a top-selling CD single "Shingo Mama no Oha Rock" (慎吾ママのおはロック), done in character. Shingo Mama's trademark phrase is "Ohhā!" (おっはー), short for "Ohayō!" (おはよう "Good morning!"). From 2000-2001, Shingo Mama promoted the use of ohha as part of a Ministry of Education campaign to encourage family communication. [1]
After his boom as Shingo Mama, he went on to host his own English-oriented show "SmaSTATION!!" 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 PeraPera (pera-pera 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 American Presidential Elections. His interest in English somewhat mirrors Tsuyoshi Kusanagi's interest in Korean language and culture.[citation needed]
He is also famous for having a large mouth, as he has the ability to fit his whole fist into his mouth. This was useful when he played the part of the Kondō Isami in the NHK production of Shinsengumi!.
Recently, he has gained internet popularity as the main character in a Super Sentai parody.
In 2005, Japan Airlines introduced a Boeing 777 jet with Katori's picture on it.
In 2005/2006, he starred in the Japanese remake of Saiyūki as Sun Wukong. He appeared as a bellboy in the popular 2006 comedy film The Uchōten Hotel.
On December 26, 2007, it was revealed that Shingo Katori has beat the fastest time (9s8ms) of drinking 500mL of milk shake with 9s50ms. However, on the show on that day, Toshi from the owarai duo, Taka and Toshi has beat his time by .02ms. Shingo's award was taken away and was given to Toshi.
