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is a popular Japanese performer from Tokyo. He is best known to English-speaking audiences as the title star of the TV show
''Monkey''.
Biography
Masaaki Sakai is a Japanese actor, singer and martial artist. Born the son of , a famous comedian in Japan, Sakai initially came to fame by fronting the
group sounds
, often abbreviated as GS, is a genre of Japanese rock music which became popular in the mid to late 1960s and initiated the fusion of Japanese '' kayōkyoku'' music and Western rock music. Their music production techniques were regarded as playi ...
band
The Spiders. This group, formed in 1962, was popular throughout the 1960s; they spawned several hit songs as well as thirteen
situation comedy
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
films featuring their music.
He took the title role of ''Son Goku'' (literally meaning "Descendant
Aware
Awareness is the state of being conscious of something. More specifically, it is the ability to directly know and perceive, to feel, or to be cognizant of events. Another definition describes it as a state wherein a subject is aware of some inform ...
of
Vacuity", but the Chinese character for "descendant" is a punning reference to a similar character meaning "Monkey") in the 1970s Japanese TV program ''
Saiyūki'' (lit. "
Journey to the West
''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the greatest Classic Chinese Novels, and has been described as arguably the most popu ...
"). This gained him fame in many English-speaking countries in the early 1980s when it was dubbed by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
and retitled
''Monkey''. Due to his fame playing the mythical character ''Songoku,'' Sakai created a dance called "the Monkey" which became a craze in Japan. Prior to taking the role in Monkey, Sakai learnt the art of staff known as
Bōjutsu
, translated from Japanese as "staff technique", is the martial art of stick fighting using a bō, which is the Japanese word for staff. Staffs have been in use for thousands of years in Asian martial arts like Silambam. Some techniques involve s ...
for 2 years. Sakai went on to a successful solo career after The Spiders disbanded, and continued acting in films and on television.
In 1999, he formed the band
Sans Filtre
Sans Filtre is a Japanese band, formed in the millennium featuring three former members of The Spiders, Masaaki Sakai, Takayuki Inoue, and Hiroshi "Monsieur" Kamayatsu. The Spiders, formed in 1962, were one of the biggest bands of the Group Soun ...
with two former Spiders, Hiroshi Kamayatsu and Takayuki Inoue. They released their first album ''Yei Yei'' in 2000.
Sakai is known in Japan as a car enthusiast and regularly took part in the annual
Mille Miglia
The Mille Miglia (, ''Thousand Miles'') was an open-road, motorsport endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi, which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 (thirteen before World ...
race in Italy with his wife as a co-driver. He won a similar Japanese road race on October 18, 2000 driving a 1947
Cisitalia
Cisitalia was an Italian sports and racing car brand. The name "Cisitalia" derives from "Compagnia Industriale Sportiva Italia", a business conglomerate founded in Turin in 1946 and controlled by the wealthy industrialist and sportsman Piero Dusio ...
202 MM with Inoue Takayuki (the guitarist from Sans Filtre) as co-driver. Due to business commitments he gave up racing in 2002 and gave his
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." ...
race car to
Masahiko Kondō
or Matchy is a Japanese singer, lyricist, actor, racing car manager and former semi-professional racing driver. He was a member of the Tanokin Trio.
Kondō is also a semi-professional racing driver and a racing team owner. He founded the racing ...
who is also a singer and race enthusiast. He is also a hobby archer.
Sakai has been married and divorced twice, and has two daughters. He is an active supporter of
AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
charities. His show-business nickname is "Machaaki".
TV shows
Sakai starred in a series about travelling around Europe as well as the following series:
* ''Saiyūki'' (
Monkey
Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...
)
* ''Hakkutsu! Aruaru Daijiten''
* ''Chubaw Desu yo!'' (titled in English as ''Saturday Night Chubaw'') from 1994 to the present, where Sakai and a guest attempt to cook the dishes of famous restaurants.
* ''Shinano no Columbo'' (as the lead character in Japan's version of
Columbo
''Columbo'' () is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originally aired on NBC f ...
)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sakai, Masaaki
1946 births
Living people
Japanese male actors
Japanese male singers
Nippon Columbia artists
Singers from Tokyo