is a Japanese politician. He originally rose to fame as a comedian and actor under the stage name , and was known for his role in the popular

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

'' Takeshi's Castle''. He served as the Governor of

Miyazaki Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Miyazaki Prefecture has a population of 1,073,054 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 7,735 km2 (2,986 sq mi). Miyazaki Prefecture borders Ōita Prefecture to the north, Kuma ...

from 2007 to 2011, resigning to run against incumbent

Shintarō Ishihara was a Japanese politician and writer who was Governor of Tokyo from 1999 to 2012. Being the former leader of the radical right Japan Restoration Party, he was one of the most prominent ultranationalists in modern Japanese politics. An ultranat ...

for Governor of Tokyo in the 2011 election, where he came in second. He was elected to the House of Representatives in the general election of 2012, but resigned in December 2013.

Early life

Higashikokubaru was born in Miyakonojō, a city in

and attended Senshu University from 1976 to 1980, where he majored in economics. After graduating from Senshu, Higashikokubaru apprenticed to Takeshi Kitano and became a comedian in 1982. He appeared on '' Takeshi's Castle'', which was dubbed on United States television as ''Most Extreme Elimination Challenge'' ('' MXC''); Higashikokubaru was dubbed as "Kenny Blankenship" in the American version.

Incidents

On December 9, 1986, Higashi was one of those who were arrested at the offices of ''Friday'' magazine, after he and other members of Takeshi Kitano's group attacked the magazine offices (among others spraying fire extinguishers) to protest a critical article about Takeshi Kitano that the magazine had published. All attackers were sentenced to six months in

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

, suspended for two years. On October 13, 1998, a manager of a so-called

image club Prostitution, as defined under modern Japanese law, is the illegal practice of sexual intercourse with an 'unspecified' (unacquainted) person in exchange for monetary compensation, which was criminalised in 1956 by the introduction of article 3 of ...

(a type of

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...

) was arrested for employing underage girls. A 16-year-old employee pointed Higashi out as one of her customers. He was interrogated several times by the police, but was not indicted as he claimed he did not know the girl was under 18. His then-wife apologized on his behalf to the Japanese public via the media, and he himself took a five-month voluntary break from his work as an entertainer. On November 22, 1999, at a year-end-party held for Takeshi Kitano office employees, he kicked another participant in the head, injuring him. He was prosecuted for this, and fined, after which he again took a voluntary leave from his entertainment activity. Higashikokubaru shifted his interest to politics around 1999 after being involved in these publicized incidents. He enrolled in the School of Letters, Arts and Sciences II at Waseda University in 2000, and graduated in March 2004, re-entering as a politics and economics student in April 2004. He divorced from his wife in February 2006 and dropped out of Waseda in March 2006.

Governor of Miyazaki

On January 21, 2007, Higashi was elected governor of Miyazaki Prefecture, replacing former governor

Tadahiro Ando was the Governor of Miyazaki Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Miyazaki Prefecture has a population of 1,073,054 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 7,735 km2 (2,986 sq mi). Miyazaki Prefecture bo ...

, who resigned after being arrested for bid rigging. He used his official name (Hideo Higashikokubaru) as governor of Miyazaki. He declared a state of emergency in Miyazaki during a major outbreak of

foot-and-mouth disease Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or hoof-and-mouth disease (HMD) is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids. The virus causes a high fever lasting two to six days, followe ...

in May 2010. He decided not to run for re-election in 2010, and left office on January 20, 2011.

Later activity

Higashikokubaru ran in the Tokyo gubernatorial election on April 10, 2011, in which he lost to incumbent governor

. Both Higashikokubaru and Ishihara ran as proportional representation candidates for the Japan Restoration Party in the December 2012 general election for the House of Representatives. Higashikokubaru resigned from the JRP in December 2013 stating that "the political ideology and policies of the Japan Restoration Party as well as their directions have changed and they are now far different from mine." Following the resignation of Tokyo governor Naoki Inose on December 19, Higashikokubaru was widely rumored to be a potential candidate for the gubernatorial election in February 2014. He denied that he had resigned in order to run for the governorship, saying "the timing is a little too good. People would suspect I'm up to something. I'm not. For me, nose's resignationis just troublesome." On January 10 he stated that he had "2,000%" "no scheme, plan, or intention" to run.

Personal

Higashikokubaru is an active runner and has completed several marathons. He ran the Lake Saroma ultra-marathon in 13 hours in June 1995, and has also run the

Gold Coast Marathon The Gold Coast Marathon is an annual road marathon on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, first held in 1979. Marketed as "Australia's premier road race", the marathon is the only race in Australia to hold World Athletics Label status. ...

and Okinawa Marathon three times each. He also played

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

in high school and competed in the National Sports Festival of Japan in 1975.

Filmography

Movies

* ''Shōjo'' (2001) * ''

Getting Any? is a 1995 Japanese film, written, directed, edited, and starring Takeshi Kitano. ''Yatteru'' (やってる) is the colloquial form for ''yatteiru'' (やっている), ''yatteru'' coming from the Japanese verb ''yaru'', which is an informal word m ...

'' (1995) * ''Shishiohtachi no natsu'' (1991) * ''

Ultraman Saga is a 2012 Japanese tokusatsu, superhero and kaiju film in the Ultra Series to commemorate the franchise's 45th anniversary. It serves as a sequel to '' Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial''. The catchphrase for the movie is . The film features ...

'' (2012)

Television

* ''Waratteru Baai desu yo!'' (1980) * ''Oretachi Hyokinzoku'' (1981–1989) * ''Owarai Star Tanjo'' (1983) * ''Super Jocky'' (1983–1990) * '' Takeshi's Castle'' (1986–1990) * ''Darenimo ienai'' (1993)

References

External links

Miyazaki pref. page

Hideo Higashikokubaru official page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Higashikokubaru, Hideo 1957 births Living people Japan Restoration Party politicians 21st-century Japanese politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) Japanese comedians Japanese male film actors Japanese male television actors Japanese actor-politicians Politicians from Kagoshima Prefecture People from Miyakonojō Tokyo gubernatorial candidates Waseda University alumni Governors of Miyazaki Prefecture