Yōku Hata (波田陽区, ''Hata Yōku'', real name: Akira Hada (波田晃, ''Hada Akira''), born June 5, 1975, in

Shimonoseki is a city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. With a population of 265,684, it is the largest city in Yamaguchi Prefecture and the fifth-largest city in the Chūgoku region. It is located at the southwestern tip of Honshu facing the Tsush ...

Yamaguchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 km2 (2,359 sq mi). Yamaguchi Prefecture borders Shimane Prefecture t ...

) is a

stand up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

in Japan. He rose to popularity in 2004 with his character "The Guitar Zamurai (Samurai)" (ギター侍) on the program ''The God of Entertainment'' (エンタの神様). Dressed in a

yukata A is an unlined cotton summer kimono, worn in casual settings such as summer festivals and to nearby bathhouses. Originally worn as bathrobes, their modern use is much broader, and are a common sight in Japan during summer. Though are traditio ...

, his skit always follows the same form. He says a supposed quote about someone famous, and then mocks the quote (and the person) and says "残念!" (''zannen!'', Too Bad!) Then he imitates the person and finishes that section with a "切り" (''giri!'', Slash!) as he makes a sword slash movement with his guitar. At the end of a set, he usually says some self-depreciating remark and ends yelling " 切腹!" ('' seppuku!''). His popularity in this persona earned him an animated cameo in the Crayon Shin-Chan movie, ''"Crayon Shin-chan: The Legend of the Buri Buri 3 Minutes Charge"'' in which he played a monster that made fun of the

sliding timescale A floating timeline (also known as a sliding timescale) is a device used in fiction, particularly in long-running serials in comics and animation as well as other media, to explain why characters age little or not at all over a period of time— ...

of the cartoon (and thereby breaking the

Fourth Wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...

). After the novelty wore thin on the gimmick, he began to intermittently make appearances on

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp ...

s under the Yoku Hata pseudonym and in regular street clothes. He has recently begun to bring back the "Guitar Zamurai" character sporadically, to play on its nostalgic appeal. In 2008, he formed a clique of other one hit wonder comedians on the quiz/variety show,

Quiz! Hexagon II was a Japanese quiz variety show on Fuji Television, airing Wednesdays from 19:00-19:57 Japan Standard Time. The show began airing on October 19, 2005, ending on September 28, 2011 with 247 episodes aired; its predecessor, aired from June 5 throu ...

called "Ippatsuya 2008" (一発屋２００８).

Discography

*ギター侍のうた (Guitar Samurai's Song, ''Gitaa-zamurai no uta'') ( Single, November 17, 2004) *ギター侍は波田陽区。 (Yoku Hata is the Guitar Samurai, ''Gitaa-zamurai wa Hata Yoku'') (

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

, December 1, 2004) *ギター侍のうた弐～完全保存盤～ (Guitar Samurai's Second Song - all-inclusive recording, ''Gitaa-zamurai no uta ni - kanzen hozen ban'') ( CD and

bundle, February 9, 2005)

References

External links

Watanabe Entertainment
Japanese comedians 1975 births Living people People from Shimonoseki Sasuke (TV series) contestants {{Comedian-stub