(born , February 5, 1972 in the city of Nishi-Tokyo,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

) is a Japanese

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

. He is most famous for his act in which he mocks a famous Japanese

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

Riki Choshu , better known by his ring name , is a South Korean-Japanese retirement, retired Puroresu, professional wrestler who is best known for his longtime work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as both a wrestler and a Booker (professional wrestling), bo ...

due to his resemblance. ''Koriki'' is a wordplay on Riki's name, meaning something like "little Riki". Unlike many Japanese comedians, he is not associated with any entertainment agency, though he belongs to a comedian "pro-wrestling" organization, . On television, he is always seen wearing the same outfit, short bicycle shorts and a far too short

T-shirt A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt, or tee for short) is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a '' crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shir ...

showing off his protruding belly. He speaks with a very strong

lisp Lisp (historically LISP, an abbreviation of "list processing") is a family of programming languages with a long history and a distinctive, fully parenthesized Polish notation#Explanation, prefix notation. Originally specified in the late 1950s, ...

(much less so when not in character) and is prone to treating mundane objects (such as his

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic (), or mike, is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publi ...

) as wrestling opponents. More recently, he has added

Para Para or Para-Para is a synchronized dance that originated in Japan. Unlike most types of club and rave dancing, Para Para features specific synchronized movements for each song, much like line dancing. Para Para has been around since the early 1980 ...

(a Japanese dancing style) to his comedy routine, always to the tune of "Night of Fire", a popular

Eurobeat Eurobeat refers to two styles of dance music that originated in Europe: one is a British variant of Italian Eurodisco-influencedAng, Ien & Morley, David (2005). "Cultural Studies: Volume 3, Issue 2". ''Routledge''. pgs. 171, 173, 170. . "Eurorec ...

track by

Bratt Sinclaire Bratt Sinclaire (born Andrea Leonardi, 26 April 1967) is an Italian Eurobeat/Italo disco producer. He has produced a countless number of tracks for the ''Super Eurobeat'' series, the world's longest running series of dance compilation albums. H ...

. In 2005, riding the popularity of his act, Koriki was featured in a cover version of Niko's track with Para Para oriented

Japanese idol An is a type of entertainer marketed for image, attractiveness, and personality in Japanese popular culture, Japanese pop culture. Idols are primarily singers with training in other performance skills such as acting, dancing, and modeling. Idol ...

group

Hinoi Team was a Japanese female pop group formed around Asuka Hinoi with supporting members Keika Matsuoka, Hikaru Koyama, and Rina Takenaka. Most of their releases are covers of Eurobeat songs. Discography Ike Ike The Hinoi team's debut "Ike Ike ...

, accompanying a video and CD release. He also tried to work with a partner who was looking like

Antonio Inoki (born ; 20 February 1943 – 1 October 2022) was a Japanese professional wrestler, Glossary of professional wrestling terms#school, professional wrestling trainer, martial arts, martial artist, politician, and Promoter (entertainment), promot ...

, aptly named

Antonio Koinoki Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language–speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular m ...

, but the gimmick failed and his partner faded into obscurity. He has also performed as a competitor on '' Sasuke'', having entered five tournaments (15th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 24th), but has never made it past the First Stage. Only in the 18th tournament did he ever manage to clear the first obstacle. In the anime ''

School Rumble is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Jin Kobayashi. It was serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga, manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from October 2002 to July 2008, with its chapters collected in 22 volumes. ...

'', Choshu made a cameo appearance in episode 17 doing the Para Para dance with Tsukamoto Tenma who is trying to scare away Harima Kenji. On December 12, 2010, Choshu made an appearance for

All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on October 21, 1972, by Giant Baba after he left the Japanese Wrestling Association to create his own promotion. Ma ...

and teamed with

Ryota Hama (born November 21, 1979) is a retired Japanese sumo wrestler and current professional wrestler, signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in the Strong BJ division. Sumo career Hama joined sumo in July 1995, and he fought for the Hakkaku stable r ...

in a match, where they defeated

Keiji Mutoh is a Japanese professional wrestling executive, actor and retired professional wrestler. He is known for his work under his real name and as his alter ego in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), as well as World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and duri ...

and comedian

Kannazuki Japanese calendar types have included a range of official and unofficial systems. At present, Japan uses the Gregorian calendar together with year designations stating the year of the reign of the current Emperor. The written form starts with th ...

to win the F–1 (Fake–1 Gran Prix) Tag Team Championship. The title is not officially recognized by the promotion. Their team lost this parodic title to

Manabu Soya is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is currently signed to Pro Wrestling NOAH. He is best known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling, and he previously lived in Canada training at the Can-Am Wrestling School under Scott D'Amore, working ...

and RG on December 11, 2011.

Championships

** F-1 Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with

Current Shinshu Wrestling Federation Tag Champion Currents, Current or The Current may refer to: Science and technology * Current (fluid), the flow of a liquid or a gas ** Air current, a flow of air ** Ocean current, a current in the ocean *** Rip current, a kind of water current ** Current (hydr ...

(1 time) – with

Note: this championship not officially recognized by

References

External links

West Gate Wrestling Federation's profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choshu, Koriki 1972 births Japanese impressionists (entertainers) Living people Comedians from Tokyo People from Nishitōkyō, Tokyo Contestants on Japanese game shows F-1 Tag Team Champions