(Voice actor) Mr.Chris Koprowski

Takeshi Kitano became famous worldwide as a film director, but his career originally started as a comedian. As a comedian, Takeshi was known as “Beat Takeshi,” and he still uses Beat Takeshi as his comedian name and Takeshi Kitano as an entertainer or director. In Japan he is one of the “Comic Big 3,” sharing popularity with Tamori and Sanma Akashiya. Beat Takeshi gained popularity probably for his offensive comedic style. During the comedy boom of the 1980s, Beat Takeshi became popular for his sharp-tongued humor. He dealt with radical topics with vulgar language and he broke through as a star. It wasn’t in any way a morally honorable humor, but by daringly talking about human nature and illegal topics rather than being “classy,” he gained many fans. In TV shows, he was the center of a show called “Oretachi Hyokinzoku,” which went against “the Drifters,” a consistently popular comedy group, and created a fad that divided the Japanese viewers into the Drifters faction and Hyokinzoku faction. He also acted as the host of many other TV shows as entertainer Beat Takeshi. He demonstrated multiple talents, not limited to comedy, and became a regular favorite. Currently, Beat Takeshi is exerting presence not only as a comedian but also as a big-shot of the showbiz, but his career did not go smoothly from the beginning. In fact, he spent a long time paying his dues and experienced hardships. After graduating high school, he entered Meiji University School of Science and Technology. It was the result of his mother bringing him up thinking that if he acquired science and technology skills, he would have a comfortable life, but Beat Takeshi couldn’t fit into the university’s environment and began skipping classes. He started working at a jazz café in Shinjuku as a waiter and became engrossed in the jazz world. In addition to working as a waiter, he had several other jobs, such as demolition worker, taxi driver, and working at Tokyo International Airport. He spent the prime of his youth searching for who he really was. The campus activism that had spread among students was winding down and Beat Takeshi was confronted with an earnest need to find what it is he wanted to do with his life. What Beat Takeshi set out for was entertainment. He thought “theaters would be difficult as I can’t understand literature being a science major, but I should be able to understand entertainment.” However, that path was not smooth either. Enjoy the secret story behind the moment Beat Takeshi, pride of Japan, was born.