Shoes

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Gender

Male

Birthday

1946-08-06

Place of Birth

null

Masaaki Sakai

Biography

Born the son of Shunji Sakai, a famous comedian in Japan, Sakai initially came to fame by fronting the group sounds band The Spiders. This group, formed in 1962, was popular throughout the 1960s; they spawned several hit songs as well as thirteen situation comedy films featuring their music. He took the title role of Songoku (Monkey) in the 1970s Japanese TV program Saiyūki. This gained him fame in many English-speaking countries in the early 1980s when it was dubbed by the BBC 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. 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 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 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 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 race car to Masahiko Kondō 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 charities. His show-business nickname is "Machaaki".

Known for

Churasan

Churasan

The 64th NHK Asadora Renzoku Drama is Churasan, a story of a young woman, Kohagura Eri, who was born in Kohamajima Island, Okinawa on May 15, 1972, the day when Okinawa was returned to Japan from the U.S. Eleven years later, Kamimura Shizuko and her two sons, Kazuya and Fumiya, from Tokyo come to stay as the guests of a small inn run by Eri’s family. Eri’s fun-loving, yet eccentric family welcomes them warmly. However, Eri is shocked to hear one of the sons, Kazuya is terminally ill and Shizuko and her sons came to Okinawa to spend his last moment together in beautiful nature. Fumiya, Kazuya’s younger brother, and Eri promise to marry each other someday. However after Kazuya’s death, Fumiya and his mother leave the island to go back to Tokyo. Years later, they are reunited, Eri as a nurse and Fumiya, a doctor, working at the same hospital in Tokyo.

Furuhata Ninzaburo

Furuhata Ninzaburo

Furuhata Ninzaburō is a Japanese television series that ran periodically on Fuji Television from 1994 until its final episodes in 2006. It was written by Japanese playwright Kōki Mitani and is often referred to as the Japanese version of Columbo. The series is a police detective drama starring actor Masakazu Tamura as Furuhata Ninzaburo and Masahiko Nishimura as his stereotypically bumbling sidekick, Shintaro Imaizumi. The program aired weekly and featured a guest villain each time, usually a famous talent in Japan. Pop-stars like SMAP, television hosts like Sanma Akashiya and even sports figures like Ichiro Suzuki have been featured on this program. It was one of the most popular television dramas in the history of Japanese television, having spawned several seasons and TV specials.

Monkey

Monkey

Buddhist priest Tripitaka and his three disciples Monkey, Pigsy, and Sandy, travel from China to India to fetch the Buddhist scriptures. They have been sent by Buddha, and getting these scriptures will bring peace to the people of the world.

時間ですよ

時間ですよ

Tokugawa Yoshinobu

Tokugawa Yoshinobu

The 37th NHK Taiga Drama is Tokugawa Yoshinobu. The series focuses on the life of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the 15th and final ruler of the Tokugawa period. Born the seventh son of Lord Nariaki of Mito, Yoshinobu is named shogun when he is just 29 years old. With a wisdom and vision beyond his years, he tries to prolong the life of this 200-year-old dynasty which began with Ieyasu. However, he is unable to forestall the winds of revolution as clans in Choshu, Satsuma and Tosa, with the help of the Imperial Court, clamor for change.

The Black Swindler

The Black Swindler

Kurosaki is a vigilante who scams criminals to rectify their misdeeds, driven by his father's attempted suicide after being deceived by criminal mastermind Toshio Katsuragi, who cost Kurosaki his family.

Tennō no Ryōriban

Tennō no Ryōriban

A biographical series about Tokuzō Akiyama, who served as the imperial cook, from his youth until he became the chief cook of the Ministry of the Imperial Household.

Best Friend

Best Friend

Kouhei asks his girlfriend Kaede to marry him. He also reveals that his company going to transfer him to London office and that he would like his bride-to-be to come along. As Kaede walks home she bumps into Yuuko, a girl from far-off Yaizu who has come to town for meeting with her ex-boyfriend's buisiness partner. The girls inadvertently swap addresses books in the confusion, leading Kaede to discover that Yuuko has meeting planned with Kouhei. She immediately expects the worse.

Kono Subarashiki Sekai

Kono Subarashiki Sekai

A 'spoof comedy" in which a housewife who lives an ordinary life is forced to live a double life while pretending to be a major actress active in the entertainment industry.

Spirit World

Spirit World

Legendary singer Claire Emery flies to Japan for a final sold-out concert. But when the show ends, so does Claire’s life on earth. However, an unexpected new life in the spirit world - where she will be guided by Yuzo, one of her biggest fans - awaits.

Impossible Love

Impossible Love

Shogo is a divorced man with one daughter. In his younger days, he was briefly in a band but it quickly broke up, and he took on a job at a record company. At the age of 60, he falls in love with the 35-year-old Kaede, but her career and values are very different from his own. In addition, Kaede already has an "ikemen" boyfriend. --Tokyograph

Sayonara Sankaku Mata Kite Shikaku

Sayonara Sankaku Mata Kite Shikaku

The interactions of two families that have lived next door to each other for generations.

Friends

Friends

Today is a new day with hopes. A youth hymn that depicts a young truck driver growing up in love with a dream while being supported by his friends who are always close to him. A movie adaptation of a hit song by Kazuo Funaki.

パパ・サヴァイバル

パパ・サヴァイバル

Final Take: The Golden Age of Movies

Final Take: The Golden Age of Movies

Director Ogata discovers a new female star in Koharu Tanaka, who works selling candy at a studio theater and she is given a part as a bit player. After the studio's top leading lady is embroiled in a scandal, Koharu is suddenly thrust into the limelight when she replaces her in a film and gains instant fame and fortune. But the going is not always easy, and she soon seeks help from unexpected quarters.