| Masatoshi Hamada | |
| Native Name: | 浜田 雅功 |
| Native Name Lang: | ja |
| Birth Date: | 11 May 1963 |
| Birth Place: | Naniwa-ku, Osaka, Japan |
| Medium: | Owarai Television |
| Active: | 1982 - present |
| Spouse: | Natsumi Ogawa |
| Children: | 2 (including; Hama Okamoto) |
is a Japanese comedian best known as the tsukkomi half of the popular owarai duo Downtown alongside Hitoshi Matsumoto. His nickname is . Hamada is married to Natsumi Ogawa, with whom he has two children.
Hamada was born near Daikokucho Station in Naniwa-ku, Osaka to Kengoro and Nobuko Hamada. His family moved to Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefecture before entering a kindergarten. There, he attended Ushio Elementary School and met Hitoshi Matsumoto. He and Matsumoto did not become friends until junior high. Like Matsumoto, his family was very poor and lived in an old, run-down apartment building.
In 1982, he and Matsumoto entered Yoshimoto Kōgyō, to become a comedy duo. They made their debut in 1983.
Hamada is frequently seen whacking Matsumoto and other celebrities on their heads, whether it be with his hand, a paper fan, or whatever he is holding at the moment. He laughs with a distinct, high-pitched cackle whenever he sees his colleagues in pain. Never one to hold his tongue, he is known for being blunt and tactless towards everybody, no matter how famous they may be. He has a notoriously quick temper and is prone to snapping at others, including overzealous fans who bother him on the streets. There is a running joke or legend within the industry that says "Whoever is whacked on the head by Hamada will become successful or ureteru."
Because of his aggressive and seemingly remorseless behavior, he has been dubbed .[1] This fearsome side of his personality has been pointed out in the media on several occasions:
In a recent episode of Gaki no Tsukai, however, a number of younger comedians have said that Hamada's "super sadist" act is just that; he is known to be fair and kind to both staff and other comedians off the air. Jimmy Onishi during his "24 hours Long interview" for Gaki no tsukai even admitted that he got on with Hamada the best since "he was the most normal" of the cast.
Though not as common, Hamada can also be on the receiving end of jokes, usually delivered by Matsumoto. Some of Hamada's commonly mocked traits are:
Hamada provided the Japanese voice of Slowking in . A limited edition Pokémon card called was released to promote the movie.[14] The Slowking on this card was illustrated by Hamada himself.
In 2001, he starred in the television miniseries Ashitaga Arusa ("There's Always a Tomorrow"). Named after a famous song by Kyu Sakamoto, it ran from April 21 to July 30 and featured many other Yoshimoto Kōgyō geinin, including Cocorico. A feature film version was released in October 2002.
He is the voice of Shrek in the Japanese language dub of the animated Shrek films. He was personally selected by producer Jeffrey Katzenberg to take on the role.[15]
He worked as a guest sportscaster for Fuji Television at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
He was the voice of the host of the sole Japanese release of the American trivia quiz video game series You Don't Know Jack.
In the 1990s, Hamada was also part of a musical duo with Tetsuya Komuro called (where the "H" stands for Hamada and the "t" stands for Tetsuya) and produced several songs, including their most popular song, "Wow War Tonight", which sold over 2 million copies and ranked number 2 in the top 100 Oricon singles of 1995. H Jungle with t also performed some songs at live concerts during the mid-1990s. In the song "Wow War Tonight", Hitoshi Matsumoto has a line that is repeated several times throughout the course of the song, "B-U-S-A-I-K-U H-A-M-A-D-A", this translates as "Ugly Hamada", one of several of Matsumoto's insults at Hamada. Other common insults are "Gorilla".
In 2004, "Chicken Rice" was released with lyrics written by Matsumoto. The lyrics reflect their childhood (more specifically Matsumoto's childhood) and tells the story about how it was too expensive for them to eat out at restaurants or have nice food, so out of consideration for his parents he would always eat chicken rice as it was the cheapest. The song also asks the rhetorical question "Do children appreciate what their parents do for them nowadays?". This song reached number 2 in the Oricon weekly rankings.
Although he has always disliked animals, he recently became attached to the family dog. In a March 2007 episode of Gaki no Tsukai, when asked what he would save first in his house if an earthquake occurred, his reply was "the dog."[16]
Being from Osaka, he speaks in the kansai dialect; however, he uses a standard dialect when talking to his children. His hobbies are golf and baseball.[17] His comedy partner Matsumoto quit smoking in 2003, while he himself is still a heavy smoker.
In June 2014, he was revealed to be having an affair with gravure idol Maiko Kikkawa. The affair had lasted for 3 years before its discovery. Hamada wrote a public apology, which his wife accepted.[18]
In 2017 Masatoshi dressed in blackface as Eddie Murphy from the film Beverly Hills Cop for the 2017 New Year's Eve special of Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!![19]