(also known as Masato Simon), born with the name is a retired

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese

vocalist Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

from

Meguro is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The English translation of its Japanese self-designation is Meguro City. The ward was founded on March 15, 1947. Meguro is predominantly residential in character ...

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 ...

. He is most known for his contributions to the theme songs of various

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

and

tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live-action films or television programs that make heavy use of practical special effects. Credited to special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya, ''tokusatsu'' mainly refers to science fiction film, science fiction, War fi ...

series. In his career, he has sung under the names , and most famously, Masato Shimon. He recorded a song " Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun" (1975) with only 50,000 yen, but the single sold 4,547,620 copies and became the best-selling single in Japan, a fact certified by

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

. He retired from his career at age 55 in 1999, with his last work being the opening and closing songs to

Seijuu Sentai Gingaman is a Japanese tokusatsu television series. It is Toei Company, Toei's 22nd entry of the ''Super Sentai'' metaseries. The series aired from February 22, 1998, to February 14, 1999, replacing ''Denji Sentai Megaranger'', and was replaced by ''Kyuu ...

the year prior, credited as Ryu Kisami.

References

Masato Shimon
at the Henshin Hall of Fame

External links

* * {{Japan-singer-stub Japanese male singers 1944 births People from Meguro Japanese Anglicans Living people Anime musicians