is a Japanese comedian, actor, voice actor and television presenter. He performs '' boke'' (he does not entirely do ''boke'' he is known for doing ''tsukkomi'') and tells stories in the comedy duo

Bananaman Bananaman is a fictional character appearing in British comic books. Bananaman is a parody of traditional superheroes, being portrayed as a schoolboy who is transformed into a muscled, caped adult man when he eats a banana. The character origin ...

. His partner is

Yūki Himura is a Japanese comedian, actor and voice actor. He performs ''tsukkomi'' (basically he did not decided if either he perform ''boke'' or ''tsukkomi'', but can also perform ''boke'') in the comedy duo Bananaman. His partner is Osamu Shitara. Himura ...

. He is also a former

Seibu Railway is a conglomerate based in Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan, with principal business areas in railways, tourism, and real estate. Seibu Railway's operations are concentrated in northwest Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture; the name "Seibu" is an abbreviatio ...

employee.

Life and career

Osamu Shitara (設樂統) was born April 23, 1973 in

Minano, Saitama is a town located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 9,497 in 3994 households and a population density of 150 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . Geography Located in western Saitama Prefecture ...

as the youngest sibling of a brother and sister who are 6 and 3 years older respectively. He attended the Minano-chō Tachi Minano Middle School and was the president of the student council and the captain of the school baseball team. Shitara graduated high school in March, 1992 and found a job with

at the connection of his father who is a manager at Seibu Nagatoro Hotel, an establishment of the company.

Kobunsha Kobunsha ( ja, 光文社 ''Kōbunsha'') is a Japanese publishing company. It publishes literature, manga novels, and women's magazines. Company history Kobunsha was established on October 1, 1945, and belongs to the Kodansha group. The compan ...

『FLASH』Issue June 17, 2014（Page 16-19） He worked at the

Kotesashi Station is a passenger railway station located in the city of Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Seibu Railway. Lines Kotesashi Station is served by the Seibu Ikebukuro Line from in Tokyo, with some services inter-r ...

on the

Seibu Ikebukuro Line The is a railway line of the Japanese private railway operator Seibu Railway. It originates at Ikebukuro Station, a large railway junction in north-western Tokyo, extending to northwest suburbs as far as Tokorozawa, Saitama, and nominally term ...

for 6 months before switching to other various part-time jobs and then finally becoming a comedian as a student of Masayuki Watanabe, whom he worked as a driver for. In October, 1993, Shitara met up with three other rookie comedians in Shinjuku and formed a comedy group,

is one of them. However, after a few practice sessions, Shitara believed that a four man group would be limiting to their potential, and left with Himura to form what a comedy duo named ''

''. Shitara met his girlfriend when he was 19 at a part-time job and married her in 1999. They have 2 daughters as of 2019. In the year 2012, Shitara appeared on more television programs than any other Japanese personality, appearing in 611 programs, 163 with Himura (Himura was ranked 12th with 428 television appearances). Shitara also led the rankings for the first half of 2013.

Filmography

''To see his appearances as part of Bananaman, see

Bananaman (comedy duo) is a Japanese ''owarai'' comedy duo consisting of Osamu Shitara and Yūki Himura. Career Shitara and Himura formed as a comedy unit in 1993 and debuted on stage in 1994. Himura had broken up with his previous partner and Shitara was working as ...

TV programmes

Films

Japanese dub

Stage

Video games

Music videos, others

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shitara, Osamu Japanese comedians Japanese male actors Japanese television personalities Japanese television presenters People from Saitama Prefecture 1973 births Living people