was a Japanese actor and singer born in

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

Occupied Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II from the surrender of the Empire of Japan on September 2, 1945, at the war's end until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect on April 28, 1952. The occupation, led by the ...

. He is best known to English-speaking audiences for playing Sandy, one of the regular main characters in the TV show ''Monkey''. Kishibe's father was a former

Kempeitai The , , was the military police of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The organization also shared civilian secret police that specialized in clandestine and covert operation, counterinsurgency, counterintelligence, HUMINT, interrogated suspects ...

member. He also had an elder brother, Ittoku Kishibe, who was a member of the band

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is tradition ...

Biography

Member of The Tigers

Upon graduating from junior high school, Kishibe worked at a printing company but left to join the road crew for The Tigers, where his elder brother Ittoku Kishibe played bass. After working as a musical advisor post their 1967 debut, he moved to the United States in July 1968, with assistance from Watanabe Productions and the band members. In the U.S., he worked as a music correspondent for the magazine ''Music Life'' under the guise of studying abroad. In March 1969, after bassist Katsumi Kahashi departed The Tigers, Kishibe was recalled by his older brother Ittoku and became a new member. Though tasked with guitar duties as Kahashi's successor, Kishibe, unable to actually play, would pretend to do so during performances. He also played the tambourine and took over Kahashi's vocal parts. His induction into The Tigers, despite his lack of musical experience, was reportedly due to a plot orchestrated by Watanabe Productions, wherein Ittoku's younger brother would "save" the group amidst a crisis. In December 2013, Kishibe reunited with The Tigers. Assisted by a wheelchair and brought on stage by Hitomi Minoru, he sang

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' " Yesterday" alongside Katsumi Kahashi on guitar and brother Ittoku Kishibe on bass. This was the first occasion all six Tigers members shared the stage, as Hitomi Minoru had not participated in their 1980s reunion. Kishibe passed away from acute heart failure in August 2020 at the age of 71.Shiro Kishibe, Former Member of Band The Tigers, Dies
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References

External links

* 1949 births 2020 deaths Japanese male actors Japanese male singers Japanese television personalities Musicians from Kyoto Prefecture {{Japan-tv-actor-stub