, half of the

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

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

duo Utchan Nanchan, is one of the most famous and influential comedians in the

owarai is a broad word used to describe Japanese comedy as seen on television. The word ''owarai'' is the Honorific speech in Japanese#Honorific prefixes, honorific form of the word ''warai'' (by adding o- prefix), meaning "a laugh" or "a smile". '' ...

community. His nickname is ''Utchan'' ("Wutchan"), and his partner, Kiyotaka Nanbara, is known as ''Nanchan''. He was born on July 22, 1964, in

Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto file:Hitoyoshi City Hall 2023.jpg, 290px, Hitoyoshi City Hall file:Hitoyoshi City viewed from Hitoyoshi Castle.jpg, 290px, Panorama of Hitoyoshi and Kuma River from Hitoyoshi Castle file:Hitoyoshijou001.jpg, 290px, Hitoyoshi Castle ruins is a Citi ...

. Though he has worked for years as a comedian, he has also shown talent as an actor and dramatic performer. He is well known as the leader of the ''owarai'' band NO PLAN.

History

Uchimura met Nanbara while attending the Yokohama Broadcasting Technical School, along with Tetsurō Degawa and Masato Irie, who were also classmates. The two decided to start a

manzai is a traditional style of comedy in Japanese culture comparable to double act comedy. usually involves two performers ()—a straight man () and a double act, funny man ()—trading jokes at great speed. Most of the jokes revolve around mut ...

duo, and they were called ''Utchan Nanchan'' by their teacher, Keiko Utsumi. They first appeared on the show ''Owarai sutaa tanjō!!'' (お笑いスター誕生!!, Birth of a Comedy Star!). They won the competition the following year, and picked up the ''nyū kombi'' (new duo) award the next year. In 1992, Utchan Nanchan won the Japanese Academy Award for "Best New Actors" for their roles in the movie ''Cult Seven'' (七人のおたく). In 1993 Hong Kong singer Wong Ka Kui died after both he and Uchimura fell off a broken stage on Utchan Nanchan TV show. In addition, the TV program '' Uchimura Produce'' (内村プロデュース) which he was the producer of in 2000 won popularity. Criticisms followed that the Japanese were having too many late night shows of this type, and the TV station crews were overworked. Uchimura announced his engagement to and married former TV announcer Yumi Tokunaga in 2005. On January 28, 2006, his debut film as a director, ''

PEANUTS ''Peanuts'' (briefly subtitled ''featuring Good ol' Charlie Brown'') is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run ext ...

'', was released.

Character

Uchimura is said to have been often teased about his pallid skin color and big nose. He was supposedly often teased as a youth with taunts like, "With skin as white as yours, why don't you become a

kabuki is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes ...

actor?". At the same time, he was called a child prodigy after placing 8th in a local prefectural

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

tournament, leading his school's

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

team to a municipal semifinal win, while also competing in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

and

kendo is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords ( shinai) as well as protective armor ( bōgu). It began as samurai warriors' customary swordsmanship ex ...

. He loves the countryside in his hometown prefecture of Kumamoto, and frequently appears on local television, and writes articles for his hometown newspaper twice a year. He is said to resemble

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born Chan Kong-sang; 7 April 1954), known professionally as Jackie Chan,; is a Hong Kong actor and filmmaker, known for his slapstick, acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, and innovative stunts, which he typically perf ...

and has parodied him many times in comedy routines. Therefore, he is called "Chan"("chen") by Tetsurō Degawa.

Filmography

Film

* '' Kisarazu Cat's Eye: Nihon Series'' (2003) – George Murata *''

Zebraman is a 2004 Japanese tokusatsu action comedy superhero film directed by Takashi Miike, written by Kankurō Kudō and stars Shō Aikawa as the main character, a superhero named "Zebraman". In the film, a teacher feels frustrated with the failure ...

'' (2004) – Ippongi *'' Crayon Shin-chan: The Storm Called: The Kasukabe Boys of the Evening Sun'' (2004) – Himself (voice) *''

Peanuts ''Peanuts'' (briefly subtitled ''featuring Good ol' Charlie Brown'') is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run ext ...

'' (2006) – Koichi Akiyoshi *''Gold Medal Man'' (2016) *'' trapezium'' (2024) – Shūichi Itami

Television drama

*'' Saiyūki'' (2006) – Sha Wujing *'' Natsuzora'' (2019) – narrator

Japanese dub

*''

Sing 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 ...

'' (2017) – Buster Moon *''

Sing 2 ''Sing 2'' is a 2021 American animated jukebox musical comedy film produced by Universal Pictures and Illumination (company), Illumination, and distributed by Universal. The sequel to ''Sing (2016 American film), Sing'' (2016), it was written ...

'' (2022) – Buster Moon

Programs

* ''Everyone's Best Kouhaku 100th Anniversary of Broadcasting Special'' (NHK, 2025) (host)

References

External links

Official Website for Uchan NanchanOfficial discussion board for Uchan Nanchan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uchimura, Teruyoshi 1964 births Living people Actors from Kumamoto Prefecture People from Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto Japanese male comedians Japanese television presenters Japanese male film actors 20th-century Japanese male actors 21st-century Japanese male actors 20th-century Japanese comedians 21st-century Japanese comedians