Masaaki Sakai

Masaaki Sakai (堺正章; Sakai Masaaki , born August 6, 1946 as Kurihara Masaaki) is a Japanese popular performer from Tokyo. His show-business nickname is "Machaaki".

Related Topics:
August 6 - 1946 - Japan - Tokyo

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Sakai's father, Shunji Sakai, was a famous comedian. He fronted the mod-rock group The Spiders, formed in 1962, whose popularity lasted throughout the 1960s, spawning several hit songs and five films. He created a dance called "the Monkey" which became a craze in Japan. Sakai went on to a successful solo career after The Spiders disbanded, and continued acting in films and on television.

Related Topics:
Shunji Sakai - Comedian - The Spiders

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In 1999, he formed the band "Sans Filtre" with two former Spiders, Hiroshi Kamayatsu and Takayuki Inouye. They released their first album "Yei Yei" in 2000.

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He is the star of the 1970s Japanese TV program Saiyûki which proved amazingly popular in many English-speaking countries in the 1980s when dubbed by the BBC and titled Monkey.

Related Topics:
BBC - Monkey

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Sakai has been married and divorced twice, and has two daughters. He is an active supporter of AIDS charities.

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