Ken Shimura & Naoko Ken -- Ginza Atari de Gin! Gin! Gin!（銀座あたりでギン!ギン!ギン!）

Veteran comedian and tarento Ken Shimura（志村けん）passed away earlier today at the age of 70 due to pneumonia brought on by COVID-19. I had heard that he contracted the coronavirus as the first Japanese celebrity to announce it several days ago, and when I did, I feared the worst due to his age and the fact that whenever I saw him on TV in interviews, he almost always had a cigarette in his hand. And tragically, the worst came to pass.

Shimura has already gotten some attention on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" through his work with the comedy group The Drifters（ザ・ドリフターズ）. As a kid, I got to know him through videotapes of The Drifters' long-running Saturday-night variety show "Hachi-ji da yo! Zen'in Shuugo"（8時だヨ！全員集合）. He had replaced member Chu Arai（荒井注）and although I don't remember Arai's temperament and comic skills with the group, I'm pretty sure that he didn't quite match Shimura's level of lunacy that probably often had the TBS switchboard lighting up with complaint calls about some of the naughty bits that characterized the segments introduced by him and his group partner Cha Kato（加藤茶）, although their famous "Hige Dance" sketch above wasn't one of them.

Shimura's ballerina with swan head probably was, though. I mentioned this before in a past article but I saw him as Japan's Jerry Lewis and maybe even Jim Carrey, years before Jim Carrey was Jim Carrey. As for some of his comedy, one of my students who belonged to that English conversation circle that I had taught for a decade remarked rather tersely that she considered The Drifters to be offensive and never allowed her children to watch "Hachi-ji da yo!" because of him and Kato.

However in recent years after The Drifters had their heyday, Shimura's most famous character was Bakatono-sama（バカ殿様）, a hedonistic and moronic feudal lord who simply wanted to have fun for the rest of his days, usually at the expense of his long-suffering court. Not surprisingly, Shimura brought some of his bawdiness to his character and the situations around him.

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Being in variety for decades, Shimura would also do his fair share in music although he was never a recording artist per se. However, from time to time, he did release songs but almost always in collaboration with another celebrity. One such tune was "Ginza Atari de Gin! Gin! Gin!" which I think may translate as "Shine Shine Shine in Ginza".

Released in December 2001 as a maxi-single duet with longtime buddy, singer-actress Naoko Ken（研ナオコ）who often showed up with him in various skits, "Ginza Atari de Gin! Gin! Gin!" is a crazy Mood Kayo with some Boney M. disco about a corporate newbie played by Shimura and supervisor Ken possibly falling for each other. Written and composed by Hello Project head honcho Tsunku（つんく♂）, even the footage above is styled like a Morning Musume music video. Officially, the duo name was Ken♀♂ Ken（けん♀♂けん）.

Going over the announcements on the various Japanese TV channels about his passing, there have been stunned and very grief-stricken reactions among the other tarento. I can't even imagine how this is striking folks in Japan right now since I believe that they are only starting to enter the beginnings of their own rising COVID-19 wave.

At the time of his death, Shimura was hosting two regular programs. One was a late-night program and the other was the Saturday-night NTV series "Tensai! Shimura Dobutsu-en"（天才！志村どうぶつ園...Genius! Shimura's Zoo）, a variety show based on animals. According to a sports journalism website, part of the program scheduled for Saturday April 4th will be adjusted although it's not currently known what will become of the show going forward.

My condolences go out to his family and his many fans. I will finish this article with one of his many favourite catchphrases: "AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!"