Popular Japanese comedian Ken Shimura has died from COVID-19, becoming Japan’s first known celebrity victim of the disease. He was 70.
Shimura, who attracted fans of all generations with his slapstick comedy and funny faces, was being treated at a Tokyo hospital, where he died on Sunday, said his agency, Izawa Office.
He was diagnosed with pneumonia after contracting the coronavirus. He was hospitalized on March 20 after developing a fever and breathing difficulties, and was put on a ventilator.
Shimura’s death came as new cases spiked in Tokyo, with Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike warning of an explosive spread of the virus in the region.
The news of his death topped Japanese TV news and talk shows yesterday, and some fans and reporters gathered outside the hospital where he had been treated.
Shimura’s death sent shock waves throughout Japan, where many people, especially the younger population, are seen as lacking a sense of urgency about the virus.
“I’m shocked to hear that he died so soon after his infection was reported,” a 21-year-old college student told the Japan Broadcasting Corp. “Until now, the risk of getting infected seemed someone else’s problem, but I’m scared of it now.”
Shimura was a former member of the comedy rock band the Drifters, a household name in the 1970s and 1980s, and gained fame while starring in the group’s prime-time comedy show It’s 8 o’clock, Gather Everyone!
Born Yasunori Shimura, he was known for his popular character Baka Tonosama (“Stupid Warlord”) on TV comedy shows. He also led his comedy theater, Shimurakon (“Shimura Spirit”), since 2006.
He was known as a fan of American comedian Jerry Lewis and had drawn inspiration from him.
Shimura’s death came as he was preparing for a new film.
He was also to run in the Olympic torch relay in July to represent Higashimurayama, a town in Tokyo’s suburbs, his agency said.
Japan and Olympic officials have agreed to postpone the Games until next year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I don’t think Shimura himself expected to have to go this way,” an Izawa Office staff member told reporters.
“I hope you will remember him and laugh,” he said. “Until the end, he was committed to present laughter to the people.”
A Zurich city councilor has apologized and reportedly sought police protection against threats after she fired a sport pistol at an auction poster of a 14th-century Madonna and child painting, and posted images of their bullet-ridden faces on social media. Green-Liberal party official Sanija Ameti, 32, put the images on Instagram over the weekend before quickly pulling them down. She later wrote on social media that she had been practicing shots from about 10m and only found the poster as “big enough” for a suitable target. “I apologize to the people who were hurt by my post. I deleted it immediately when I
The governor of Ohio is to send law enforcement and millions of dollars in healthcare resources to the city of Springfield as it faces a surge in temporary Haitian migrants. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Tuesday said that he does not oppose the Temporary Protected Status program under which about 15,000 Haitians have arrived in the city of about 59,000 people since 2020, but said the federal government must do more to help affected communities. On Monday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost directed his office to research legal avenues — including filing a lawsuit — to stop the federal government from sending
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
Japan scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years, Tokyo said yesterday. From Thursday morning to afternoon, the Russian Tu-142 aircraft flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea toward the southern Okinawa region, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said in a statement. They then traveled north over the Pacific Ocean and finished their journey off the northern island of Hokkaido, it added. The planes did not enter Japanese airspace, but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, a ministry official said. “In response, we mobilized Air Self-Defense
RSS