This guy’s got it all. “The man a woman would most want to be hugged by” - first place. “The man a woman would most want to marry” - first place. “The man most admired by other men” - first place again, and for the third year running! Does actor-singer Masaharu Fukuyama have his secret chagrins? No doubt he has, but on the surface at least his life is pretty enviable, if a true picture emerges from a survey by Spa! (Jan 14-21) of the likes, dislikes and impressions of 500 male company employees aged 30-49.
Is it his good looks? His talent? The roles he plays? Fukuyama’s best known role is that of Ryota, the conflicted father in the 2013 film “Like Father Like Son.” Ryota learns one day that his 6-year-old boy is in fact not his. Not his wife’s either. Belatedly, the hospital discovered its mistake. It had accidentally switched babies. What should the couple do? Keep the boy they have? Or start all over again with their biological son?
What most resonates with viewers is Fukuyama’s ability to come across as a true dad at a time when off-screen dads are less sure than ever of what kind of role fatherhood is or should be. He’s a role model, in short.
Show business dominates Spa!’s top-10 list of most admired men. Baseball great Ichiro places second, comedian Tamori fourth, Sakai Masato sixth – Sakai being the star of the hit TV series “Hanzawa Naoki,” about a young banker rooting out corruption and skullduggery in the buttoned-down world of business and finance. If it can’t be done in real life, let it at least be done on TV, is the prevailing sentiment.
So much for the men whom men like – handsome, talented, virtuous, triumphant. Who do men despise? In second place … the envelope, please … Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Now that’s odd, given his solid electoral victory only a year ago and current approval ratings that, though falling, are still, at close to 50%, very high by recent Japanese standards (his two predecessors, Yoshihiko Noda and Naoto Kan, left office with approval ratings close to 10%). On the other hand, maybe it’s only to be expected – the sitting prime minister, Spa! explains, always ranks low in this annual survey. Probably not many of them have been called “fascist,” however, as Abe is by at least one respondent.
Who is the one man in the country men dislike more than Abe? His name brings us back to showbiz: talk show host Mino Monta. No one appears on more TV shows than he does, and he has the Guinness Book of Records title to prove it. Provocative personality, unabashed populist, contemptuous scorner of foggy, insincere government rhetoric – such is his public image. It’s made him rich and popular. His downfall, sharp, swift and much gloated over by the weekly press, suggests the irresistible delight we derive from the ruin of eminent people, even the ones we liked. The higher they were and the lower they sink, the happier we are. Mino’s fall was not even his fault, it can be reasonably argued. He tripped over his adult son’s faux pas. The son was arrested on theft charges after allegedly robbing a man he found passed out on the street.
Spa!’s survey says as much about the hypothetical “man in the street” as it does about the rich, famous and powerful. Generally speaking he despises politicians and likes actors. One politician who doesn’t mind is independent lawmaker and anti-nuclear activist Taro Yamamoto – a former actor, as it happens. Last fall he presented the emperor a private letter setting out his views on nuclear power. The gesture was considered gauche and out of place, and Yamamoto’s popularity nosedived. He ranks third, just below Abe, among despised men. Fine, he tells a Spa! interviewer. “At least," he says, "it shows they’re taking an interest in politics.”
© Japan Today
16 Comments
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ReformedBasher
Liked him in Ryomaden. The series with him as crime-solving professor was not bad either.
nath
My wife loves him.
taj
What? No photo?
nath
He definitely has that effeminate aura that most Japanese women (and many men) seem to find attractive in a man.
ReformedBasher
http://news-entame.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/20120203_izutarina_16.jpg
http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/4436/10843126033278439611119.jpg
Think I'll watch Ryomaden again.
pointofview
The obsession with celebrities is out of control. Get a grip!
Jaymann
weird looking guy - totally lacking in masculinity.
theeastisred
He was by far the weakest link in Like Father Like Son. Totally wooden acting and showing every thought on his face in manga-style frame-by-frame manner.
Tessa
I would and all!
Viclovesdrama
To me he's quite the looker. I also think he is a decent enough actor, but not a great one. I couldn't see much difference between his Gallileo persona and the Like Father Like Son character, and even his Under one Roof character from the 90ties was similar. But then again, he's a musician first I guess.
Novenachama
Fuku-chan left Nagasaki when was 18 years old and the rest is history. A self-made man who is very talented, handsome, charming and a actor, musician, singer-song writer, multi-instrumentalist, producer, radio personality and photographer mentored by Ueda Shoji. In fact he has been an official cameraman for TV Asahi for the Summer Olympics. He has also held several photo exhibitions. Fuku-chan is consistently successful at what he does and has had repeated success in many areas of his life. He wasn't born into success, but simply did, and continues to do things that helps him realize his full potential. No doubt he's a optimist and that's what real accomplished men are.
Kurobune
Does anyone know if this is the same guy who was a member of the boy group "Shibugakitai" some 20 or 25 years ago? I believe they called him Fu-kun then.
kickboard
Jealousy, but I can empathize.
fishy
Different guy,
therougou
Almost all of his songs sound like some other artist's songs. Especially that one song that's a complete ripoff of the Carpenters.
JoiceRojo
I know him from Ryomaden and the song he composed for the drama "tonbi", I like him, but i don't consider him a great actor, he acts well but not outstanding, he has good looks and nice voice, overall, I think he's very "complete" artist...