Who is the most famous Japanese celebrity who could compete?

[zoran]

According to this site these are the top 10 - strawpoll.com/most-famous-celebrity-japan although we can disregard the last one and it's a more western orientated site so may not be accurate. It's just an example I don't particularly know any Japanese celebrities. Here's a wikipedia page on Japanese celebrities - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Japanese_celebrities

Who do you think would be the most famous celebrity in Japan who may have a chance of competing on the show? If say one of the top 10 did, how much would it help ratings? Who is the overall most famous person to ever compete on the show?

[dakohosu]

Not that I'm particularly well versed on Japanese celebrity-ism, but based on what I've seen from social media, I'd probably go with HIKAKIN (1m followers on Instagram), Fuwa-Chan (~700k), or Iwamoto himself (2.2m but for the entire Snow Man group). Unless I've completely glossed over an earlier celebrity who was more famous, but fame is much more prevalent these days because of social media which didn't exist during the earlier eras. Besides, most of the celebrities from earlier eras were more of a case of "if you knew you knew", specifically only if you were well versed with Japanese sports shows, like in the case of Iketani, Shoei, Nakata etc. The only possible exceptions to this being Kane as he was an actor, Hiromichi Sato as he was a general TV host, then also Wakky and Kinnikun etc.  

I would assume that the more Inui successfully markets Sasuke, the more likely we are to get even more famous celebrities wanting to try out the show. Simply, the more famous they are, the more they will drive ratings, as more general fans will tune in just to see that given celebrity. It's a kind of positive feedback loop. Greater awareness of Sasuke will give Inui more leverage in terms of reaching out to celebrities to compete, and in turn celebs will be more likely to take an interest in Sasuke and hence will also want to compete. And so forth.

[brz0ny]

How big was Miyazaki?

[dakohosu]

Jan 2, 2024 11:53:05 GMT -5 brz0ny said:

How big was Miyazaki?

I forgot about him.

Again, take this with a pinch of salt as not an expert in Japanese celebrity culture, but I would imagine he was much more well known in the sports realm, given that he was a handball player and competed on Pro Sportsman a bunch of times. I'm not really sure how famous he would've been to the Average Joe citizen, just in the same way that most people don't know specific players in specific sports, unless it's like football or something, but I don't think handball is as big in Japan as football is in the UK for example.

[azn]

Considering Naomi Osaka is on that list, I can think of only one athlete-celebrity thingamajig that could be realistically feasible to compete:

1 - Ichiro Suzuki, The first person that came to my mind. He might be in his 50's but if he can still hit home runs that smash school windows, he might as well give it a shot. He would also be the most popular celebrity the show will ever have...with perhaps one exception.

I'm also gonna namedrop a couple other athletes who could compete, if taping doesn't effect there schedules

Shohei Ohtani - Kinda surprising he wasn't on the top 10 since he is by far the biggest fish out of the bunch, and if he does appear, he would be the biggest celebrity/athlete the show's ever had. With that being said, while it is extremely unlikely, it could be possible to bring in Shohei this year, it'll just be a tad tricky. For those who don't follow baseball/MLB I'll just add in some context. MLB usually starts around late March to Early April and normally ends late October to early November. If tapings occur in October, and if Shohei's team (Dodgers) miss the playoffs entirely, it could be possible for him to appear. Now let's say the Shohei's team does have a deep playoff run, and possibly makes it into the world series, then the chances of him appearing become slimmer the deeper the run is, and even more so if SASUKE begins taping in October or Early November. That is unless taping occurs in late November like this tournament did, then it could still be possible for Shohei to appear. Ofc, if taping begins during the summer months then it's very unlikely given he'd be playing in the middle of the season by the time taping occurs during those months. All in all, it's very unlikely, but if he does appear, like I sais,he's by far the biggest star the show will ever have.

Rui Hachimura/Yuta Watanabe - Two prominent Japanese born players in the NBA, Rui in particular is the most popular of the two, given he was so hyped up when he got drafted and also plays for the Lakers. Yuta might not be as popular, but he's played with Kevin Durant for the past 4 years, so that's something I guess (for those unfamiliar with basketball, Kevin Durant is a really good basketball player.) This could only work if SASUKE tapes in like July or August, since that's when the NBA offseason occurs. Given that tapings the past couple of years occur around October-November-ish, this probably isn't happening unless we finally get two tournaments in a year.

Naomi Osaka - The lone athlete on that top 10 (again, considering Shohei exists, that's kinda surprising.) I don't really know how taping would correlate with the Tennis Season, but in any event, Naomi would be a big star to have. It helps that she's beaten Serena Williams, and it really helps that she is really good at Tennis as she is a multiple time champion, but I'm not too familiar with Tennis season and how that might effect her chances of appearing.

While he doesn't fit the billing of a Japanese celebrity, given that he is American, I'm also gonna namedrop Trevor Bauer, because he has developed quite a following in Japan. Though I'm also gonna say that if they do have him on the show, it'll gain quite the stir. Not gonna go too much into the specifics but this video will do that if you wanna know more.

Aside from Japanese athletes themselves, the only other other celebs that I at least know of, are individual singers or singers in bands that have created songs later used in Anime's. Hyde from L'arc En Ciel, or LiSA, who sang the OP's for Demon Slayer and Sword Art Online, are some examples that pop in my head. They aren't gonna do well, and honestly with the exception of Rui or Shohei, none of these people I expect will do well, but then again that wouldn't be that surprising now would it?


EDIT:

As an MMA fan, I'm really surprised that I didn't mention him but Kazushi Sakuraba. Yes he's in his 50's but according to his wiki, he's still competing (albeit, in wrestling) which is insane. I'll put him along with Ichiro for realistically feasible

[ChiBiJKT48]

There's also another Watanabe Yuta who is a Badminton Player, Badminton fans in Japan *and Asia in bigger scale* support him and his partner Higashino Arisa, who together won Japan's first ever Medal *it was Bronze* at Badminton's Mixed Doubles in Olympics Tokyo 2020ne *he is also so far the only Male Japanese Badminton Player to ever won an Olympic Medal, so, yes, he is kind of a big deal in Japan*. If they want to tap in on his fame from Japanese fans alone, who were mad crazy about him, just invite him to compete in the future.

[katoshiho]

PS: I have count the numbers of ❤️ on twitter in each small video that called '意気込み' (means what they want to do for goal), and in this tournament, Top 5 will be:
1. Iwamoto Hikaru, as we knows
2. Hamada, also from Smile UP other group
3. FUMA, if his video didn't be uploaded again, he will have more ❤️.
4. Higashimura Mei, although in Hinatazaka 46, she even can't reach Top 10 now.
5. Otsuki Tatatsuya, even though I don't know why.
some other people are also have more than 1000 ❤️, including Sugeta, Darvish, Hioki (more like Iwamoto's power), Kyan, Kajihara, Wasabi, Sano（No.55）, Sato Kaede, Kanechika, Shimofuri Myojo Soshina and Seiya (in same video), Tsukada, Ogawa（No.20）Yuuji, Yusuke.
However, I don't know why a competitor called Aki (No.6) will have more than 3000 ❤️, even more than Sato Kaede. Nobody knows her, even me, right?

[dakohosu]

Jan 2, 2024 14:09:27 GMT -5 azn said:

Considering Naomi Osaka is on that list, I can think of only one athlete-celebrity thingamajig that could be realistically feasible to compete:

1 - Ichiro Suzuki, The first person that came to my mind. He might be in his 50's but if he can still hit home runs that smash school windows, he might as well give it a shot. He would also be the most popular celebrity the show will ever have...with perhaps one exception.

I'm also gonna namedrop a couple other athletes who could compete, if taping doesn't effect there schedules

Shohei Ohtani - Kinda surprising he wasn't on the top 10 since he is by far the biggest fish out of the bunch, and if he does appear, he would be the biggest celebrity/athlete the show's ever had. With that being said, while it is extremely unlikely, it could be possible to bring in Shohei this year, it'll just be a tad tricky. For those who don't follow baseball/MLB I'll just add in some context. MLB usually starts around late March to Early April and normally ends late October to early November. If tapings occur in October, and if Shohei's team (Dodgers) miss the playoffs entirely, it could be possible for him to appear. Now let's say the Shohei's team does have a deep playoff run, and possibly makes it into the world series, then the chances of him appearing become slimmer the deeper the run is, and even more so if SASUKE begins taping in October or Early November. That is unless taping occurs in late November like this tournament did, then it could still be possible for Shohei to appear. Ofc, if taping begins during the summer months then it's very unlikely given he'd be playing in the middle of the season by the time taping occurs during those months. All in all, it's very unlikely, but if he does appear, like I sais,he's by far the biggest star the show will ever have.

Rui Hachimura/Yuta Watanabe - Two prominent Japanese born players in the NBA, Rui in particular is the most popular of the two, given he was so hyped up when he got drafted and also plays for the Lakers. Yuta might not be as popular, but he's played with Kevin Durant for the past 4 years, so that's something I guess (for those unfamiliar with basketball, Kevin Durant is a really good basketball player.) This could only work if SASUKE tapes in like July or August, since that's when the NBA offseason occurs. Given that tapings the past couple of years occur around October-November-ish, this probably isn't happening unless we finally get two tournaments in a year.

Naomi Osaka - The lone athlete on that top 10 (again, considering Shohei exists, that's kinda surprising.) I don't really know how taping would correlate with the Tennis Season, but in any event, Naomi would be a big star to have. It helps that she's beaten Serena Williams, and it really helps that she is really good at Tennis as she is a multiple time champion, but I'm not too familiar with Tennis season and how that might effect her chances of appearing.

While he doesn't fit the billing of a Japanese celebrity, given that he is American, I'm also gonna namedrop Trevor Bauer, because he has developed quite a following in Japan. Though I'm also gonna say that if they do have him on the show, it'll gain quite the stir. Not gonna go too much into the specifics but this video will do that if you wanna know more.

Aside from Japanese athletes themselves, the only other other celebs that I at least know of, are individual singers or singers in bands that have created songs later used in Anime's. Hyde from L'arc En Ciel, or LiSA, who sang the OP's for Demon Slayer and Sword Art Online, are some examples that pop in my head. They aren't gonna do well, and honestly with the exception of Rui or Shohei, none of these people I expect will do well, but then again that wouldn't be that surprising now would it?


EDIT:

As an MMA fan, I'm really surprised that I didn't mention him but Kazushi Sakuraba. Yes he's in his 50's but according to his wiki, he's still competing (albeit, in wrestling) which is insane. I'll put him along with Ichiro for realistically feasible

Damn, that's actually really insightful.... thank you.