Demon Kogure unmasked

[Asameshimae 220]

I was looking for something else on youtube, and saw a side suggestion for Japanese celebrities without makeup. Most of them were women of course, but they had men too. I really wouldn't have cared, but they promised Demon Kogure, sometime sumo commentator as well, so I waded through it, and found his pic and took a screenshot. Hmmm.. the makeup definitely adds something.

[Asameshimae 220]

I guess I could add a pic of him more "in character" for those who have never seen him or not seen him in a while. And in the interest of full disclosure, I guess he changed his name to Demon Kakka in 2010. No offense meant, Mr. Kakka.

Edited November 29, 2014 by Asameshimae

[Orion 431]

I could go one better -- if I could (a) find the snapshot and (b) put it online. I have a group photo of makushuta rikishi and fans, and the last in the line was Demon as a Waseda student. (I was looking pretty young myself (Sigh...) ) I was told later by another member of the group that his band was just beginning to take off. A year or so back I gave a copy to the sumo museum under a 'privacy' advisory.

Orion

[Kuroyama 715]

  On 29/11/2014 at 22:57, Asameshimae said:

I guess I could add a pic of him more "in character" for those who have never seen him or not seen him in a while. And in the interest of full disclosure, I guess he changed his name to Demon Kakka in 2010. No offense meant, Mr. Kakka.

I think all he did was to drop his real family name from his onstage persona. "Kakka" is an honorific like "san" or "sama", meaning roughly "His Excellency".

[Asameshimae 220]

I don't know if he has legal protections in place, but I can't find his full real name anywhere. He may have even legally changed it, but you would think one could find out what his born name was.

Admittedly, my search was not exhaustive.

Edited December 1, 2014 by Asameshimae

[Asameshimae 220]

His Japanese wikipedia article says only his family name, Kogure (as Kuroyama alluded to above) has been made public.

[torquato 1,075]

  On 01/12/2014 at 01:20, Asameshimae said:

His Japanese wikipedia article says only his family name, Kogure (as Kuroyama alluded to above) has been made public.

I looked there too. Have you noticed his 'birthday'? 自称紀元前98038年, i.e. 98038 BC. :-D

I still don't know what to think of this guy. He is a bit... aamm... bizarre.

But nevertheless it seems he has acclaimed quite some reputation as a sumo critique.

[Gurowake 4,107]

IMDB says his birth name is Takashi Kogure.

[Asameshimae 220]

Yep, my search was certainly not exhaustive. I did not think to look in English.

[Mark.Buckton 68]

  On 30/11/2014 at 08:10, Orion said:

I could go one better -- if I could (a) find the snapshot and (b) put it online. I have a group photo of makushuta rikishi and fans, and the last in the line was Demon as a Waseda student. (I was looking pretty young myself (Sigh...) ) I was told later by another member of the group that his band was just beginning to take off. A year or so back I gave a copy to the sumo museum under a 'privacy' advisory.

Orion

no privacy advisory needed.

He has been to the Kokugikan before minus make up, and the photo of him as a Waseda student is one of several out there. They have appeared before in the Japanese language media and I have used one in at least one article.

[Asameshimae 220]

  On 30/11/2014 at 08:10, Orion said:

I could go one better -- if I could (a) find the snapshot and (b) put it online. I have a group photo of makushuta rikishi and fans, and the last in the line was Demon as a Waseda student. (I was looking pretty young myself (Sigh...) ) I was told later by another member of the group that his band was just beginning to take off. A year or so back I gave a copy to the sumo museum under a 'privacy' advisory.

Orion

Would love to see that pic.