Welcome to All About Fukuyama Masaharu, part lyrics blog, part fan site, 100% about Masha. It started out as a blog around April 2009 to repost all English lyrics, but after a while I got a bit ambitious and posting many other things I can gather from the net, some pictures, some articles, mostly news in English from the perspective of a fan although you can find some translated articles in here. I do not pretend to say I take credit for the text in here; frankly I just search, gather, summarise, reword and repost. I will always include the name of the fan who said whatever I posted to the best of my ability but as you can see, my sources are mostly from 2 main fan forums of Masha that is not in Japan. My problem is I can't read Japanese or Chinese, but my persistence sometimes does pay off when I just keep looking. You will also find some pictures in here, but all of the pictures you don't see in here are in Facebook, just look for All Abt Masha. I am quite active in that Facebook page, and it is also a place to find information! My main purpose for this blog is for myself; to gather all lyrics in English under one roof. But I am very sure foreign fans can also benefit from the contents in this blog, and without the many wonderful foreign Masha fans who translate, discuss and share whether privately or publicly, this blog will never be what it is today. I am still hoping to find more English lyrics somewhere, although from the looks of it, I will say things have slowed down a bit. Anyway, have a look. If you have any snippet about Masha to share with me, or pictures or lyrics, anything at all, please do not hesitate to do so. Do join in the discussion by using Post A Comment. Do consider sending me your submission of reviews. And for new Masha fans, if you like, do join my Contact List. Thanks for dropping by!
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I am sure you know more about him than I but just in case you're wondering how to spell his name, etc, the following is a short bio available everywhere in net about him as well as some more in depth information about him. For your information, he is the youngest of 2 sons (no daughters). I asked around and he has an older brother in the Navy married with 3 young children. If you must know, from what I do know, he is not married and from observation, is not engaged to be married nor does he seem to have a steady girlfriend although he might have one hidden somewhere. And he is not gay. Main peculiarity about him that some may find endearing and often revealed by fans is his cleanliness. He is a cleanoholic, as he himself revealed in this interview (look for "Shin Domoto Kyodai" translation as well as the deleted scenes from that same interview) and many others. Click Read More link if you like to know more about him.
Name
Romaji
Fukuyama Masaharu
For the curious few, in Asia, especially for Japanese, Korean and Chinese, the family name ie the surname comes first. So Fukuyama is his surname, and his given name is Masaharu. To analyse more into his name, click here.
Kanji
福山雅治
Japanese
ふくやま まさはる
Korean마사하루 후쿠야마
Nicknames
Masha (ましゃ)
Apparently his father, who died when he was a teenager I believe gave him this nickname due to his father's slightly off pronounciation of his name caused by his false teeths. I believe many fans still call his by that nickname, affectionately.
Masha-nii, Fuku-chan
I believe his friends call him these. The former is as if calling him a big brother as in big brother Masha whilst the latter is more even level I suppose. You know Japanese, they have thousands of ways to address someone. I suppose if I ever do meet him, I will just call him Masaharu-san or Mr Fukuyama instead of Fukuyama-san.
Profession
Actor, singer, songwriter, photographer, DJ
He currently hosts 2 very popular radio shows, one nighttime every Saturday for AM radio known as All Night Nippon and one daytime every Sunday for FM radio called Suzuki Talking FM. The night show's content is pretty adult stuff but the day time show I suppose he toned down a bit. If you want to listen to these radio shows via the internet, scroll down for more information (coming soon).
Birthdate
1969-Feb-06
As of 2011, he is 42 years old. His Western Astrogical sign is Aquarius, water sign. His Chinese Zodiac is a bit more confusing as he is borderline case. The year of the Rooster is in 1969 but anything before the start of the Chinese calendar should be Year of the Monkey, which is 1968. However reading some online articles, Chinese New Year in 1969 was on the 17th of February but Chinese Zodiac sign for that particular year (or any year for that matter) begins after the beginning of spring, and in Masha's case, spring in 1969 was on the 4th of February. And so he is officially a Rooster, or you can say head of Monkey, backside of a Rooster so he has personalities from these 2 signs. Thanks to Szeying of MashaPlus for explanation on when the year officially starts in terms of zodiac signs. He seems at first more Monkey but on reading more on Rooster, it fits him perfectly. He is specifically an Earth Rooster. Or like Angelreii of MashaPlus said, he is a "MONSTER" aka MONKEY + ROOSTER! Gotta agree on that!
Birthplace
Nagasaki City, Nagasaki, Japan
He once revealed in his radio show very recently that he is the descendant of the atomic bomb survivors of Nagasaki. I didn't know this but apparently in Japan there were some discrimination against the survivors, I think we all know the reason behind this, primarily being fear I suppose but his parents gave birth to this tall, handsome and talented man so I don't suppose there should be any discrimination of that sort anymore! The name for that is "Hibaku nisei," the son of survivors of the atomic blast (Source)
Height
180cm
About 5 feet 9 inches to 5 feet 10 inches. If that is the case he looks taller. But some says 6 feet, I tend not to believe that because he looks shorter than that. But he is taller than a lot of people and I notice Nagasaki men are very tall generally. I would say he is a little shy of 6 feet.
Weight
68kg
Fluctuates, tend to be skinnier than bigger. Very experienced fans said that he gains weight during concerts (as chefs cook ready meals for him) and losses weight when resting/filming (as he has to cook himself I suppose and with his tight schedule, I wouldn't suppose he has the time)
Blood typeO
Marital statusNever been married therefore never been divorced therefore at present single. But do read about marriage rumours (which includes the usual gay rumours) ans scroll to Relationships.
Fun Facts / Did You Know? - The whole list here.
Needs a japanese address to register with payment of yearly fees where you get newsletters, some special gifts as well as ticket ballots to his concerts. Quite a hassle. But if you really want, get a Japanese address or use one of those agent services, such as this. The services and the yearly fees isn't cheap but his tickets aren't easy to get either. You can read some translated BROS newsletters here thanks to izumisano of Masha Heart and MashaPlus Info Forums.Relationships (Rumoured, confirmed and speculated)
Confirmed is generally believed to be true or as confirmed by Masha, Rumoured is stronger than Speculated. First [...] is the status of the rumour and 2nd [...] is my personal opinion on the veracity of these relationships, except for confirmed relationships, then it will be about the current status of that relationship.
Unnamed Nagasaki chilhood sweetheart(s)[Confirmed][Separated]
Unnamed Nagasaki girlfriend[Speculated][Probably just gossip]
[Confirmed][Separated]
[Rumoured][Absolute nonsense]
[Rumoured][Gut feeling says true but could be separated by now if true]
[Speculated][Absolute nonsense]
[Rumoured][Possible but definitely separated by now if true, rumoured to be 2004]
Mentor, Ueda Shoji's granddaughter
[Rumoured][Probably just gossip]
Probably more speculated or rumoured relationships from the time he was just the guy from Nagasaki to the man he is now. Take the above with a pinch of salt, except for the confirmed ones. It could be true though! I mean he has got to be dating someone.
Talent agency
Amuse [Japanese]
Offical websites
All in Japanese
- Universal Music
- All Night Nippon (ANN) [Radio]
- SUZUKI Talking FM [Radio]
- Official Fanclub, BROS
- His official Twitter account (but it is shared with his employees I think)
His Biography
Taken from Modern Japan.
Fukuyama 'Masha' Masaharu was born in Nagasaki and had a reputation as a prankster in his youth. He got his nickname seemingly because his father has trouble with his teeth and couldn't say his name properly. He came to Tokyo straight out of high school and auditioned for the Amuse film company. But his first few were spent trying to build a career as a musician. He made his less than sparkling live debut in August of 1989 - no-one turned up. His debut single, released in 1990 didn't fare much better. But a later single from his debut album Message was used in a Victor TV commercial and he had his break. Weekly broadcasts on the famous All Night Nippon radio show made him a rare DJ/actor combination and also did wonders for his popularity.
He appeared in his first TV drama in 1991, (Because There is Tomorrow) with popular actress Imai Miki. In 1993, the drama Hitotsu Yane no Shita (Under One Roof) was a smash and made a star of Fukuyama. He was chosen that summer as 'best jeanist', a bizarre title that gets a lot of publicity, and he had his first million-selling album Calling. He has since starred in several successful TV series, such as Hitotsu Yane no Shita 2 and Meguriai (Chance Encounter) with actress Tokiwa Takako, for which he has often recorded the title tune. He was sent by TV Asahi as a photographer for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. In polls of the most popular male performers, Fukuyama is perennially chosen 2nd behind SMAP member Kimura Takuya. In two separate surveys in 2006, he was chosen as the musician most people would want to perform at their wedding and as the ideal marriage partner.
Fukuyama was already a well-established star by the time he landed his first movie starring role. He played a genius phsyicist in Yogisha X no Kenshin (2008), the big screen adaptation of the 2007 Fuji TV drama series Galileo (photo) in which he co-starred with actress and singer Shibasaki Koh. Fukuyama wrote, composed and produced the movie's ballad theme, "Saiai," which was sung by Koh. The hit TV series was adapted from a series of novels by Higashino Keigo, many of which were nominated for major awards, while the movie was based on the novel that finally won Higashino the Naoki Prize.
During a radio show he hosted on August 9, 2009 - the 64th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki - Fukuyama revealed publicly for the first time that he was "Hibaku nisei," the son of survivors of the atomic blast. He performed a concert in his hometown for the first time in nine years as part of a nationwide tour to commemorate his 20th year in showbiz. 2009 also saw him filming his first ever historical drama role as the legendary 19th-century figure Sakamoto Ryoma. "Ryomaden," the taiga drama series for 2010, also saw him appearing in an NHK drama for the first time.
His Filmography & Discography
View the whole long and full list here at Jpopmusic.com
His Official Biography
A must read, from the man himself, his autobiography, Tokyo Tower ~Me & my radio & sometimes my mom~ series, all translated by izumisano of Masha Heart and MashaPlus Info Forums. The chapters as posted in Masha Heart is a bit confusing so I am reproducing them here in accordance to how izumisano arranged it at her website. Insightful, brutally honest and begins from the time he left Nagasaki to pursue his dream at the tender age of 18 until 2007 when he was 37 and was already very successful then.
- Chapter 1 ~ Part 1 | Part 2 ~
- Chapter 2 ~ Part 1 | Part 2 ~
- Chapter 3 ~ Part 1 | Part 2 ~
- Chapter 4 ~ Part 1 | Part 2 ~
- Chapter 5
- Chapter 6
- Chapter 7
- Final Chapter ~ Part 1 | Part 2 ~
- Mother's day chapter
- Chilhood chapter
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