Hikari Ōta

Hikari Ōta (太田 光, Ōta Hikari, born May 13, 1965) is a Japanese television comedian.[1][2]

Hikari Ota
Hikari Ota (left) and Yuji Tanaka (right) admire coins commemorating Kadena Air Base, in 2012
Born (1965-05-13) May 13, 1965
Kamifukuoka, Saitama, Japan
MediumOwarai
Television
NationalityJapanese
Years active1988 – Present
GenresOwarai
Spouse
Mitsuyo Ōta
​
(m. 1990)​

He is most famous as one half of the owarai duo Bakushō Mondai along with Yūji Tanaka, where he acts as the boke. He was born in Kamifukuoka, Saitama.

Unique character

Ōta is known for his strained, long-winded speeches, though it is perhaps his profound and sometimes dangerous comments that make him a staple of modern Japanese entertainment, and reflect his rather remarkable personality. As a boke, one is generally expected to fulfill a more ignorant comedy role, but Ōta's boke has him frequently overstepping classical boundaries into new and often controversial territories, often prompting Tanaka (as the tsukkomi) to bring him back down to reality. Ōta is a bibliophile—reportedly reading over 100 books a year—and some of his favorite authors include Kurt Vonnegut, John Irving, J. D. Salinger, and Osamu Dazai (of whom Ōta's father was a student), many of them holding some similitude to his often absurdist view of the world.

His opinions almost never synch with Tanaka's, that is to say, he often avoids agreeing with Tanaka by intentionally taking the opposing side simply out of spite, making their boke/tsukkomi relationship much more lively, and perhaps realistic.

He is an active essayist and has published a number of collections.

Literary career

In 2010, Ōta published his first fictional literary work, a collection of short stories, "Maboroshi no Tori"[3] (マボロシの鳥 / Legendary Bird) which he followed with a novel "Bunmei No Ko[4]" (文明の子 / Child of Civilisation) in 2012.

Now showing

Ōta has recently found a niche for his relatively extremist and sometimes ridiculous world views as the main speaker in the Nippon TV show, Hikari Ōta's If I Were Prime Minister... Secretary Tanaka, where he acts as the Japanese Prime Minister and addresses various social problems with his own style of radical solutions. The guests of the show often include high-profile members of the Japanese Diet and famous Japanese of various backgrounds.

Ōta also voiced Sid the Sloth in the Japanese dubbed version of the computer-animated franchise Ice Age.[5][6][7][8][9][10]

Awards
Year Award Category Work(s) Result
2019 61st Blue Ribbon Awards Best Director Kuso-yarō to Utsukushiki Sekai Nominated

References
  1. ラリー遠田 (3 January 2011). 『爆笑問題のツーショット』に見る、太田光の"3種類のボケ"とは？. インフォシーク (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2 September 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  2. "Pushing the Boundaries of Political Satire in Japan". New York Times. 12 August 2006. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  3. "文明の子 感想 太田 光 - 読書メーター". Archived from the original on 2013-01-04.
  4. Bunmei no ko (Book, 2012) [WorldCat.org]. OCLC 773566017.
  5. "アイス・エイジ". The Cinema. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  6. "アイス・エイジ2". The Cinema. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  7. "アイス・エイジ3/ティラノのおとしもの". The Cinema. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  8. "アイス・エイジ4/パイレーツ大冒険". The Cinema. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  9. "アイス・エイジ5 止めろ! 惑星大衝突". The Cinema. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  10. "アイス・エイジ クリスマス". Fox Japan. Retrieved August 12, 2020.


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