A major category within the world of Japanese comedy is mono-mane (moh-noh MAH-neh), or comedians doing impersonations of famous people, and there are even two-hour TV shows where look-alikes will do their best impressions of actors and singers in a “Super Impersonation Battle,” often while the real stars look on laughing. While Americans might think of Elvis when they think of impressions, in Japan the most popular targets of mono-mane include director Beat Takeshi, professional wrestler Antonio Inoki or baseball legend Shigeo Nagashima. These days a Japanese comedian named Nocchi is using his resemblance to Barack Obama to score some laughs on Japanese TV. In one segment I caught, the TV network sent him on a mission to Obama City, Fukui Prefecture, which famously has the same name as the PEOTUS. The catch was that he had to hitch-hike there while wearing his Presidential suit, and camera crews followed him as he approached people at freeway rest stops to ask if they could take him in the direction he wanted to go. Whenever he got his next ride he’d turn to the camera and declare, “Yes, we can!”
Commedian Nocchi as Obama
