Shinsuke Chikaishi

Chikaishi was born in Toyotama District, Tokyo Prefecture^[2] on January 20, 1931.

After graduating from Nihon University Second High School, he entered the Department of Russian Literature at Waseda University, but left after two years.^[5]

After dropping out of university, Chikaishi was hired by Mitsui Marine and Fire Insurance Co. thanks to his ability to use a typewriter in Russian and arrangements made by his high school mentor.^[2] He joined the company's theater club because he had a crush on a female colleague from another department who was a member, thinking that it would be a good way to get to know her.^[2] Later, as a result of acting as her co-star, he became deeply engrossed in the play, and the production went on to win the Award of Excellence at a workplace theater competition in Tokyo.^[2] One of the judges at the competition was Motoo Hatta, who later became his mentor.^[2] At his recommendation, Chikaishi began to attend the night classes at the Motoo Hatta Acting Research Institute and subsequently left his day job to become a full-time actor when the institute was reorganized into a theater company,^[2] making his stage debut in Rekitei.^[6]

He got into the voice acting industry because he had gotten married and his wife had become pregnant, which made him realize he had to do something. He jumped at the opportunity because it was television work that paid a flat rate per episode, even though the pay was quite low.^[2]

He provided the Japanese dubbing voice for actors such as James Cagney, Jerry Lewis, and Jackie Cooper in foreign films. In anime, he served as the original voice actor of Masuo Fuguta in Sazae-san from the show's start in October 1969 to June 1978 and also served as the original narrator of Old Enough! for a very long time.^[7]

Chikaishi gained widespread popularity as a radio personality through Hello, I'm Shinsuke Chikaishi, which debuted on October 4, 1971, and earned him the prestigious Galaxy Award NPO Foundation for the Study of Broadcast Criticism.^[6] Due to his advanced age, he continued working until September 25, 2020, when the radio program Hello via Postcard—which began during the era of Hello, I'm Shinsuke Chikaishi and ran for 49 years—had came to an end. Consequently, this ended up becoming his final job.^[8][9]

After working at the Enshigekijo (Performing Theater),^[10] he participated in the founding of the theater group Gekidan 3-no-Kai in 1957.^[10][11] He joined the Engeki-za theater company in 1958,^[12] participated in the founding of the Seien Theater Company in 1961,^[11] and was a member of the theater company Gekidan Toen (formerly Tokyo Engeki Seminar^[10]) from December 1962 to 2002.^[6][12]

Throughout his career, Chikaishi was managed by Tokyo Actor's Consumer's Cooperative Society,^[10] then Parata Project,^[1] and Mouvement.^[5]

Active since the early days of television, Chikaishi focused primarily on stage performances as an actor,^[6] while also making television drama appearances.

His voice range was baritone.^[14]

His hobbies included rakugo, fishing, and horseback riding.^[5] He was also really into making his own miso.^[5] Particularly when it came to rakugo, he was skilled enough to perform on-stage under the name of "Gyorometei Shinsho".^[15]