16 Facts About Hideo Higashikokubaru

Hideo Higashikokubaru originally rose to fame as a comedian and actor under the stage name Sonomanma Higashi, and was known for his role in the popular game show Takeshi's Castle.

Hideo Higashikokubaru served as the governor of Miyazaki Prefecture from 2007 to 2011, resigning to run against incumbent Shintaro Ishihara for Governor of Tokyo in the 2011 election, where he came in second.

Hideo Higashikokubaru was elected to the House of Representatives in the general election of 2012, but resigned in December 2013.

Hideo Higashikokubaru appeared on Takeshi's Castle, which was dubbed on United States television as Most Extreme Elimination Challenge ; Higashikokubaru was dubbed as "Kenny Blankenship" in the American version.

Hideo Higashikokubaru was interrogated several times by the police, but was not indicted as he claimed he did not know the girl was under 18.

Hideo Higashikokubaru's then-wife apologized on his behalf to the Japanese public via the media, and he himself took a five-month voluntary break from his work as an entertainer.

Hideo Higashikokubaru was prosecuted for this, and fined, after which he again took a voluntary leave from his entertainment activity.

Hideo Higashikokubaru shifted his interest to politics around 1999 after being involved in these publicized incidents.

Hideo Higashikokubaru enrolled in the School of Letters, Arts and Sciences II at Waseda University in 2000, and graduated in March 2004, re-entering as a politics and economics student in April 2004.

Hideo Higashikokubaru divorced from his wife in February 2006 and dropped out of Waseda in March 2006.

Hideo Higashikokubaru used his official name as governor of Miyazaki.

Hideo Higashikokubaru declared a state of emergency in Miyazaki during a major outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in May 2010.

Hideo Higashikokubaru decided not to run for re-election in 2010, and left office on January 20,2011.

Hideo Higashikokubaru ran in the Tokyo gubernatorial election on April 10,2011, in which he lost to incumbent governor Shintaro Ishihara.

Hideo Higashikokubaru is an active runner and has completed several marathons.

Hideo Higashikokubaru played handball in high school and competed in the National Sports Festival of Japan in 1975.