George Tokoro

Honestly, George Tokoro might be the most relaxed guy in all of Japanese showbiz. He started as a singer-songwriter back in 1977, then somehow became a beloved host, an award-winning actor in Kurosawa's Madadayo, and the Japanese voice of Buzz Lightyear, all without ever breaking a sweat. What I love is that he never wears the "famous" mask. He'd rather be out at his Setagaya Base garage tinkering with one of his many cars and bikes, farming a little vegetable patch, grinning that easygoing grin. Most people who hit that level get hungry and intense; Tokoro just shrugs and enjoys himself. That quiet ease is the whole point. He's the kind of grown-up I genuinely want to be when I get older.

This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.

George Tokoro (born January 26, 1955, in Tokorozawa, Saitama) is a Japanese entertainer who debuted in 1977 as a singer-songwriter with the single "Gambling Rhapsody." He became one of Japan's most beloved television personalities, hosting long-running programs while also pursuing acting roles, most notably earning the Japan Academy Prize for Outstanding Supporting Actor for his performance in Akira Kurosawa's 1993 film Madadayo. In addition to his music and television work, he is widely known as the Japanese voice of Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story series and for his role as Fujimoto in the 2008 Studio Ghibli film Ponyo.

Name (English)

George Tokoro

Name (Japanese)

所ジョージ

Reading

ところ じょーじ

Born

January 26, 1955 (age 71)

Origin

Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan

Height

172 cm

Occupation

Singer-songwriter / Comedian / Talent / Actor / Television host / Voice actor

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Aquarius / Sheep

Blood type

O

Agency

TV Club

Active years

1977–present

High school

Kinjo High School (Kodaira, Tokyo)

University

Takushoku University, Faculty of Commerce (expelled for non-payment of tuition)

Debut

Debuted in 1977 as a singer-songwriter with the single "Gambling Rhapsody / Suite: Winter Scenery"

Awards & achievements

• 1984 Golden Arrow Award, Broadcasting Prize
• 1994 Japan Academy Prize, Outstanding Supporting Actor (Madadayo)
• 1994 Blue Ribbon Award, Best Supporting Actor (Madadayo)
• 2024 66th Japan Record Award, Best Composition Award ("Subete o Ageyō" performed by Leon Niihama)

Timeline

1. 1955Born on January 26 in Tokorozawa, Saitama. Birth name: Takayuki Tsunoda; later family-registered as Takayuki Haga.
2. 1977Debuted as a singer-songwriter with the single "Gambling Rhapsody." Same year, became a personality on Nippon Broadcasting System's All Night Nippon.
3. 1979Hosted TV Tokyo's Doba Doba Daibakudan, gaining wide recognition as a television talent.
4. 1990Established himself as a top television personality with multiple self-titled programs including Tokoro-san no Tadamono de wa Nai! on Fuji TV.
5. 1993Appeared in director Akira Kurosawa's film Madadayo.
6. 1994Won the Japan Academy Prize for Outstanding Supporting Actor and the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Supporting Actor for Madadayo. Also starred as the lead in the TBS drama remake of I Want to Be a Shellfish.
7. 2005Continued hosting long-running programs such as Waratte Koraete! and Science Eye
8. 2024Won the Best Composition Award at the 66th Japan Record Awards for "Subete o Ageyō," a song he wrote for Leon Niihama

Spouse

Fumiko Haga (president of TV Club)

Hobbies

• Car collecting and customization
• Motorcycle collecting and customization
• Gun collecting
• Farming and gardening
• Miscellaneous goods collecting

Specialties

• Guitar playing
• Songwriting
• Handcrafting and customization

Works summary

Appearances

397 (1958–2026)

By year (titles with a known year)

1958: 1, 1973: 1, 1977: 4, 1978: 4, 1979: 9, 1980: 8, 1981: 5, 1982: 8, 1983: 10, 1984: 14, 1985: 9, 1986: 11, 1987: 14, 1988: 9, 1989: 12, 1990: 15, 1991: 7, 1992: 3, 1993: 4, 1994: 3, 1995: 6, 1996: 10, 1997: 8, 1998: 9, 1999: 5, 2000: 7, 2001: 5, 2002: 4, 2004: 4, 2005: 6, 2006: 3, 2007: 1, 2009: 3, 2010: 4, 2011: 6, 2012: 5, 2014: 12, 2015: 4, 2016: 1, 2017: 4, 2018: 5, 2019: 1, 2020: 3, 2021: 2, 2022: 1, 2023: 1, 2024: 2, 2026: 1, year unknown: 123

Filmography / notable works

• Official sitehttps://www.tv-club.com/
• YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsSyUK0dmdBWnpsmy0X3KVg
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%89%80%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A7%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3544624

Tags

• From Saitama
• Tokorozawa
• TV Club
• Singer-songwriter comedian
• Setagaya Base
• Car collector
• Voice actor
• Television host

Last updated

November 2, 2026

Only publicly available facts are listed; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Base data was compiled from Wikidata from June 2026 onward; ages are recalculated daily and deaths are checked against Wikidata on an ongoing basis. Works and profile fields sourced from Wikipedia reflect content as of 2026-08-26. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.