Shunpūtei Shōta

Shunpūtei Shōta (春風亭 昇太) is a Japanese rakugo comedian best known for performing on the Shōten comedy show on Nippon TV. He is known as a master of the Japanese comic art of rakugo, in which a single performer or storyteller appears on stage and tells comedic stories to the audience.

Career
Shōta was born as Yūji Tanoshita (田ノ下 雄二). In 1978, he entered Tokai University and joined the college rakugo club. His then was Tōkaitei Kirido (頭下位亭 切奴). When he was a student, he entered the Daigaku Taikō Rakugo Senshuken (大学対抗落語選手権) and won the championship.

In 1982, he left the university and became a disciple of Shunpūtei Ryūshō V (5代目春風亭 柳昇). He first used Shōhachi as his stage name. In 1986, he became and assumed his current stage name. In 1989, he was promoted to shinuchi (真打).

Since May 2006, he has appeared on Shōten as an ogiri (大喜利) member. On May 22, 2016, it was announced that he would become the sixth host in the show's 50-year history.

Kōzamei

 * Shunpūtei Shōhachi (春風亭 昇八)
 * Shunpūtei Shōta (春風亭 昇太)

Film

 * Cape Nostalgia (2014)
 * The Crimes That Bind (2018)
 * Whistleblower (2019), Takami Iiyama
 * The Setting Sun (2022)

Television

 * Naotora: The Lady Warlord (2017), Imagawa Yoshimoto
 * DCU (2022), Mamoru Hayakawa
 * Why Didn't I Tell You a Million Times? (2023)