"Nanani Chika ABEMA" (ABEMA, Sunday 8pm) is a variety show hosted by Goro Inagaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi and Shingo Katori. On January 11th, the segment was titled "A Special Gathering of Masked Handsome Men and Masked Beauties Who Look So Much Like Celebrities!" and featured handsome men and women who resemble celebrities gathering in the studio wearing masks.
Sugimoto Kuraki, a man who bears a striking resemblance to former TOKIO member Nagase Tomoya, revealed that he normally works as a "childcare coordinator," supporting childcare workers to provide better childcare. The contrast between his wild appearance and his job drew gasps of surprise from the studio.
When we spoke to a former colleague of Sugimoto, he testified, "I thought Nagase was actually working as a nursery teacher." A man who has been a friend of Sugimoto for 15 years and who used to ride motorcycles with Nagase also gave his stamp of approval, saying, "His speech style and aura are similar."
Sugimoto herself shared an episode, saying, "On my way home from a club, about 15 girls called out to me, 'Nagase!' I got scared and ran away." She went on to say that she thought, "If they say that much, I'd like to see them in person," and so she appeared as an extra in the drama "Tiger & Dragon" (2005), in which Nagase starred, and was mistaken for Nagase himself and passed through the entrance using a "face pass."
Furthermore, when she signed up for a dating app, she received an email from the app's management entitled "Warning," which said, "Your photos will be deleted due to a violation of the terms of service. They cannot be used even if they are your own photos," leading to the misunderstanding that she was impersonating someone else. She recalled a bitter experience where she paid 6,000 yen as a paid member, but was unable to do anything and ended up canceling the membership, shocking the studio.
When Sugimoto took off his mask, the studio erupted in praise, with many saying, "He looks like him!" Kusanagi admitted, "He looks like him from every angle. There are some angles where he looks a little different, but that's not the case here!" Katori also shared a nostalgic story about his time with Nagase in the studio.
The show that day also featured a woman who became a hot topic on TikTok for her resemblance to actor Mio Imada, as well as a handsome man who resembles actor Takeuchi Ryoma.
