Masaaki Sakai

Masaaki Sakai

Born the son of Shunji Sakai, a famous comedian in Japan, Sakai initially came to fame by fronting the group sounds band The Spiders. This group, formed in 1962, was popular throughout the 1960s; they spawned several hit songs as well as thirteen situation comedy films featuring their music. He took the title role of Songoku (Monkey) in the 1970s Japanese TV program Saiyūki. This gained him fame in many English-speaking countries in the early 1980s when it was dubbed by the BBC and retitled Monkey. Due to his fame playing the mythical character Songoku, Sakai created a dance called "the Monkey" which became a craze in Japan. Sakai went on to a successful solo career after The Spiders disbanded, and continued acting in films and on television. In 1999, he formed the band Sans Filtre with two former Spiders, Hiroshi Kamayatsu and Takayuki Inoue. They released their first album Yei Yei in 2000. Sakai is known in Japan as a car enthusiast and regularly took part in the annual Mille Miglia race in Italy with his wife as a co-driver. He won a similar Japanese road race on October 18, 2000 driving a 1947 Cisitalia 202 MM with Inoue Takayuki (the guitarist from Sans Filtre) as co-driver. Due to business commitments he gave up racing in 2002 and gave his Alfa Romeo race car to Masahiko Kondō who is also a singer and race enthusiast. He is also a hobby archer. Sakai has been married and divorced twice, and has two daughters. He is an active supporter of AIDS charities. His show-business nickname is "Machaaki".

  • Title : Masaaki Sakai
  • Popularity : 4.955
  • Known For : Acting
  • Birthday : 1946-08-06
  • Place of Birth :
  • Homepage :
  • Also Known As : 堺 正章, The Spiders, 사카이 마사아키, 堺正明
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Masaaki Sakai Movies

  • 1973
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    Toshigoro

    Toshigoro

    1 1973 HD

    Teenage film

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  • 1968
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    The Age of Undutiful Children

    The Age of Undutiful Children

    1 1968 HD

    Comedy with music starring the rock band The Spiders.

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  • 2007
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    The Fearless Otojiro's Company

    The Fearless Otojiro's Company

    1 2007 HD

    In 1897, actor, director, producer and theatre company leader Kawakami Otojiro set off on a tour of the USA with his wife Sadayakko and theatre...

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  • 1977
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    I Am A Man of Honor

    I Am A Man of Honor

    1 1977 HD

    The sixth film of the “Truck Yaro” series. Two long-distance truckers, Momojiro and Kinzo, travel around Japan in highly decorated...

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  • 1965
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    Flowering Maidens

    Flowering Maidens

    1 1965 HD

    The young yakuza who have arrived in the city are being taught the beauty of work and the pleasure of learning by hard-working young people of the...

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  • 1965
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    A Girl of the Plateau

    A Girl of the Plateau

    1 1965 HD

    Kazuo Kitagawa lives on a farm on the Tateshina Plateau with his late teacher's widow and daughter, continuing his research. One day, Kazuo is...

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  • 1967
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    The Greatest Challenge of All

    The Greatest Challenge of All

    1 1967 HD

    After an argument with his father a son leaves his home and comes back only, as an adult, many years later just to cause them problem after problem.

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  • 1969
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    The Tempters: Smile After Tears

    The Tempters: Smile After Tears

    1 1969 HD

    Layabout teen Shoken is dissatisfied with his nagging single mother and bullies at school. He and his friends decide to form a cool rock band, but a...

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  • 2004
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    Locomotive Teacher

    Locomotive Teacher

    1 2004 HD

    Seigo Yoshioka (Kenji Sakaguchi) is a teacher that became mute after a kendo accident. He feels lost after the accident and eventually decides to...

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  • 1970
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    喜劇 右向けェ左!

    喜劇 右向けェ左!

    1 1970 HD

    Mamoru Hirayama, the sales manager of Clover Shoji, a women's underwear manufacturer, was selected by President Usui to be the manager of the foreign...

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  • 1974
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    Japan Beauty Story

    Japan Beauty Story

    1 1974 HD

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  • 2025
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    Spirit World

    Spirit World

    1 2025 HD

    Legendary singer Claire Emery (Deneuve) flies to Japan for a final sold-out concert. But when the show ends, so does Claire’s life on earth....

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  • 1968
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    The Spiders: Big Commotion!

    The Spiders: Big Commotion!

    1 1968 HD

    The Spiders arrive back in Tokyo by bullet train after a concert tour. They make their way through the fans to their car, the Spiduction and are off...

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  • 1954
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    Road to Hawaii

    Road to Hawaii

    1 1954 HD

    A 1954 film.

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  • 2012
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    Beautiful World

    Beautiful World

    6.1 2012 HD

    A gangster runs a budget nursing home.

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  • 2007
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    Yunagi City, Sakura Country

    Yunagi City, Sakura Country

    7 2007 HD

    Thirteen years afterward, I wonder if those who bombed Hiroshima are looking at me and saying: 'We did it! We were able to kill another person!' They...

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  • 2005
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    A Hardest Night!!

    A Hardest Night!!

    6.2 2005 HD

    A celebration of the ancient art of Japanese rakugo, roughly translated as “comic storytelling”. The film is interspersed with numerous...

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  • 1988
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    The Notorious Bored Samurai 2

    The Notorious Bored Samurai 2

    1 1988 HD

    The Satsuma clan conspires with key figures in the shogunate to overthrow the government. However, the head inspector, Naito Yamashiro no Kami,...

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  • 1994
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    The Notorious Bored Samurai 9

    The Notorious Bored Samurai 9

    1 1994 HD

    The one who hurriedly ascended the castle upon hearing news of Shogun Tsunayoshi's illness was Saotome Mondonosuke. However, instead of an illness,...

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  • 1964
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    Song of Happiness

    Song of Happiness

    1 1964 HD

    Japanese comedy directed by Noriaki Yuasa.

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  • 1963
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    High School Third Graders

    High School Third Graders

    1 1963 HD

    In 1963, Funaki Kazuo's debut song of the same name was released and then it was adapted to a movie based on Kenji Tomishima 's novel “Shake to...

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  • 1964
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    Here Because of You

    Here Because of You

    5.5 1964 HD

    An uplifting drama about the bond between a group of high school seniors and their kind-hearted teacher, Mr. Yabuki. Faced with the rigors of growing...

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  • 1964
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    Let's Dance Bon-Odori in Hawaii

    Let's Dance Bon-Odori in Hawaii

    5.3 1964 HD

    A young man longs to travel to Hawaii, the birthplace of his deceased father, against the wishes of his family, who are estranged from those...

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  • 1967
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    Las Vegas Free-For-All

    Las Vegas Free-For-All

    1 1967 HD

    The Crazy Cats, a Japanese musical-comedy group, were showcased a series of comic adventures throughout the 1960s. Las Vegas Free-For-All, one of...

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  • 1964
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    High School Juniors (Part II)

    High School Juniors (Part II)

    1 1964 HD

    A story full of youthful vigor and spirit as high school students try to work out their problems, realize the awakening of love and growing maturity...

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  • 1968
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    The Spiders' The Road to Bali

    The Spiders' The Road to Bali

    1 1968 HD

    The Spiders, a 1960s Japanese Group Sounds band, star in this rare Monkees and Beatles inspired secret agent movie. During their Asian tour spies try...

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  • 1968
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    The Spiders' The Noisy Parade

    The Spiders' The Noisy Parade

    1 1968 HD

    Popular Japanese Group Sounds band, The Spiders, star in their second movie, a "HELP!" inspired rock n roll spy movie!

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  • 1963
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    The School Cap

    The School Cap

    1 1963 HD

    A Tokyo student transfers to a rural school and finds it difficult to adjust himself to its customs and traditions. One of the customs is the wearing...

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  • 1967
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    The Spiders' The Reckless Operation

    The Spiders' The Reckless Operation

    1 1967 HD

    The Spiders, a Japanese pop group, in their first starring role, walk from Yokohama to Tokyo, to prove their love for a girl who told them "the...

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  • 1967
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    The Sunset Is Crying

    The Sunset Is Crying

    1 1967 HD

    The Spiders hit song made into a movie.

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  • 1966
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    Youth A Go Go!

    Youth A Go Go!

    1 1966 HD

    Kenichi and Satoru join up with three other electric music lovers to form their own band, "The Young and Fresh."

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  • 1974
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    Machi no Hi

    Machi no Hi

    1 1974 HD

    Chiyomatsu under the hill, also known as Choromatsu. He is a young man whose occupation is an approach shop, that is, a phony business of sex...

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  • 1993
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    Bored Hatamoto: Letter of Death

    Bored Hatamoto: Letter of Death

    1 1993 HD

    Bored Hatamoto film

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  • 1964
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    Nakamatachi

    Nakamatachi

    1 1964 HD

    Today is a new day with hopes. A youth hymn that depicts a young truck driver growing up in love with a dream while being supported by his friends...

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  • 1967
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    My Sweetheart

    My Sweetheart

    1 1967 HD

    It had been a year and four months since Mitsuo was last on a movie set. Welcomed back by director Ishizaki and his film crew, Mitsuo is excited to...

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  • 2012
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    The Castle of Crossed Destinies

    The Castle of Crossed Destinies

    6.3 2012 HD

    In the inner chambers of the Shugun's castle, 3,000 men attempt to vie for the affection of the female shogun. Based on the 4th-6th volumes in the...

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  • 1982
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    Sayonara Sankaku Mata Kite Shikaku

    Sayonara Sankaku Mata Kite Shikaku

    1 1982 HD

    The interactions of two families that have lived next door to each other for generations.

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  • 1978
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    Monkey

    Monkey

    8.3 1978 HD

    Buddhist priest Tripitaka and his three disciples Monkey, Pigsy, and Sandy, travel from China to India to fetch the Buddhist scriptures. They have...

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  • 2001
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    Churasan

    Churasan

    9.7 2001 HD

    The 64th NHK Asadora Renzoku Drama is Churasan, a story of a young woman, Kohagura Eri, who was born in Kohamajima Island, Okinawa on May 15, 1972,...

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  • 1995
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    Papa Survival

    Papa Survival

    1 1995 HD

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  • 2006
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    The Black Swindler

    The Black Swindler

    7.3 2006 HD

    Kurosaki is a young man whose family was destroyed by swindlers. Despite that, Kurosaki grows up to become a con artist known as Kurosagi. As...

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  • 1994
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    Furuhata Ninzaburo

    Furuhata Ninzaburo

    8.9 1994 HD

    Furuhata Ninzaburō is a Japanese television series that ran periodically on Fuji Television from 1994 until its final episodes in 2006. It was...

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  • 1995
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    Best Friend

    Best Friend

    1 1995 HD

    Kouhei asks his girlfriend Kaede to marry him. He also reveals that his company going to transfer him to London office and that he would like his...

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  • 1980
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    天皇の料理番

    天皇の料理番

    1 1980 HD

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  • 1970
    imgS1 E12

    パパ・サヴァイバル

    パパ・サヴァイバル

    1 1970 HD

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  • 1981
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    The TOP10

    The TOP10

    1 1981 HD

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  • 2008
    imgS1 E2

    ザッツ宴会テイメント

    ザッツ宴会テイメント

    1 2008 HD

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  • 2023
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    Kono Subarashiki Sekai

    Kono Subarashiki Sekai

    6 2023 HD

    A 'spoof comedy" in which a housewife who lives an ordinary life is forced to live a double life while pretending to be a major actress active in the...

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  • 2008
    imgS1 E8

    Impossible Love

    Impossible Love

    1 2008 HD

    Shogo is a divorced man with one daughter. In his younger days, he was briefly in a band but it quickly broke up, and he took on a job at a record...

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  • 2004
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    The Most Useful School in the World

    The Most Useful School in the World

    1 2004 HD

    This show's educational philosophy is to call professors of all ages and countries, and have them lecture on 「Useful Studies」 By solving...

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  • 1998
    imgS1 E49

    Tokugawa Yoshinobu

    Tokugawa Yoshinobu

    1 1998 HD

    The 37th NHK Taiga Drama is Tokugawa Yoshinobu. The series focuses on the life of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the 15th and final ruler of the Tokugawa...

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  • 1970
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    Tokugawa Yoshinobu

    Tokugawa Yoshinobu

    1 1970 HD

    Kazoku no Uta is a 2012 Japanese television series. It features actor Joe Odagiri as a father of three children and a musician who was once very...

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  • 1970
    imgS1 E8

    Tokugawa Yoshinobu

    Tokugawa Yoshinobu

    1 1970 HD

    Kazoku no Uta is a 2012 Japanese television series. It features actor Joe Odagiri as a father of three children and a musician who was once very...

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