Fuku Suzuki

Fuku Suzuki (鈴木 福) is a Japanese actor from Tokyo.

The duo released the hit single "Maru Maru Mori Mori!" which earned them a place on the prestigious music show Kōhaku Uta Gassen and the Special Award at the 53rd Japan Record Awards.

In subsequent episodes, the drama performed less well in terms of ratings and was consequently cut short to eight episodes; its average audience share of 3.87% was the lowest of any prime-time drama series to be broadcast in the 21st century on Japanese commercial television.

A member of the talent agency Theatre Academy, he made his first appearance in 2006 on the NHK children's programme Inai Inai Baa! before earning a major role in Marumo no Okite and more recently the lead role in the television drama and film Kodomo Keisatsu.

Suzuki has also featured as a tarento in various variety and quiz shows, most notably Waratte Iitomo! where he was a "holiday regular".

His younger sister, Yume Suzuki, is also a child actress.

Suzuki made his first television appearance in 2006 as a toddler on the NHK preschool children's programme Inai Inai Baa! before making minor appearances (largely as children during flashbacks of protagonists) on works such as: the 2009 police procedural "Keikan no Chi" (as Tamio) and the 2010 asadora "GeGeGe no Nyōbō" (as Takashi).

He gained a more prominent role playing Tomoya Yusa, the protagonist's son, in the 2010 film "A Boy and His Samurai".

As a singer, Suzuki is most famous for his 2011 collaboration with child actress Mana Ashida under the name "Kaoru to Tomoki, Tamani Mook".

By 2011, Suzuki was playing a major role as Tomoki Sasakura in the Fuji TV television drama series Marumo no Okite.

Despite a poor ratings share of 11.6% for the initial episode, the final episode gained an average audience share of 23.9%.

The final audience share made the episode one of the most watched drama episodes of the year, second in the first seven months only to Jin.

Sports Nippon claimed that poor expectations for the programme due to the young cast as the reason for the initial low figures, though it concluded that ultimately the popularity of Suzuki and his co-star Mana Ashida were responsible for the show's success, especially after the theme song, performed by Ashida and Suzuki, reached number 3 on the Oricon weekly singles chart.

The popularity of the pairing led to a two-hour special, hosted by the pair, to be broadcast directly after the final episode.

Oricon, however, stressed that the pairing was not the sole reason for the show's success, noting that the well-crafted screenplay was also pivotal.

The success of the series led to a special being broadcast on October 9, 2011, which achieved an audience share of 16.7%.

In 2011, Suzuki played the supernatural being Bero in Nippon Television's television drama adaptation of Yōkai Ningen Bem, a role for which he earned the Supporting Actor Award at the 15th Nikkan Sports⋅Drama Grand Prix.

Suzuki was not only the youngest recipient of the award but also the first child actor to be awarded at the Nikkan Sports⋅Drama Grand Prix.

Asahi Shimbun notes that Suzuki's success in the role was due to his efforts in basing his portrayal of Bero around the animated version of the film and his ability to convey affection whilst portraying the supernatural being.

In March 2012, Suzuki featured as a guest voice actor on the animated Doraemon film "Doraemon: Nobita and the Island of Miracles—Animal Adventure".

Suzuki provided the voice for "Fūku", a seven-year-old boy who enjoyed going about his life at his own pace and was based on Suzuki himself.

Suzuki described being cast in the role, which made him the youngest voice actor of Doraemon's thirty-two films, as a "pleasing yet unexpected surprise".

His collaboration with Doraemon was extended to Asahi TV's animated television version when, in April 2012, Suzuki and his sister, Yume Suzuki, became regulars on a section entitled "A Box Project, 100 years After the Start of Doraemon".

The siblings appear once a month on the section in a hosting role as so-called "Navigators" and is the first programme where the siblings appear together as regulars.

Together with his childhood friend Kanon Tani, Suzuki became the presenter of the children's television show "be Ponkikkīzu" which was first broadcast on the satellite channel "BS Fuji TV" in April 2012.

The selection was seen as an experiment given the fact that show had traditionally been presented by established adult acts such as Bakushō Mondai.

As a consequence, the pair became the first child presenters of a "Ponkikkīzu" show in its thirty-nine year history.

After the announcement that he had been appointed as co-host, Suzuki commented that he was "looking forward to joining forces with his childhood friend and would try his best".

Also in April 2012, Suzuki began playing the lead role in the late-night TBS Drama, Kodomo Keisatsu (literally "Child Police"), where he portrayed Shigeru Ōnuma, a fifty-year-old police chief who, along with the rest of his police force, had been transformed back into a child.

As of September 2013, the pair continue to host the programme, which is now broadcast daily having previously only been broadcast on weekdays.

A "Ponkikkīzu" DVD box-set is expected to be released in October to coincide with its fortieth anniversary.

Despite criticism regarding the use of child actors for a late night programme, the success of the series led to the release of a film of the same name in March 2013.

The film débuted at number eleven on Japan's box office rankings and a DVD, which was released on September 4, 2013, débuted at number 48 on the Oricon weekly DVD chart.

A spin-off series entitled "Kodomo Keishi" (literally "Child Police Superintendent") began broadcasting in January 2013, in which Suzuki plays a minor role as his original character.

Mainichi Shimbun cites the starring of Suzuki as the lead character in Kodomo Keisatsu as the reason for the continued popularity of the series.

In late 2013, Suzuki began featuring alongside Haruna Kawaguchi, Sawa Suzuki and Seiichi Tanabe on the drama "Otto no Kanojo" (夫のカノジョ) (literally, "The Husband's Lover") where he portrayed one of two children, Masato Komatsubara, in a dysfunctional family.

The first episode aired on October 24, 2013, in Tokyo Broadcasting System's Thursday nine o'clock slot and received 4.7% of the audience share.

An additional special was commissioned in 2014 and will be broadcast on September 28, 2014.

An emoticon featuring Suzuki's character was created to promote the episode on the messaging service Line.

Suzuki featured in the 2014 film, "Akumu-chan the movie", reprising the role of Ryū Uehara having previously made a guest appearance for the fifth episode of the television programme of the same name.