Shoji Kokami (鴻上尚史, Kōkami Shōji, born 2 August 1958) is a Japanese playwright, director, actor, and filmmaker.
Born in Niihama, Ehime, Kōkami was attending Waseda University when he founded the theatrical company Daisanbutai (Third Stage).
[1] Becoming "one of the prime movers in the 1980s small-scale youth theater movement in Japan",[2] he won the Kunio Kishida Award in 1995 for his play Sunafukin no tegami.
[4] Kōkami has also directed and acted in several films including Renai Gikyoku: Watashi to koi ni ochitekudasai.
Marty Friedman, the guitarist for Megadeth, has also appeared as the expert (for music) commentator several times, as he has been a resident of Shinjuku for many years[7]