Dave Spector is an American gaijin tarento, television producer, author, and actor based in Japan. Originally from Chicago, he moved to Japan in 1983 after visiting as a producer with the American television program Ripley's Believe It or Not!. He appears regularly as a commentator on several different Japanese television programs, including a Wednesday spot on Fuji TV's daily morning news program Tokudane!, and TBS's weekly Sunday Japon.
Spector at the 27th Tokyo International Film Festival in October 2014
Television personalities in Japan
Television personalities in Japan, known as tarento in Japanese, are celebrities who regularly appear in mass media in Japan, especially as panelists on variety shows. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, bankable stars in the United States were described as "talents" and were distinguished from production crews, which were seen as having more technical than charismatic talents.
Tetsuko Kuroyanagi hosts a daytime talk show Tetsuko's Room (徹子の部屋, Tetsuko no Heya). This program, as of 2022, has been broadcast for 47 years and more than 11,000 times, repeatedly winning Guinness World Records.
Takeshi Kitano
Shoko Nakagawa
Shōfukutei Tsurube II