Comedian Ken Shimnura des after coromavirus imfectlOm KKen Shimura、 a veteran slapstick comedian and member of rock m* roli band and comedy group The JDrrfters. a household name in Ja- pan in the 1970s and 1980s, died of pneunonia caused by the new coronavirus IMarch 29, his agency said March 30. He was 70. .。 Shnmura was hospitalized on March 20 after developing a fever and being diagnosed with severe pneurmonia. He fested positive for (he virus on March 23, becoming the frst Japanese entertainment fgure to announce an infection. 人A native of Tokyo's Higashimu- rayama, Shimura, whose real name Was Yasunori Shimura, replaced Chu Arai in The Drifters in 1974 after graduating from high school. Formed by the late actor Cho- Suke Ikariya and four other men in 1964, the group, which opened for the Beatles in Japan in 1966, be- came one Of the biggest successes in Japanese comedy history. Shimura rose to promminence aE ter starring in the group*s prime- tme television slapstick comedy Show 刀2c/が2Zyo ZZezzzzs/zzgo/ .半 (Z7s 8 o c/ocん gsse77の/ら ev@のの767) ]launched in 1969. He was later known for perforrmm- ing Popular characters such as Baka Tonosama (stupid lord) and Henna Ojisan (weird man) on TV. He also had led his theater troupe Shimmura- kon (Shimura spiri《) since 2006. At the time of his death, he Was starring in 7e7zso7/ S7z72z7の のoの7 がze7 (ezz4s/ S7が277の Zoo) and other TV shows, and was sched- uled to start Working in April on a movie based on the book 77,e 7ze 4のove 娘e 7777e. (Kyodo) wA六