Ichiro

**Ichiro** (一郎), created by Fujio Akatsuka, is a supporting character from the series Otasuke-kun.

He also exists as a a commonly-used "star" that is part of Akatsuka's Star System, appearing in many works through the 1960s to 1990s. He is also known for being **Sanzo** ("San-chan") in Songo-kun.

## Overview

As part of the Akatsuka Star System, Ichiro is often depicted as a ridiculously foolish young man who's usually set as a sidekick to a lead character, such as Otasuke or Songo. When not in a significant role, he is often instead seen amongst other characters in crowd scenes or will pop up as a bit part.

His character is an evolution of an earlier prototype "boss' son" character that appeared in the one-shot *I am a Salaryman*, which also included prototypes of Otasuke (though looking more like an early Osomatsu) and Tamao. A child that seemed to be a rough prototype of Ichiro also appears early on in Osomatsu-kun in "The Sextuplets Get Adopted", long before this character shows up himself in the *Otasuke* series. That boy's identical father would also see eventual re-use himself, as a clothing store owner much later on in -kun's "Snatch that Runaway Thief!".

Ichiro is usually set as the son of a company president, making him the next in line for the role when he is old enough to take of the business. He is able to successfully assume this role in certain scenarios, where he is depicted as an adult or thrust into the role as a child.

## Physical Appearance

Ichiro is a scrawny young boy with a rounded, visibly smooth head, and pointed, jutting beak-like mouth and facial shape in profile view. However, when viewed from the front, his mouth appears much smoother, though wide.

He is depicted with sparsely visible hairs on his scalp, arranged in a fringe around his bead-like eyes. This characteristic pattern of his hair is not necessarily meant to be baldness, at least in his earlier depictions, but would appear to be a reference to how Akatsuka drew his own bowlcut in illustrations of himself as a youth. There are times the top of Ichiro's head will be colored or shaded in for full-color illustrations as well, to suggest hair, but other times it may be left in flesh tone. As time goes on, however, the pattern of his head seems to be more compared to a certain type of plant (see "Trivia").

The hair detail is ultimately changed in his 1990s redesign, for the hairs are arranged more like Dekapan's and stick out some, suggesting an outright baldness and the "Fuji style" much like Dekapan. His face also appears less bird-like and smoother, depicted as more average and in front view more often. His nose shape also changes from round to sharp (like that of Chibita).

Ichiro is most often shown to wear a long-sleeved dress shirt, a long, dark floppy tie, and a pair of short shorts that contrast against the length of the rest of his outfit. As "San-chan", he tends to wear a long gown and cloak as part of his travels, but is once seen to wear the usual "Ichiro" outfit. The gown can also be seen to be reflected back in Ichiro's own appearances in *Otasuke-kun* as well, in being his choice of sleepwear.

## Personality

Ichiro is described as incredibly stupid in comparison to other children, and not necessarily yet fit for running his father's business. He is simple-minded and carefree, but often winding up vulnerable if pranked by another.

Nonetheless, he is incredibly energetic as well, and is willing to go along with any scheme that requires him. He can be vicious when angry or otherwise provoked and will bite hard with his teeth. He is also not immune to being a naughty child on his own, and can make as much trouble for others as they might make for him, especially with no logical reason.

Ichiro is fond of his cat Mike, and will carry him around strapped to his back as if he were a baby and take Mike wherever he wants.

In his original debut in *Otasuke-kun*, Otasuke and Tamao initially mistake him for being a 1st year elementary school child and express disbelief as he still knows some basic math equations, but are then told that Ichiro is actually going into junior high (making him the equivalent of a 7th grader in other parts of the world), shocking them at the revelation that he's actually older than them. However, his age can vary in other series, with him often shown to be an elementary school-aged boy hanging around Osomatsu or Chibita, or even an adult.

His debut also shows him to receive a concussion which temporarily flips his personality to being much more serious and smarter, only for this effect to wear off when he hits his head again in chapter 2 (and the gag does not recur further).

## Appearances in other works

*See also: Akatsuka's Star System*

* *Osomatsu-kun*
* *Akko-chan's Got a Secret!*
* *Yo-yo Kapo-kun*
* *Leave it to Chota* (as Keiji, son of the Smuggling Gang leader)
* *Songo-kun* (as Sanzo/"San-chan")
* *Nonsensical NO.1*
* *Kantaro*
* *Akatsuka-kun Can Do Anything*
* *Keiji and Goemon*
* *Extraordinary Ataro*
* *The Genius Bakabon* (as "Ichiro Satoimo")
* *2nd-Generation President Ichiro-kun*
* *Nyarome's World Expo Surprise Surprise Surprise Guide*
* *Let's La Gon*
* *Nyarome's Laboratory* ->*Nyarome's Fun Biology Classroom* (seen on Star System tree in the original chapter 5, which was re-used for a frontispiece of the Biology book)
* *TOKIO and Kakeru*
* *Japan Laughter Story*
* *MR. Masashi*
* *Gag Shop*

## Appearances in Animation

### Osomatsu-kun (1966)

Ichiro's most notable role comes in "See Dr. Chibita For Tooth Decay", adapting his manga appearance.

He is also shown to be one of the character faces present in the final shot of the first ending theme, making him one of the few non-*Osomatsu*-originating characters to be represented there.

## Portrayals

### Voice Acting

An uncredited actress voiced Ichiro in "See Dr. Chibita For Tooth Decay". As Keiko Yamamoto sometimes covered bit parts in the series, it is possible it may have been her yet unconfirmed.

## Trivia

* Ichiro's head and sparsely visible hairs can be compared to that of a *satoimo* ("village potato"), also known as the taro vegetable. This is reflected in a similar-looking character in *Tamanegi Tama-chan* named "Sato-kun", and Ichiro himself is given the surname "Satoimo" in a later usage in *The Genius Bakabon*.
* The bird-like element of Ichiro's face would also lead to him being recycled as "Karaten" in *Karappe of the Wind,* in which his design is nearly identical save for the lower portion of his face now being an actual beak (to represent him being a tengu). However, Fujio Pro materials like the 1970 Nyarome Expo Guide would argue that Karaten and him are in fact separate characters, and that treatment continues to the modern Koredeiinoda site. It would appear that Karaten was a case of re-using elements of Ichiro's design, but otherwise winding up as a new entity.

* A similar but unrelated child character, Jiro (二郎), also appears in the original Shonen Sunday run of Osomatsu-kun. He wears the same fashion, but has key differences in his facial features. The name (but not design) would later be re-used for the Ichiro Satoimo character's younger brother in *Bakabon*.