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Shingo Mama began as an addition to Saturday SMAP, or SataSma for short. As mentioned on the main page, Shingo Katori and Masahiro Nakai are the hosts. One of the quirks of Shingo is that in every episode, his hair is different! One day he'll do pigtails and the next he'll have a twist perm and the next he'll wear a hat (to cover the damage of the twist perm) and so on and so forth. He also has a tendency to wear crazy outfits, and yet is rather quiet unless he thinks of something funny to day or joke about. The following are a few quirks and pieces of interesting info about Katori as Shingo Mama and the show.
Shingo Mama's catch phrase is "O'ha-" with a cute gesture which can sort of be described as such: the short "oh" is said with both hands showing "O.K." signs and "ha-" is said long with both palms extended. Look to the pictures on the right for illustration. Get it? Now say it together with the gestures. "O'ha-!" Sounds silly, but it's terribly catchy. "O'ha-" is a sort of cute way to say "Ohayo", which is Japanese for "good morning". See to the left for the Japanese writing, in case that better suits you. I believe there used to be a morning show hosted by a bunch of girls that came long before Shingo Mama and used it first, but Shingo Mama made it famous. Once you got the "o'ha-" down pat, then I dare ya to use it on someone Japanese. See what they say. During the show, it's the first thing the obviously drowsy Shingo says to the camera while still standing outside the house, and it is the first thing he says to the waking family. He won't leave them be until he gets a dazed and confused "o'ha-" from each of them, and seeing how long it takes them to catch on is part of the charm.
Shingo Mama always wears pink, but not always the polka-dot dress which he's famous for. During a few winter episodes, for example, Shingo wore a puffy collared pink shirt and pink earmuffs! Always cute, naturally. Out of interest, the earmuffs, headband and apron which he often wears, can actually be purchased here at the official website! They... probably wouldn't fit me... I used to think that Katori did his own hair up like that, and for a while there it made perfect sense, because not only did Shingo have long hair, but it was dark, too. But now his hair is blonde, and in recent Shingo Mama installments he kept the brown hair identity.
Of course, I'm not sure Shingo Mama in all its' brilliance would work in America, where the idea of cross-dressing brings up questions of sexual orientation and other controversial topics. However in Japan, for some reason things like that aren't really the issue. The fact that Shingo Katori doesn't fit the part of a feminine figure is really part of his charm. The six-foot, wild-haired superstar is far more what some people could easily refer to as the bodybuilding surfer type. However Shingo Katori, who has grown up in the world of entertainment and fantasy certainly portrays the image of being secure enough in his masculinity to pull off the role looking absolutely ridiculous and not even trying. Recently Shingo Mama was appointed the "Ambassador for Children", since his image was so very popular with children. It's easy to see why; his colourful antics and mannerisms are easy to pick up on and his catch phrase of "O'ha-" is non-threatening in every way. His cross dressing, be it called that, is so embarrassingly ridiculous that in no way does he look anything but silly, nearly clown-like. While some may argue that he's anything but a children's role model, the Japanese fans and the kids seem to feel quite the opposite, and that affection has nothing to do with liberalism. This post at the Shingo Katori fan website Mr. Green talks a little bit more about what the government means by appointing Shingo Mama with such an important role. One of the concepts behind the appointment was that Shingo Mama was a show which appealed to both children and their parents. Another was, in fact that Shingo Mama's home values were that of an idealised society. In other words, Shingo Mama is ultimately a good role model. Another article regarding Shingo Mama's appointment can be found here.
The most famous talent of Shingo Mama is his amazing culinary abilities, which are talked about on the breakfast page. Shingo Mama makes breakfast using whatever is in the fridge, and no, the mother is not allowed to go shopping the day before to stock up. Usually the meal contains a majority of leftovers. While Shingo Mama receives no payment from the mother for his services, he has a habit of drinking all the milk and eating mayonnaise - straight from the bottle! Eeew! I like Mayonnaise and I admit I'll have it plain on white bread some times, but just like that? Ah well, don't knock it 'till you've tried it.
During the breakfast meal, the conversations are pretty lively and entertaining, though I'll admit also to understanding less than half of it. No, I'm not Japanese. While Shingo Mama will take on the mother's role of asking "what do you have to do at school today" and etc., he also makes it a point to scold them for bad test scores and leaving a mess in the hallways. Occasionally even a family dispute gets solved, because it's not only the pressure of Shingo Mama, but the cameras standing around the family the whole time as well! Shingo Mama can squeeze a lot of apologies out of kids who want to appear ideal to all their friends and teachers watching. That gives me an idea for when I have kids... get all arguments on video tape.