From NHK:
Japanese Comedian Shimura Ken dies from Coronavirus

Oh wow!
When I lived in Japan (2001-2009), this guy was on TV all the time. 
Japanese TV, at least when I lived in Japan, was notorious for having only about 10 TV personalities who would be on every show.    Shimura Ken was one of those guys.  He was on TV just about every time you turned it on.

I think this is the first time that I actually recognized the name of someone who died from coronavirus.  Even though I didn't know Shimura Ken personally, he was a fixture of Japanese prime time living rooms during my time in Japan.  So this whole coronavirus thing now feels a little bit more real.

...reading the article about Shimura Ken, I'm just now realizing he had been a member of The Drifters.  The Drifters were a musical comedy group in Japan in the 1960s and 70s.  Being a huge fan of Japanese oldies, I actually knew who they were, and even had some of their music.  (In fact, I mentioned them before on this blog).  But I had never realized Shimura Ken was one of their members.  Although according to the article, he was not one of the original members.  But still

Zundoko Bushi - The Drifters