Japan's Wonderful TV "Talents"

Spend a little time in front of a TV in Japan and you'll see more than a few interesting "talents" (tarento), which is a generic word for any comedian, actor or other famous person who appears on TV regularly. These TV stars come in all shapes and sizes, from super cute models like Aki Hoshino and Yuko Ogura, to Speedo-wearing comedian Yoshi Kojima whose signature joke (shouting sonna no kankei ne! or "But that doesn't matter right now!" as often as possible) became a national past-time, to exotic gaijin talents like Bobby Ologon from Nigeria. One star who's been seen on J-TV quite a bit lately is Natsuko "Gal" Sone (SOH-neh), a 5'4" Japanese girl who could probably eat more than you or I could in a dozen meals. A professional "gluttonous eater" who has competed in several competitive eating contests in Japan as well as Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, she has a seemingly endless ability to wolf down sushi, ramen, or mayonnaise pizza (her favorite food). You can usually find her appearing on one of Japan's many variety shows, chatting with the hosts while casually shoveling more food down her gullet. Usually when I watch Japanese TV, I'm on the lookout for yarase, or faked content designed to make for interesting viewing at the expense of honesty, but Gal Sone seems to be the real deal since she eats everything in full view of the cameras. Despite her huge appetite, she weighs only 95 lbs (43 kg).