Masashi Tashiro was born in Saga Prefecture on August 31, 1956. His father, a manager of a cabaret chain, ran away with another woman. Subsequently, his parents divorced and he was raised solely by his mother. In 1961, when Tashiro was six years old, he and his mother moved to Tokyo and he entered missionary kindergarten. In 1963, he enrolled at Toyama elementary school in Shinjuku. At age thirteen, while a student at Okubo junior high school, his mother remarried and he chose to enroll in a higher grade at a private high school and live with his father in order not to rely financially on his mother’s new husband.

In 1972, he entered Machine Studies at Shibaura Institute of Technology Senior High School after graduating from Nakase junior high school in March of the same year. At Shibaura, he met Masayuki Suzuki. They later formed the band The Chanels. Tashiro and Suzuki were then considered juvenile delinquents.

In March 1975, he graduated from Shibaura Institute of Technology Senior High School. It was around this time he started driving. His first car was a Sunny. His subsequent cars were a Gloria, a Camaro, a Ford, a Prelude, and a Mercedes-Benz. It had grown into an obsession of his.

After graduating from Shibaura Institute of Technology Senior High School in March 1975, centering Masayuki Suzuki, the Japanese doo-wop band The Chanels was formed with Tashiro, Nobuyoshi Kuwano and others in the same year. Suzuki was the lead singer, Kuwano was the trumpeter, and he sang baritone.

In June 1975, he ran away from home after getting into a big row with his father. Later, he was taken in by Chanels member Hiroyuki Kuboki and worked as a clerk for the same filling station. He had lived in the company’s dormitory for two years. Afterwards, he became a trucker after he was hired by the president of a truck company, who came as a customer in Tashiro’s filling station in 1978. Although he already formed the band, he allegedly kept on working as a trucker because he thought that “The entertainment world is scary”.

The Chanels were formed in 1975, and began performing as an amateur band in 1976. They were chosen as a No. 1 band on a Japanese television program called “Ginza Now” (ギンザNOW) and won a prize in a music contest under the sponsorship of Yamaha.

Tashiro made his debut as a member of the group in 1980 and they came to be widely known for adopting rhythm and blues style. 4 members of the front singers including Tashiro wore blackface using shoe polish and they became famous and popular. Their first single, “Runaway” sold more than 1 million copies. Their May 1981’s single “Hurricane” was covered by Puffy AmiYumi in 2001. In 1983, the group changed its name to Rats & Star because of its similarity with the French brand Chanel.

The band practically dissolved in 1986 because the leader Suzuki launched a solo single, “The Summer Disappeared Over the Glass” (ガラス越しに消えた夏, Garasu goshi ni kieta natsu). Tashiro, appeared on TV music shows like “The Best Ten” (ザ・ベストテン) and worked as a lyricist for singer and actress Kyōko Koizumi, gaining enough popularity in Japan that he released an LP, “The Legend of Niijima” (新島の伝説, Niijima no densetsu) as a solo artist.

After Rats & Star broke up, his comedic talent was discovered by Ken Shimura, a member of Japanese comedic group The Drifters, and he became a television comedian. Here he gained the nicknames “King of pun” (ダジャレの帝王, Dajare no Teiō) and “Genius of props” (小道具の天才, Kodōgu no Tensai). On July 10, 1988, he opened a tarento shop, called “Marcy’s” (マーシーズ) after his nickname, in Takeshita Street, Shibuya, Tokyo. He appeared in many television commercials, hosted many television programs, wrote an autobiography and a book on puns, directed a movie and starred as the main character in the Famicom/MSX2 action game “Masashi Tashiro Has So Many Princesses” (田代まさしのプリンセスがいっぱい, Tashiro Masashi no purinsesu ga ippai), released in Japan on October 27, 1989.

He also appeared as a film actor in a Shizuka Ijuin’s original work film “Crêpe” in October 1993. He co-starred with an actress Kaho Minami (Ken Watanabe’s present wife).

In March 1996, Rats & Star’s members got together for six months and covered a member of band Happy End Eiichi Otaki’s song “If I Could Meet You in a Dream” (夢で逢えたら, Yume de Aetara) in April of the same year. This song recorded a big hit. They also appeared in NHK’s Kōhaku Uta Gassen at New Year’s Eve of the year.

On September 24, 2000, he was sent to the prosecutor’s office for filming up a woman’s skirt with a camcorder in Tokyu Toyoko Line Toritsudaigaku Station in Meguro, Tokyo. When he was asked why he had done it at a news conference on October 4 of the same year, he claimed that he had been producing a comic film called “Mini ni tako ga dekiru” (ミニにタコができる), a pun on the similar Japanese pronunciations for “mini” (ミニ, , miniskirt) and “mimi” (耳, , ear) and the two meanings of “tako” (callus and octopus) based on the Japanese saying “mimi ni tako ga dekiru” (耳にタコができる, , literally “I have a callus in my ear [from hearing something so often]”). The “mini ni tako” remark became infamous in the Japanese news media.

In December 2000, he was fined 50,000 yen (about US$430) for the voyeurism.

He was barred from working in the entertainment industry temporarily by his entertainment agency, MTM Productions, and his comment was “I wish miniskirts were obliterated from the Earth.” While he was barred, he did volunteer work such as carrying the wash and serving meals in a nursing home 3 days a week. On June 28, 2001, he announced his return to the entertainment world by saying, “Please give Masashi Tashiro one more chance.” (もう1度だけ田代まさしを、よろしくお願い致します)

In July 2001 he appeared as a guest on television programs such as “Downtown DX,” “Guruguru Ninety-Nine” (ぐるぐるナインティナイン) and “Mecha-Mecha Iketeru!” (めちゃ2イケてるッ!). He also returned as part of the regular cast in “Shimura Ken no Bakatono-sama” (志村けんのバカ殿様). To become a regular in another program, “HAMADA COMPANY Dangan! Heroes” (HAMADA COMPANY 弾丸!ヒーローズ), he was challenged to travel from Tokyo to Okinawa without being discovered by anyone. He lost the contest when he was found out in Kyoto and 100 pictures of him were taken, but the public liked his stunt and his popularity soared back.

On December 9, 2001, he was arrested for peeping through the bathroom window of a man’s house near his home in Kita-senzoku, Ōta, Tokyo by Den-en-chōfu police. According to the police, the 32-year-old man who was being spied spotted Tashiro and ran after him for 300 meters wearing only a bath towel around his waist, eventually catching him and delivering him to the station. An eyewitness reported that Tashiro put on a cap like a ski cap, spoke loudly “Forgive me” (許してくれ, yurushitekure), “It was a misunderstanding” (勘違いだ, kanchigai da) when he was caught and there was a camcorder in the vicinity of the scene recording. He was released on bail without punishment.

However, he was arrested for possession and use of amphetamine on December 12, 2001. The seven police detectives carried out a home search in Tashiro’s house as a corroborative investigation into his Peeping Tom incident and discovered a bag containing 0.4 ~ 0.9g of speed. Tashiro stated that, “I bought it”, but how he used it was unknown because a syringe used to inject drugs was not discovered in the home search. He was detained as a suspect at the police station after his arrest until February 1 of the next year. As a result, he was dismissed by MTM Production on the same day because of the repeated scandals.

On December 28, 2001, he was prosecuted for the violation of Stimulant Drugs Control Law. He testified that, “I used drugs to get rid of stress and tension before appearing on a TV program” for the investigation by Tokyo District Prosecution Office. He also said, “I lived confined to the house and I began to worry. From about this April, I used it once every few days”. According to an indictment, he warmed amphetamine over a fire and absorbed it in his home’s video room. His first trial for drug use and other crimes was in Tokyo District Court on February 1, 2002. Judgement was given on the case in the same court on February 8, 2002, where he was found guilty. However, he was given 3 years suspended sentence of 2 years imprisonment.

In 2001, users of internet forum 2channel voted en-masse Tashiro as Time Magazine’s Person of the Year. This act was soon dubbed the “Tashiro Festival” (Tashiro Matsuri, 田代祭) by 2ch users. 2channel programmers developed many scripts such as “Tashiro Cannon” (Tashiro-hō, 田代砲), “Mega particle Tashiro Cannon” (Mega-ryūshi Tashiro-hō, メガ粒子田代砲), “25 repeated blows Tashiro Cannon” (Nijū-go renda Tashiro-hō, 25連打田代砲) “Super Tashiro Cannon” (Chō Tashiro-hō, 超田代砲) to be able to vote repeatedly. “Super Tashiro cannon” was so powerful that it crashed Time’s server. Afterwards, “Satellite Cannon -Tashiro-” was developed, but it was not deployed. Due to the votes of 2channel users, he got to the No. 1 position temporarily on December 21, 2001. However, Time’s staff realized that something was unusual, and Tashiro was removed as a candidate.

In spring 2002, he returned to the entertainment world as director of V-Cinema series such as “The Way of the Whales” (鯨道, kujira-michi). In 2003 he made a recorded guest appearance in TBS’s “Sunday Japon” (サンデージャポン, sandē japon) on New Year’s Eve. This is his last public appearance in a television program to date.

After 10 p.m. on September 20, 2004, he was arrested for violation of the Firearms and Swords Control Law in a street in Nakano because he had a butterfly knife with a blade 8 centimeters long. He shared his car on the street with a female acquaintance then and the police questioned them. After the investigation, it was also found out that he had about 2g of amphetamines and about 4g of marijuana in a rucksack. As a result, he was once again arrested for it on the evening of the next day because a woman with him said “This rucksack is his” and he admitted it, too. After this incident, former Rats & Star member Masayuki Suzuki apologized for Tashiro’s crimes in his place. Tashiro stated that the pressure of stardom contributed to his addiction to drugs.

He was arrested for possession of amphetamines on September 21, 2004. On February 7, 2005, he was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months imprisonment. On June 26, 2008, he was released from prison.

There was a rumor that Tashiro would be coming back to the public screens in spring 2004. However, he once again found himself in legal trouble for causing a car accident on the Ōme road in Suginami. According to news reports, at about 1 am on June 16, 2004, he crashed into an 18-year-old vocational school student on a motorcycle after making an illegal U-turn. The victim had his left thigh broken and suffered an injury that would take 2 years to heal completely.

On September 16, 2010, Tashiro was arrested along with a 50-year-old woman in a parking lot at Red Brick Park in Yokohama for possession of cocaine. According to police he was in possession of two bags of cocaine, and admitted “It is for my own use”. Tashiro said he bought cocaine from a DJ. The Yokohama District Public Prosecutors’ Office indicted him on October 6, 2010.

Tashiro was released on parole on July 20, 2014. Thereafter, he began his stay at DARC Jeanne (DARC stands for Drug Addiction Rehabilitation Center. Ironically, with Masashi Tashiro being known for his puns, the name of this Rehab Center is also a pun on Jeanne D’Arc). He appeared at a press conference on March 18, 2015, announcing the Opening of the Asagaya Loft A.

On July 6, 2015, Tashiro was sent to the prosecutor’s office for filming up a woman’s skirt with his mobile phone in Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line Futako-Tamagawa Station in Setagaya, Tokyo.

He was arrested again on November 6, 2019 on suspicion of drug use.