Hitori Gekidan

Kawashima's unit, "Suplex", disbanded in 2000 and Kawashima continued activities as a solo comedian with the name Gekidan Hitori, which literally translates to "One person troupe". After going solo, Gekidan became vastly more popular and successful in the industry with numerous appearances in various television and variety programs. He continued to flourish in the following years, even becoming active as an actor in TV dramas and movies.

In 1992, while in his first year of high school, Kawashima appeared on the variety program "Tensai Takeshi no genki ga deru terebi!!" and garnered the attention of Ohta Productions to sign him as a comedy talent. He began activities in a kombi called "Suplex", but were relatively unsuccessful. Kawashima transferred and dropped out of high schools multiple times before graduating from Chiba Ritsufunabashi High School at the age of 20. He then went on to enroll in Tōhō Gakuen in Tokyo and specialized in broadcasting arts, graduating in 1999.

Hitori Gekidan (劇団ひとり , Gekidan Hitori, born 2 February 1977, in Hanamigawa-ku, Chiba, Chiba) is a Japanese comedian, lyricist, actor, novelist and film director. His real name is Shogo Kawashima (川島 省吾 , Kawashima Shōgo) .