Okamoto’s nicknames were something that puzzled me for a while when I first heard them and I had always wondered how it actually started and it wasn’t until sometime last year that I found out where they came from…. And I found their origins hilarious hah. Just a quick warning, a lot of the humor in the post is dirty humor lol. I don’t usually write about dirty jokes but this was too funny to pass up lol orz. For those that know enough Japanese to listen in, this video has most of what’s covered in this post.
The whole thing started when Okamoto guested on Inoue Kikuko’s radio “Inoue Kikuko Miwaku no Oshaberi Melon” sometime in between 2009-2010. Kikuko asks him what do people normally call him and he replies saying that he’s normally called by his name, “Okamoto-kun, Okamoto-san” etc. Kikuko, unhappy that he has no nickname tells him to start using a nickname and she tries to make one up for him there. After playing around with Noburin or Nobucchi, to Okamato’s chagrin, Okamoto mentions that he’s been called “Piko” once before, from the “hiko” part in his name “Nobuhiko”. Kikuko finds it cute but still not satisfied with it she changes it to “Pikorin” to his shock. He finds it amusing and embarrassing but Kikuko laughs saying that she’ll use it and try to spread it around, though she doesn’t know if it’ll stick. And that’s where the “Pikorin” name comes from; Inoue Kikuko was the one who stuck it on him. But then there’s the second part, the “Shikorin” part, which was started by Mafia Kajita and is where the dirty jokes come in lol. Okamoto and Mafia Kajita currently run a radio show together called “Radio 4Gamer” where they talk and play games on screen. On one of the episodes, episode 5 on the 6th of May 2010, Yasumoto Hiroki was present as a guest and they played a PS3/Wii game called “No More Heroes” where you play as a character who needs to charge their beam katana by shaking the controller/controller stick at certain times. The problem comes in when you see the animation in game, the character basically holds the katana hilt at his crotch with both hands and starts shaking it furiously in a rapid vertical up and down motion… orz. 
The other piece of the puzzle is the meaning of “Shiko/シコ”, the word is a colloquial slang best substituted with the english slang “fap” where it references the sound and the action. It was the first time Okamoto was playing the game while the other two were pretty experienced already so they put him in control while they watched and guided him as they plunged him right into a hectic boss battle. Throughout the experience Okamoto needed to charge the beam katana multiple times and with everytime the other two quipped a sexual innuendo lol. I’ll translate a bit here:
Yasumoto: Here’s where you do that legendary motion *laughs*
…
Yasumoto: Quick! The legendary motion!
Kajita: Hurry! It’s ShikoShiko time!
Yasumoto: Super ShikoShiko time!
Okamoto: Even though I’m in the middle of fighting?! *The three laugh*
Okamoto: Ah so if I charge this I can continue fighting?
Yasumoto: Yeah so if your beam disappears you have to do that legendary motion. Oh and while you’re doing that you’re completely defenseless so you have to time it right.
Okamoto: Ah well that’s natural of course for any man.
…
Yasumoto: Oh you’re out, it’s Super ShikoShiko Time! …
Okamoto: Oh I’m out that means…
Yasumoto: Right! Super ShikoShiko Time!
Kajita: You’re too slow! Try to go upwards faster!
Okamoto: Like this?! *Boss comes and slashes at Okamoto*
Yasumoto: Oi! You’re gonna die! *laughs* You’re Shiko-ing too much! *laughs even harder*
*The three of them laugh*
Yasumoto: You’ll die if you Shiko that much. Death by Shiko-ing! *laughs*
Replace “Shiko” with “fap” and you’ll probably understand how surreal and hilarious this conversation actually is orz. Fast forward another episode later and Kajita’s reading mail from a listener…
Kajita: “Shikorin, Kajita, good evening!” *Staff laughs*
Okamoto: Hmm? Hold on a minute there, just to make sure, I think I must’ve heard wrong but I thought I heard a “Shikorin” there… Was it really written there?
Kajita: Ah sorry I misread it.
Okamoto: OI!
And since that point it continued to spread, Sugita started using it on his Dedooon radio and caused it to spread like wildfire lol. By the way, although the nickname has spread to the ears of other seiyuu, amusingly Okamoto has refused to explain the reason behind the “Shiko” in the nickname… One recent happening that I found hilarious was on Guilty Crown Radio #10, 2012.02.24 hosted by Kayano Ai and he came on as a guest and the topic of nicknames came up…
Okamoto: I’ve got other nicknames as well, such as “Pikorin”
Kayano: Ah! And what was that other one… “Shikorin“?
Okamoto: Err yeah… THAT! Umm.. Sorry I can’t explain the nickname. *Kayano laughs*
Kayano: Umm okay then… But I remember one time when we were at an event together the audience was all “SHIKORIN!!!” and I was wondering “Why is it ‘Shiko‘?”
Okamoto: Well he wasn’t involved in this anime but it was to do with a certain “S_gita”…
Kayano: *laughs* Ahh!
Okamoto: And there’s this bald “SP” with sunglasses with him. [Kajita sometimes goes by the name “SP Tanaka”]
Kayano: Ahh I know him!
Okamoto: And he was the one who stuck that name on me. I… Can’t tell you the reason why though.
Kayano: Ah okay… I won’t ask too much about it then…
…
Kayano: Then how about I call you “Shikorin“!
Okamoto: No! You can’t do that!! The agency won’t allow it!!
Kayano: *laughs* Ah really?
Okamoto: You can call me Pikorin though.
Kayano: Okay then I’ll call you Pikorin, you can call me “Kaaya”~
Ahh clueless Kayanon~
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ambi's Soup
Ah-… That Radio 4Gamer episode… I remember mentally headdesking and trying my best to stifle my laughter the first time I watched and listened to it. It was downright hilarious but at the same time, sooooo wrong. Nothing less from Mafia Kajita (+ Sugita later on) I guess. orz
And yeah hearing it again recently on Radio Council, I was like “NO KAYANON!!!! Don’t probe too much about it!!” orz
Ahaha I know what you mean, I laughed so much while watching this.
And Kayano! Stop saying “Shikorin”!! I bet she got an inkling that it wasn’t something too pleasant though after this episode haha.
I listened to that episode of guilty crown radio as well and I was as clueless as Kayanon.
Now I understand why Okamoto Nobuhiko kept saying it’s “agency NG”.
iirc during the last episode of guilty crown radio Kaji Yuki also chose not to explain the meaning behind shikorin to Kayanon as well haha
Thanks for enlightening me!!
Yeah it’s pretty hard to understand where it comes from without finding it’s origins lol. Good on Kaji for refusing to explain it to Kayano haha.
I must listen to the Guilty Crown one too. Kayanon is such an innocent clueless angel ww
Yeah Guilty Crown radio in general is a pretty fun listen~ I’m so sad they didn’t end up bringing Hanazawa Kana on though ;_;
Sorry to go too far off topic, but the origin of “Shikorin” made me think of Futurama’s Zapp Brannigan, aka “the Zapper”. ;)
Don’t take this the wrong way, but I thought you liked risque jokes, especially with the Seikon no Qwaser radio show.
IIRC other than a Souma joke here and there, Seikon’s radio wasn’t really that heavy in dirty jokes :o
…And I’ve never seen the Seikon no Qwaser anime lol, even though I’m listening to the radio hah.
But either way I don’t really mind dirty jokes in general, I just prefer not to write about it ;)
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