 Higashikokubaru was born in Miyakonojō, a city in Miyazaki Prefecture and attended Senshu University from 1976 to 1980, where he majored in economics.After graduating from Senshu, Higashikokubaru apprenticed to Takeshi Kitano and became a comedian in 1982.He appeared on "Takeshi's Castle", which was dubbed on United States television as "Most Extreme Elimination Challenge" ("MXC"); Higashikokubaru was dubbed as "Kenny Blankenship" in the American version.