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Entertain your BRAIN
Robert J. Terry 10/2005
Hey! Hey! Hey!
Music Champ! Returns to the FCI Line-Up
Two of the most popular entertainers
on the Japanese television scene are Matsumoto
Hitoshi and Hamada Masatoshi, collectively known as
Downtown. They host a weekly variety show in which
they use their talent for stand-up comedy to present
the latest and most popular music acts. It can be
seen every Sunday night at 6:30 pm following
Fountain of Trivia, a show that answers unusual
questions sent in by viewers.
Their first starring show was on
Kansai television in a program called Gaki no Tsukai
Ya Arahende!! in October 1989 and went nationwide in
October 1991. (That title of the show is a typical
example of Kansai dialect ・the area in the west of
Japan centered around Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe ・and
means This Is No Job for Kids!!) They cultivate a
hip image that has kept them both on the top ten
list of the highest paid entertainers in Japan, each
typically earning ･250 million (approximately $2.5
million) a year.
In addition, Downtown appear in all
sorts of other programs, such as prime time
infotainment shows, other variety shows, and
commercials. They have each written a best-selling
collection of comedy essays as well. Hamada is the
straight man of the pair and has starred in
television dramas and cut two million-selling pop
records.
Matsumoto
and Hamada were born in 1963 in Amagasaki, a suburb
of Osaka. Although they attended the same elementary
school, it was not until they entered junior high
school that they became friends.
Matsumoto has reminisced about
spending more of his time in coffee shops than
classrooms. Comedy is what saved me. Making people
laugh was the reason for my existence... [Without
it] I'd
probably be a middle-aged man selling superballs.
But Hamada actually dreamed of being
a motorboat racer. When he failed the exam for the
motorboat-racing association's
school, Matsumoto
persuaded him to apply for the training school of
Yoshimoto Kogyo, the Kansai's
biggest talent agency.
Hamada agreed, thinking that going back to school
would allow him to goof off for another year before
he would have to go out and find a real job. The
boys were accepted into the school and embarked on
their comedy career.
At first comedy was not a welcoming
profession. In their television debut, the host,
Yokoyama Yasushi, then one of the most popular
comedians in Japan, came rushing over and berated
them, saying that they knew nothing about the art of
manzai (which is stand-up comedy between a straight
man [tsukkomi] and clown [boke] exchanging witty
dialog).
"You
guys are just a couple of punks
talking!"
was
Yokoyama's
blistering comment.
That just made the pair strike out on
their own in an unconventional direction. Matsumoto
chose the name Downtown for their act because he
found in an English dictionary that it was the
translation of
"Shitamachi,"
the working class heart
of the city in Edo Era (1600-1868) Japan and the
area where the entertainment district first
flourished.
Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ! usually starts with
Downtown striding on stage in front of an audience
of teenage girls to deliver opening remarks. (There
is a subtle joke even in the title of the program:
"Hey!"
is similar in pronunciation and meaning to the
Japanese word
"hei~"
which is
spoken with a rising inflection and indicates
astonishment. During the program the audience will
invariably offer this response at some time. This
effect has gotten so famous that Toribia no Izumi,
or Fountain of Trivia, that precedes the program,
features celebrity contestants reacting to questions
about trivia by banging on devices that bleat out
repeated
"hei~"
sounds. And a novelty manufacturer
has put a product on the market that makes a similar
sound.)
Then a musical guest is introduced.
Recently, the folk/pop singer Suga Shikao appeared
(and when he admitted that he was 37 years old the
audience responded with
"hei~"
since he appears much
younger) and bantered with Downtown before
performing a song accompanied by his own guitar
playing. After the song, he sat down on a couch to
talk some more with the duo. That is standard for
the show. Other acts are introduced later and the
program ends with a countdown of the week's
top ten
pop songs. (On that same program, the singing and
dancing group Exile performed Choo Choo Train,・
which was number 7 on that week's
chart.)
If you want to sample the best in
Japanese pop entertainment, take a look at Hey! Hey!
Hey! Music Champ!
Fountain of Trivia
and Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ! Sunday evenings
starting at 6:30 pm on KSCI, Channel 18. |
