49 Behind the Yoshimoto Curtain: A Chat w. Comedian Stephen Tetsu

On this episode of the Japan Station podcast, we're joined by Stephen Tetsu to discuss the Japanese comedy & entertainment industry, as well as his life as a comedian in the largest talent agency in Japan: Yoshimoto Kōgyō.

About Stephen Tetsu

Stephen Tetsu is an owarai geinin (comedian) who is part of Yoshimoto Kōgyō, the largest talent agency in Japan. Aside from performing manzai as part of his group Iruka Punch, Stephen has also worked on numerous projects for Yoshimoto, including translation and producing shows. Stephen produces and co-hosts the podcasts Small in Japan and Japanese History Junk Food.

Topics Discussed

• The Netflix documentary What's Manzai?!!! and how Stephen got involved with it
• How it was that Stephen got into the comedy industry in Japan
• Stephen's life in comedy school in Japan
• The difficult life of a "young" comedian in Japan
• The challenge of finding the right comedy partner
• The good and bad of being a foreigner in the Japanese comedy industry
• The 2019 Yoshimoto scandal which involved comedians receiving under-the-table payments for performances they did for organized crime groups
• What manzai is
• The evolving nature of manzai
• How many Japanese comedians have been pushed to start producing content for YouTube due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic
• Takeshi Kitano's transition from comedian to movie director
• Comparing Japanese comedians to Western comedians
• What Stephen has enjoyed about being a comedian in Japan
• The frustration that comes with playing the stereotypical dumb foreigner character
• And much more!

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Links, Videos, Etc.

To listen to the Small in Japan podcast use the links below or look it up on your podcast app of choice.

• Small in Japan on Apple Podcasts
• Small in Japan on Google Podcasts
• Small in Japan on Libsyn

To listen to the Japanese History Junk Food podcast use the links below or look it up on your podcast app of choice.

• Japanese History Junk Food on Apple Podcasts
• Japanese History Junk Food on Google Podcasts
• Japanese History Junk Food on Libsyn

Check out Stephen's blog via the link below.

• Stephen Tetsu Blog

Follow Stephen Tetsu on Twitter.

• @STEPHEN_TETSU

To read Stephen's article about manzai, check out the link below.

• So What the Heck Is Manzai Anyways?

To learn more about the massive yamieigyō scandal that rocked Yoshimoto in 2019, you may want to check out the article below.

• Five things to know about the scandal enveloping top Japanese comedy agency Yoshimoto Kogyo

To listen to episode two of Japan Station, use the link below.

• How To Become A Comedian in Japan (Ann Lethin) | Japan Station 02

To listen to the latest episode of Ichimon Japan, use the link below.

• Why does to "nyan nyan" mean "to have sex" in Japanese? (Japanese Cat Idioms) | Ichimon Japan 25

Special Thanks

Opening/Closing song: Oedo Controller (大江戸コントローラー) by Yunomi featuring Toriena (Used with permission from Yunomi)
To listen to more of Yunomi's music, check out his Soundcloud page or YouTube channel.

Japan Station cover art: Provided by Erik R.

Featured image: Courtesy of Stephen Tetsu

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Full Show Notes

• Get full show notes at www.japanstationpodcast.com