Osaka-based Yoshimoto Kogyo, the giant talent agency that celebrated its 100th anniversary last year, has made an enduring business out of that fleeting phenomenon: laughter.
Most of the nearly 700 tarento (TV personalities) on the Yoshimoto roster are comics, including many practitioners of manzai, the comedy duo form that originated in Yoshimoto¡¯s Kansai (Western Japan) heartland and has been a TV staple for more than three decades.
Not all Yoshimoto manzai acts are superstars like Downtown (Masatoshi Hamada and Hitoshi Matsumoto) and Ninety-nine (Takashi Okamura and Hiroyuki Yabe), but a surprisingly large number are nationally known. One barometer is the Okinawa International Movie Festival, held annually in Ginowan, Okinawa with Yoshimoto¡¯s backing, where young local fans squeal and shout at the dozens of Yoshimoto comics walking the red carpet on opening day. The fifth edition of the festival, held March 23-30 this year, attracted 53,000 first day visitors ¡ª a festival record ¡ª most of whom came to rubberneck the tarento.
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