It can be hard to keep track of all the fun (and not so fun) shows that make it to the Japanese Variety scene. 3 years ago I told you what excited me on TV. It’s time for an update. 7. 10万円でできるかな (Is 100,000 Yen Enough?) While this feels a bit like a YouTube show (and a lot of things are copied from what popular … Continue reading →
It’s that time of year again in Japan. When 10 comedian groups gather together on national television and battle each other to the dea… laugh for the title of top comedian. King of Conte (キングオブコント) is an annual event I’ve immensely enjoyed for the past decade, and 2018 is no exception. コント (Conte – did you know this was a french word?) is a visual … Continue reading →
I recently made it no secret that I am a huge Degawa Tetsuro fan. He’s the easy to understand, visual, silly comedian that if you turn on a Japanese TV, you can’t avoid. His recent popularity started from the unstoppable juggernaut that is the TV show 世界の果てまでイッテq. However his newest program, 出川哲朗の充電させてもらえませんか(Degawa’s “Will you Charge Me Up?”), is pure magic which you absolutely need to try. What is … Continue reading →
If there is one thing Japan loves more than food, it’s watching other people on TV showing their love of food. Because of this, the “gourmet report” was born, and can take up anywhere between 20%-100% of a typical variety show episode. This is a major predicament to some people: you want to watch variety shows, but can’t stand the sight of a gourmet report. … Continue reading →
Recently, I talked about an up-and-coming entertainer named アイデンティティ田島(Identity Tajima). He dresses up like the 80 year old voice actor who plays Goku from Dragonball, and mimics her voice to near-perfection with amazing comedic results. I didn’t realize he is only a small piece of what is known as the “Dragon Ball Entertainer” community. A number of Japanese entertainers who dress up like Dragon Ball characters … Continue reading →
If you’ve ever watched a variety show, there is a good chance you’ve seen 出川哲朗 (Degawa Tetsurou). He’s everywhere lately. It’s easy to look at him and go “huh?” But if you give him a chance, you may find him to be one of the most valuable native resources in your early Japanese journey. It’s as though his existence was meant to fit exactly with what … Continue reading →
月曜から夜ふかし (The Late Night Monday Show) is one of the best and most popular shows currently on Japanese TV. If you haven’t watched it yet, you need to, now. It’s one of those shows that makes you glad you started studying Japanese. One of the problems Japanese learners have with the show (besides the difficult language), is its continual series of long-running jokes. There are … Continue reading →
I love Japanese comedy. Let me change that: I love good Japanese comedy. A lot of foreigners studying Japanese don’t see it my way, but that’s because there’s a lot of garbage out there. To be fair though, there is a lot of garbage in any country’s entertainment industry. Finding what’s both good and what you personally enjoy is key. Let’s take a look at … Continue reading →
