Kinichi Hagimoto

Kinichi Hagimoto (萩本 欽一) is a Japanese comedian.

He is active as a stage performer, emcee, and manager of the amateur Ibaraki Golden Golds (ibaraki goruden gōruzu) of the Japanese Baseball Association (nippon yakyuu renmei).

Born in the Taitō ward of Tōkyō, Japan, he graduated from Komagome High School, and now belongs to the Asai Kikaku talent agency.

He is called "Kin-chan" by fans and those within the entertainment industry.

He is also known as "Hagimō", "Kin", etc. Amongst the many entertainers he has developed on his shows, who are known as the "Kinchan Family", he is known as "Taishō" ("The General").

He would later write for the Nippon Television 40th anniversary special drama Goruden Boizu ("Golden Boys") in which a young Hagimoto appeared (with Kazuki Kosakai).

He formed the "Konto 55-gō" ("Skit #55") duo after an invitation from Jirō Sakagami in 1966, originally for a one-act contract (according to them, they had become a regular act without realizing it after renewing several times).

They became a sensation appearing on the live program Ohiru no goruden shō with Takehiko Maeda on Fuji Television (1968–71).

After this, they dominated television with programs such as Konto 55-gō no Sekai Wa Warau (Fuji TV), Konto 55-gō no Urabangumi wo Buttobase! and Konto 55-gō no Nande Sou Naru No? (NTV), Chīmu 55-gō and ''Minna-de deyō!

55-gō ketteiban (TBS), Whoa!

Konto 55-gō!! and Konto 55-gō!!

Waratte tamaru ka!?'' (NET TV, now Asahi TV).

In the 1970s and 80s, with acts like "nande sō naru no!" ("Why does that happen?!") and physical comedy such as his distinctive "Kinchan run" (based on Hachiro Azuma) he blossomed into a polished professional.

Many of his famous lines like "dochira dake" and "banzaai nashi yo" are still heard today.

Some comedic jargon such as "ukeru" (and "yaya uke", "baka uke", etc.) that have become common Japanese words are said to have originated from his variety show Kinchan No Don To Itte Miyō.

He presented three successful variety programmes in the 1970s and 1980s, and by the mid-1980s was one of the most popular comedians on Japanese television.

Hagimoto aspired for a career as an entertainer as far back as junior high school times, when after graduation he approached the local Asakusa comedic legend Toshimitsu Ōmiya to ask for an apprenticeship, but was told to at least finish high school first.

After high school he was at last slated to enter Ōmiya's Asakusa Shochiku Engeijō comedic troupe through an introduction by the Tōyō Gekijō (Tōyō Kōgyō Keiei) troupe of the Asakusa Kōen Rokku red-light entertainment district.

However, after being told by Ōmiya "you can always come to our place if it doesn't work out there" he stopped at the last minute and went to nearby Tōyō Gekijō instead.

He started out as an apprentice.

At Tōyō Gekijō, he took direction from many veterans such as Shin-ichi Ike, Eiji Ishida, and Hachiro Azuma.

He was taken under the wing of their master and head of the Asakusa scene, Senzaburo Fukami (the master of Beat Takeshi, who later scolded Hagimoto for trying to conceal his beginnings in the Asakusa burlesque scene after moving on to television).

After developing at Tōyō Gekijō, he moved to the affiliated Asakusa Furansu-Za, where he polished his act doing intermission skits.

It was there that he met comedian and later partner Rōru Andō (later known as Jirō Sakagami).

At that time, however, they were more rivals than partners, competing to get laughs.

His impression of Sakagami was "If I perform with him I'll get upstaged."

After this he left Tōyō Gekijō and went through some other troupes, then headlined the newly formed Gekidan Asakusa Shinkigeki at Asakusa Shochiku Engeijō.

During that time, he trained under broadcast writer Katsuo Hamaka and undertook the creation of true professional comedy.

At that time he also met Michio Iwashiro, who would later be responsible for most of the lines for the Hagimoto's Konto 55-gō act.

Also, through Hamaka's connections, he met TBS network producer Sōya Mukai and entertainment manager Ryōji Asai (head of Asai Kikaku), and began his career as a professional talent.

He appeared in a commercial for a comedy program that Mukai was handling called "Jintaka Panchi".

However it took him 22 filming takes, perhaps due to nerves, and he was compelled to quit.

The disappointed Hagimoto gave up on a television career and decided to focus on a stage career.

He broke up the Asakusa Shinkigeki, and started anew at the Atami Tsuruya Hotel.

There he came up with the solo skit "Tsukue", which would later be an early staple for Konto 55-gō which took Japan by storm.

During the time with Katsuo Hamaka, he was a friend of Shin-ichi Ichikawa, who would make his scriptwriting debut with the television series Kaijū Būsuka.

He appeared solo from 1972 on the Nippon Broadcasting radio program Kinchan No Don To Itte Miyō!!.

At the same time he was hosting Ōru sutā kazoku taikou utagassen ("all-star family singing battle") (1972–1986, Hagimoto until June 1984) on the same network and Sutā Tanjō! ("birth of a star") (Nippon Television), where he developed a style of interacting with the family of guests and amateur extras.

They continued performing as a duo after that, but gradually started a solo career as well starting in 1975 as the star of the hit show Pittashi Kan-Kan (TBS) hosted by Hiroshi Kume.

The program based mostly on letters from listeners rose in popularity and debuted on television in 1975 on a Saturday night slot on Fuji Television.