is a Japanese

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

duo ( kombi) consisting of Terumoto Gotō (tsukkomi) and Nozomu Iwao (boke), both from

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

. They are performers for the entertainment company

Yoshimoto Kogyo is a major Japanese entertainment conglomerate. It was founded in 1912, Osaka, as a traditional theatre, and has since grown to be one of the most influential companies in Japan, employing most of Japan's popular owarai (comedy) talent, produci ...

. They graduated from the

Yoshimoto NSC The Yoshimoto New Star Creation, commonly called NSC or Yoshimoto Academy, is the comedy school established by Yoshimoto Kogyo in Japan. History There are currently two campuses, the original ''NSC'', established in 1982 in Osaka and the Tokyo br ...

Osaka 14th generation class. The unit's material is created by both Goto and Iwao.

Members

* Born June 18, 1974 in

Higashiyodogawa-ku, Osaka is one of 24 wards of Japan, wards of Osaka, Japan. Higashiyodogawa-ku is located in the north-east part of Osaka city. The population of Higashiyodogawa-ku is 181,535.(2003) The popular area to shop is Awaji, which is about 10 minutes away fro ...

. Plays the ''

tsukkomi The following glossary of words and terms (generally of Japanese origin) are related to ''owarai'' (Japanese comedy). Many of these terms may be used in areas of Japanese culture beyond comedy, including television and radio, music. Some have be ...

''. His style of ''tsukkomi'' is well known for his use of metaphors and analogies. * Born December 19, 1975 in

Higashisumiyoshi-ku, Osaka is one of 24 wards of Osaka, Japan. Points of interest *Nagai Park **Nagai Botanical Garden **Nagai Stadium ** Yanmar Field Nagai **Yodoko Sakura Stadium Shopping * Komagawa Shopping Arcade (駒川商店街) Headquarters * Sangaria Train sta ...

. Plays the '' boke''. In Yoshimoto Kogyo's annual "Ugliest Yoshimoto Kogyo Entertainer" awards, he won first place three years in a row (2002-2004) and has since been ineligible for voting. Iwao himself does not consider himself to be unattractive but rather fashionable and trendy.

Life and career

Both Gotō and Iwao were in prior units before the formation of Football Hour. Gotō was in the comedy duo ''Gotō-Tenma'' (Later renamed to ''Electronic Gram'') from 1994 to 1999 and Iwao was in the comedy duo ''Dress'' from 1994 to 1999. Both of them were graduates of the 14th generation class from

Osaka. In April 1999, after both of their previous units were disbanded, the two partnered up and formed ''Gotō-Iwao'', debuting in May of the same year. They changed their unit's name to ''Football Hour'' just 2 months after, in July. As classmates from Yoshimoto NSC, Gotō and Iwao mutually approved of each other's abilities in comedy, and thus chose to partner up with each other after Iwao's consultation with comedian Tomonori Jinnai and Gotō's consultation with Komoto from Jicho Kacho. Jinnai was supportive of the idea, but Komoto believed that the combination would not work as their individual characters are too strong.『ゴーJ!』（ MBS Radio）Football Hour episode In 2000, the duo received the best newcomer award at the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

Owarai is a broad word used to describe Japanese comedy as seen on television. The word ''owarai'' is the honorific form of the word ''warai'' (by adding o- prefix), meaning "a laugh" or "a smile". ''Owarai'' is most common on Japanese variety shows ...

Newcomer Grand Prix. The next year, they entered M-1 Grand Prix and placed 6th. The duo made it as a finalist again the following year, placing 2nd as the runners-up and finally winning the competition in 2003. The duo was propelled into popularity afterwards and furthered their career in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, where they now appear on numerous television programs. Gotō became one of the more prominent

television presenters A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for ...

after the retirement of

Shinsuke Shimada is a Japanese comedian and television presenter. In 1991 he directed the film '' Kaze, Slow Down''. On August 23, 2011, Shinsuke Shimada announced his retirement after admitting to extensive ties to the yakuza, Japan's organized crime. The yakuz ...

after 2011.

Achievements

*21st ABC (

Asahi Broadcasting Corporation is a certified broadcasting holding company headquartered in Osaka, Japan. Until March 31, 2018, it was a unified radio and television broadcaster serving in the Kansai region. On April 1, 2018, its radio and television broadcasting divisions ...

)

Newcomer Grand Prix - Best Newcomer Award, 2000 *31st

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

Kamigata

Manzai is a traditional style of comedy in Japanese culture comparable to double act comedy or stand-up comedy. usually involves two performers ()—a straight man () and a funny man ()—trading jokes at great speed. Most of the jokes revolve aro ...

Contest - Best Newcomer Award, 2001 *32nd NHK Kamigata Manzai Contest - Best Newcomer Award, 2002 *37th Kamigata Manzai Award - Best Newcomer Award, 2002 *31st Kamigata Owarai Award - Best Newcomer Award, 2002 *1st MBS (

Mainichi Broadcasting System , or MBS, is a radio and television broadcasting company headquartered in Osaka, Japan, affiliated with Japan Radio Network (JRN), National Radio Network (NRN), Japan News Network (JNN) and TBS Network, serving in the Kansai region. It i ...

, Inc.) The Rising Generation Award - Winner, 2003 *32nd Kamigata Owarai Award - Topic Award, 2003 *1st

Autobacs () is a retailer of automotive parts and accessories based in Japan, with branches primarily in Asia and stores also located in France. Etymology Autobacs was given a backronym as follows, which reflects the products the company provided prior ...

M-1 Grand Prix - Finalist, 6th place, 2001 *2nd

M-1 Grand Prix - Finalist, 2nd place, 2002 *3rd

M-1 Grand Prix - Winner, 2003 *6th

M-1 Grand Prix - Finalist, 2nd place, 2006 *39th Kamigata Manzai Award - Winner, 2004 *33rd Kamigata Owarai Award - Best Technique Award, 2004

References

External links

Yoshimoto Kōgyō's profile on Football Hour
{{DEFAULTSORT:Football Hour Japanese comedy duos People from Osaka Performing groups established in 1999