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 ...

unit (''kombi'') consisting of two , and . Sometimes also known as , they are one of the most popular ''

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 ...

'' ''kombi'' coming from

Yoshimoto Kōgyō 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 ...

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 ...

. Their name literally means "Vice manager, Section manager", and is a reference to the titles of two visitors at the bar in which they were working part-time before they were discovered by Yoshimoto. They were originally a three-man group with the name , or "Vice Manager, Section Manager, President", but after the third member of the group left, the name was reduced to its current version. Kōmoto is the '' boke'' of the duo, and the much quieter Inoue is 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 ...

''. Both comedians are natives of

Okayama is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The city was founded on June 1, 1889. , the city has an estimated population of 720,841 and a population density of 910 persons per km2. The total area is . The city is ...

. Inoue has a reputation among ''owarai geinin'' for being handsome, and he has scored high on Yoshimoto's "handsomest ''geinin'' ranking" for the last five years. Kōmoto is most famous for his strange faces and high-pitched character voices, although he is also a very talented singer, and is well respected by other ''owarai geinin'' for his skills. He is often heard squealing the line . In March 2003, Kōmoto married

Naomi Shigemoto Naomi or Naomie may refer to: People and biblical figures * Naomi (given name), a female given name and a list of people with the name * Naomi (biblical figure), Ruth's mother-in-law in the Old Testament Book of Ruth * Naomi (Romanian singer) (bo ...

(former ''Osaka Performance Doll'' member), and they now have a son. Kōmoto appeared in the

NTV NTV may refer to: Television * NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh * NTV (India), Telugu regional channel * NTV (Kenya) * NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia * NTV (Newport Television) ...

drama, '' 14-year-old Mother'', playing the uncle of the 14-year-old pregnant girl. He is currently active in the idol group

Yoshimotozaka46 is a Japanese idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. It was created on February 21, 2018. It is Nogizaka46's second sister group, after Keyakizaka46 (now split between Sakurazaka46 and Hinatazaka46). This was named after the Osaka-based enter ...

External links

Yoshimoto Kōgyō official profile
* Japanese comedy duos People from Okayama Prefecture {{Owarai-stub