is a major Japanese

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...

conglomerate. It was founded in 1912,

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 ...

, as a traditional

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

, and has since grown to be one of the most influential companies in Japan, employing most of Japan's 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 show ...

(comedy) talent, producing and promoting the shows they appear in. The two main headquarters are stationed in

and

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 37.46 ...

. Yoshimoto has been expanding its business in recent years, due to the ''warai'' boom. They now have their own comedy theme park in Otaru, Hokkaido and have begun signing the likes of musicians, producers,

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-de ...

s and singers alongside business with the Japanese ''owarai'' industry.

History

1912–1932: Establishment of Yoshimoto Kogyo-bu

On April 1, 1912, Kichibei Yoshimoto and his wife Sei Yoshimoto purchased the Second Arts Building in

. They later established Yoshimoto Kogyo-bu in January 1913 in

Shinsaibashi is a district in the Chūō-ku ward of Osaka, Japan and the city's main shopping area. At its center is , a covered shopping street, that is north of Dōtonbori and Sōemonchō, and parallel and east of Mido-suji street. Associated with Shin ...

. In 1922, they purchased two theatre establishments in January and May in

and

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

1932–2005: Rename to Yoshimoto Kogyo, influence on ''manzai''

On March 1, 1932, Yoshimoto Kogyobu changed its name to Yoshimoto Kogyo and set up their second headquarters in Tokyo. In 1933, Yoshimoto Kogyo's

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

department was established. Yoshimoto helped shape the manzai comedic style after World War II, and the

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequ ...

that used for the word ''manzai'' were introduced by Yoshimoto in 1933. In November 1935, Asakusa Kagetsu Theatre opened under Yoshimoto Kogyo in

Asakusa, Tokyo is a district in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. It is known as the location of the Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. There are several other temples in Asakusa, as well as various festivals, such as the . History The ...

. In 1941, in collaboration with the national

intelligence agency An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives. Means of inf ...

and the

Imperial Rule Assistance Association The , or Imperial Aid Association, was the Empire of Japan's ruling organization during much of World War II. It was created by Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe on 12 October 1940, to promote the goals of his ("New Order") movement. It evolved i ...

, Yoshimoto Kogyo established the ''Yoshimoto Theatre Caravan'' and began tours across the nation. On February 13, 1943,

Tsūtenkaku , owned by , is a tower and well-known landmark of Osaka, Japan and advertises Hitachi. It is located in the Shinsekai district of Naniwa-ku, Osaka. Its total height is 103 m; the main observation deck is at a height of 91 m. History The c ...

, a landmark tower owned by Yoshimoto, suffered a fire which severely damaged it. Rather than repairing the structure, it was disassembled with the steel and other materials used for the war effort. On March 10, 1945, Several theatres owned by Yoshimoto Kogyo were destroyed or severely damaged due to the

Bombing of Tokyo The was a series of firebombing air raids by the United States Army Air Force during the Pacific campaigns of World War II. Operation Meetinghouse, which was conducted on the night of 9–10 March 1945, is the single most destructive bombi ...

. In October 1946, the Yoshimoto Kogyo headquarters in Tokyo split off from the main company to form its own entity as Yoshimoto Kabushiki Gaisha. In November 1946, Yoshimoto Kabushiki Gaisha established the ''Oizumi Eiko Kabushiki Gaisha'', which later joined several other companies to form

Toei Company () (also styled TOEI) is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution and video game developer and publishing company. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates thirty-four movie theaters across Japan (all but two of them operated by ...

. On May 14, 1949, Yoshimoto Kogyo began trading on the

Osaka Securities Exchange , renamed from , is the largest derivatives exchange in Japan, in terms of amount of business handled. , the Osaka Securities Exchange had 477 listed companies with a combined market capitalization of $212 billion. The Nikkei 225 Futures, intr ...

. In 1959, the company established its own comedy troupe theater group, Yoshimoto Shinkigeki. On October 2, 1961, Yoshimoto Kogyo began trading on the

Tokyo Stock Exchange The , abbreviated as Tosho () or TSE/TYO, is a stock exchange located in Tokyo, Japan. It is the third largest stock exchange in the world by aggregate market capitalization of its listed companies, and the largest in Asia. It had 2,292 listed ...

. From 1962 to 1963, the Kyoto Kagetsu Theater and the Namba Kagetsu Theater opened. In 1982, Yoshimoto New Star Creation was established in Osaka. A second headquarters in Tokyo was established in 1995.

2005–present: Expansion

In January 2005, Isao Yoshino replaced Masao Kimura as director. Kimura had been part of the company since entering in 1969. Yoshimoto Kogyo, Faith,

Fandango Fandango is a lively partner dance originating from Portugal and Spain, usually in triple meter, traditionally accompanied by guitars, castanets, or hand-clapping. Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is usually bipartite: it has ...

and Intel Japan formed a strategic alliance, and established Bellrock Media in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. On October 1, 2007, Yoshimoto Kogyo restructures as a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

. In 2009, Yoshimoto Kogyo establishes partnership with the

Creative Artists Agency Creative Artists Agency LLC (CAA) is an American talent and sports agency based in Los Angeles, California. It is regarded as an influential company in the talent agency business and manages numerous clients. In March 2016, CAA had 1,800 emplo ...

. On February 24, 2010, Yoshimoto Kogyo stopped trading on all stock exchanges.

Controversies

Anti-social group scandal

In 2019, several comedians associated with Yoshimoto Kogyo admitted they had accepted money and attended parties held by the

yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the ter ...

in 2014 without the knowledge of the company. 11 celebrities under the company were suspended, one of whom included Hiroyuki Miyasako. Shinya Irie, a member of the comedy duo Karateka, was fired earlier for arranging their appearances at the party without the agency's permission. President and CEO Akihiko Okamoto also admitted that the company had found out about the connection between the comedians and the anti-social forces but pressured the comedians to stay silent. Okamoto also apologized for Miyasako and

Ryo Tamura Ryo may refer to: * Ryō, a gold currency unit in pre-Meiji Japan Shakkanhō system * Ryō (actress) (born 1973), Japanese model, actress, and singer * Ryō (given name), a unisex Japanese given name * Ryo, Georgia, an unincorporated community in G ...

and decided to reinstate their contracts after initially firing them. He and chairman Hiroshi Osaki vowed to take a 50% pay cut for one year as atonement over the scandal. The celebrities returned from suspension and resumed their activities on August 19, 2019.

Artists

Comedians

;Solo * Sanma Akashiya * Takashi Fujii * Koji Higashino *

Tomonori Jinnai is a Japanese comedian, ''tarento'', and presenter. Filmography TV series Regular appearances Quasi-regular appearances Single-occasional appearances Specials Former appearances Radio TV series Regular appearances Guest appearances ...

Koji Imada is a Japanese musician, comedian, '' tarento'' and TV presenter. His talent agency is Yoshimoto Kogyo. In the mid-1990s, Imada paired with the acclaimed Japanese record producer Towa Tei under the stage name Koji 1200. He released two albums ...

* * Kendo Kobayashi * Kazutoyo Koyabu *

Daisuke Miyagawa is a Japanese comedian and actor. Miyagawa grew up in Ōtsu, Shiga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,412,916 (1 October 2015) and has a geographic area of . Shi ...

* * Obata no Oniisan *

Jimmy Onishi is a Japanese painter and comedian. His real name is , in which his given name is a combination of from daimyo Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period ...

*Onishi Lion *

Tomochika Tomochika is both a masculine Japanese given name and a Japanese surname. Possible writings Tomochika can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *友親, "friend, parent" *友近, "friend, near" *友 ...

* Naomi Watanabe * Tonikaku Akarui Yasumura * Hōsei Tsukitei * - 山田花子 * Natsuko Yokosawa ;Groups * 130R ( Hon Kon and

Itsuji Itao , is a Japanese comedian and actor. He is a member of the comedy duo 130R and former cast member of one of Downtown's previous shows. He usually appears in their batsu games. Filmography (actor) Movies *2001 ''Desert Moon'' ... Interviewer * ...

) *Aiseki Start (Kei Yamazaki and Kan Yamaso) *All Hanshin-Kyōjin (All Hanshin and All Kyojin) *Akina (Kenta Akiyama and Nobukazu Yamane) *Amakō Inter (Nagisa and Seiko) *

Ameagari Kesshitai , also known simply as Ameagari, was a Japanese comedy duo ''( kombi)'' consisting of Hiroyuki Miyasako () and Tōru Hotohara (). They are from Osaka and, like most other comedians from the Kansai region, are employed by Yoshimoto Kogyo. The duo ...

( Hiroyuki Miyasako and Tōru Hotohara) *Bad Boys (Kiyoto Omizo and Masaki Sata) * Chidori (Daigo and Nobu) *

Chihara Kyodai Chihara is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Charles Chihara (1932–2020), American philosopher * Minori Chihara (born 1980), Japanese voice actress and J-pop singer * Paul Chihara (born 1938), American composer * Theodore Seio ...

(Chihara Seiji and Chihara Junior) *Black Mayonnaise (

Takashi Yoshida is a Japanese professional wrestler, best known by his ring name . He currently wrestles for Dragon Gate under his real name. Professional wrestling career Cyber Kong's career started in 2006. He competed as an arm wrestler and was part of th ...

and

Ryuichi Kosugi is a Japanese comedian who performs ''tsukkomi'' in the comedy duo Black Mayonnaise. His standing position is on the left. His partner is Takashi Yoshida is a Japanese professional wrestler, best known by his ring name . He currently wrest ...

) * Cocorico (Shōzō Endō and Naoki Tanaka) *Colocolo Chikichiki Peppers (Soto Nishino and Nadal) *

COWCOW Cowcow is a Japanese comedy duo managed by the entertainment conglomerate Yoshimoto Kogyo who perform manzai comedy. The members, , the ''tsukkomi'' of the group, and , the '' boke'', are both from Osaka Prefecture. They have been guests on quite a ...

(Yoshi and Kenji Tada) *

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ...

(

Masatoshi Hamada is a Japanese comedian best known as the ''tsukkomi'' half of the popular owarai duo Downtown alongside Hitoshi Matsumoto. His nickname is . Hamada is married to Natsumi Ogawa, with whom he has two children. Early life Hamada was born near D ...

and Hitoshi Matsumoto) * EXIT (Rintaro and Daiki Kanechika) * Football Hour ( Terumoto Goto and Nozomu Iwao) *Fruit Punch (Kenji Murakami and Kentaro Watari) *

FUJIWARA Fujiwara (, written: 藤原 lit. "''Wisteria'' field") is a Japanese surname. (In English conversation it is likely to be rendered as .) Notable people with the surname include: ; Families * The Fujiwara clan and its members ** Fujiwara no Kamatari ...

( Toshifumi Fujimoto and Takayuki Haranishi) * Ginshari (Kazuhiro Unagi and Nao Hashimoto) *

Gokuraku Tombo , meaning ''Heavenly Dragonfly'', was a manzai comedy duo consisting of and . Members of the Yoshimoto Kogyo entertainment conglomerate, they performed on the Fuji TV variety show '' Mecha-Mecha Iketeru!'' Their main act was based on arguing a ...

(Koji Kato and Keiichi Yamamoto) * Hanamaru・Daikichi Hakata (

Hanamaru Hakata is a Japanese comedian who performs '' boke'' of the double act Hanamaru-Daikichi Hakata, in which his partner is Daikichi Hakata. After working with Fukuoka Yoshimoto, he joined Yoshimoto Creative Agency (Tokyo Yoshimoto) since 2005. Biography ...

and Daikichi Hakata) *

Harisenbon is a female Japanese comedy duo ''( kombi)'' consisting of Haruna Kondo (近藤春菜) and Haruka Minowa (箕輪はるか) who have featured in a number of television shows. They are employed by Yoshimoto Kogyo, and are mainly active in Toky ...

( Haruka Minowa and Haruna Kondou) *

Heisei Nobushi Kobushi is a Japanese comedy duo ( kombi) consisting of and who have performed in a number of television shows. They are employed by Yoshimoto Kogyo and are mostly active in Tokyo. Members * Takashi Yoshimura (吉村崇) Born September 16, 1980 ...

(Takashi Yoshimura and Kenta Tokui) *Impulse (Toshiyuki Itakura and Atsushi Tsutsumishita) *Jaru Jaru (Junpei Goto and Shusuke Fukutoku) * Jichō Kachō( Junichi Kōmoto and Satoshi Inoue) *

Jungle Pocket Jungle Pocket ( ja, ジャングルポケット, link=no, 7 May 1998 – 2 March 2021) is a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a racing career which lasted from 2000 until 2002 he won five of his thirteen races and ¥704,258,000 in pr ...

(Shinji Saito, Hirohisa Ota and Otake) *

Kamaitachi is a Japanese yōkai often told about in the Kōshin'etsu region and can also refer to the strange events that this creature causes. They appear riding on dust devils and they cut people using the nails on both their hands that are like sick ...

(Ryuichi Hamaie and Kenji Yamauchi) *King Kong (Akihiro Nishino and Yuta Kajiwara) * Kirin ( Akira Kawashima and Hiroshi Tamura) *

License A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

(Kazuhiro Fujiwara and Takafumi Inomoto) * London Boots (

Atsushi Tamura is a famous Japanese comedian from the Hikoshima area of Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. He and his partner, , form the known as . Though the two share the same surname, there is no family relation. The pair started their career by ...

and

Ryō Tamura is a Japanese actor from Kyoto. His father was silent-film star Tsumasaburo Bando. With his elder brothers, the late Takahiro and Masakazu, he is one of the Three Tamura Brothers. Ryō graduated from Seijo University and made his cinema debut ...

) *Matenrō (Anthony and Otoni) *Miki (Asei and Kosei) * Nakagawake (Reiji and Tsuyoshi) * Nankai Candies ( Ryota Yamasato and Shizuyo Yamazaki) *Morisanchū (Kazuko Kurosawa, Miyuki Oshima and Tomoko Murakami) * Ninety-nine ( Takashi Okamura and

Hiroyuki Yabe , or is a Japanese comic duo from Osaka working for the entertainment conglomerate Yoshimoto Kogyo. The duo ( kombi), consisting of Takashi Okamura as boke (stooge) and Hiroyuki Yabe as tsukkomi (straightman), formed in 1990. The pair met ...

) * NON STYLE (Akira Ishida and Yusuke Inoue) * Okazu Club (Ocarina and Yui P) * Oriental Radio (Atsuhiko Nakada and Shingo Fujimori) *

Panther Panther may refer to: Large cats * Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis'' **'' Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards. *** Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in S ...

(Satoshi Mukai, Ryotaro Kan, Takahiro Ogata) *Peace ( Naoki Matayoshi and Yuji Ayabe) *

Penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penal ...

(Hide and Wakki) *Razor Ramon ( HG and RG) * Regular (Kōta Matsumoto and Akihiro Nishikawa) *

Savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground ...

(Shigeo Takahashi and Masumi Yagi) * Shimofuri Myojo (Seiya and Soshina) * Shinagawa Shoji (Hiroshi Shinagawa and Tomoharu Shoji) *Super Maradona (Kazuhiro Tanaka and Takechi) *

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...

(Ryuji Akiyama, Hiroshi Yamamoto and Hiroyuki Baba) *Rozan (Owarai), Rozan (Fuminori Ujihara and Hirofumi Suga (comedian), Hirofumi Suga) *Taka and Toshi (Taka and Toshi) *Trendy Angel (Tsukasa Saito and Takashi) *Tutorial (comedy duo), Tutorial (Yoshimi Tokui and Mitsunori Fukuda) *Universe (Hara and Kawase Meijin) *Wagyu (comedy duo), Wagyu (Shinji Mizuta and Kenshiro Kawanishi) *Waraimeshi (Koji Nishida and Tetsuo) *Woman Rush Hour (Daisuke Muramoto and Paradise Nakagawa) *Yasei Bakudan (Cookie and Rossy)

Recording artists

*NMB48 *Yoshimotozaka46 *:ja:RADIO FISH, Radio Fish * Re:Complex *Kawachiya Kikusuimaru *Run&Gun *Fayray *Jealkb *The Boom *JO1 *INI (Japanese boy group), INI *Yoyoka Soma * *Rocket Punch * *OCTPATH

Actors/actresses

*Ayumi Beppu *Hirohito Gotō *Chizuru Ikewaki *Asami Kawasaki *Annu Mari *Kumiko Nakano *Ryo Nishikata *Natsumi Ogawa *Masi Oka *Tetsuji Sakakibara *Sōichirō Sorihashi *Kozo Takeda

Others

*Ayaka Ichinose (gravure idol) *Toshio Okada (Anime producer and author) *Masahiko Katsuya (columnist and pundit) *Shigefumi Matsuzawa (politician) *Nobukazu Kuriki (mountaineer and entrepreneur) *Kazuyuki Ishihara (garden designer) *Kazuhisa Ishii (baseball commentator, ex-MLB pitcher) *Kansei Nakano (politician)

Property

Yoshimoto Kogyo is the owner of a number of corporate offices and stages, most situated in the downtown areas of Osaka and Tokyo. The company has two headquarters, Osaka HQ (大阪本部) and Tokyo HQ (東京本部) and a number of stages, namely Lumine the Yoshimoto (ルミネtheよしもと), 5 up Yoshimoto (5upよしもと), NMB48 Theater (NMB48劇場), Nanba Grand Kagetsu (なんばグランド花月), and a new stage in the popular Shibuya, Tokyo, Shibuya district of Tokyo, Yoshimoto Mugendai Hall (ヨシモト∞ホール). Yoshimoto also had a comedy museum in downtown Osaka called Yoshimoto Shotengai, Yoshimoto Shōtengai (吉本笑店街), but it closed in 2009.

Other assets

Yoshimoto Kogyo also owns a community radio, community Frequency modulation, FM radio station
YES-fm 78.1
(callsign: JOZZ7AF-FM), based in Namba,

References

External links

Yoshimoto Kogyo
- Official site in Japanese

- Small English Yoshimoto profile
Japan-zone
{{Authority control Japanese talent agencies Entertainment companies of Japan Performing arts in Japan Companies based in Osaka Prefecture Companies formerly listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Entertainment companies established in 1912 Japanese companies established in 1912