Manzai by unknown artist - wittig collection

is a traditional style of comedy in

Japanese culture Japanese culture has changed greatly over the millennia, from the country's prehistoric Jōmon period, to its contemporary modern culture, which absorbs influences from Asia and other regions of the world. Since the Jomon period, ancestral ...

comparable to

double act A double act (also known as a comedy duo) is a form of comedy originating in the British music hall tradition, and American vaudeville, in which two comedians perform together as a single act, often highlighting differences in their characters' ...

comedy. usually involves two performers ()—a

straight man The straight man (or straight woman in the case of female characters), also known as a "comedic foil", is a stock character in a comedy performance, especially a double act, sketch comedy, or farce. When a comedy partner behaves eccentrically ...

() and a funny man ()—trading

joke A joke is a display of humour in which words are used within a specific and well-defined narrative structure to make people laugh and is usually not meant to be interpreted literally. It usually takes the form of a story, often with dialogue, ...

s at great speed. Most of the jokes revolve around mutual misunderstandings, double-talk,

pun A pun, also known as a paronomasia in the context of linguistics, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from t ...

s and other verbal gags. In recent times, has often been associated with the

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

region, and comedians often speak in the

Kansai dialect The is a group of Japanese dialects in the Kansai region (Kinki region) of Japan. In Japanese, is the common name and it is called in technical terms. The dialects of Kyoto and Osaka are known as , and were particularly referred to as su ...

during their acts. In 1933, Yoshimoto Kogyo, a large entertainment conglomerate based in Osaka, introduced Osaka-style to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

audiences and coined the term "" (one of several ways of writing the word in Japanese; see below). In 2015, Matayoshi Naoki's manzai novel, , won the Akutagawa Prize. A mini-series adaptation was released on Netflix in 2016.

History

Originally based around a festival to welcome the New Year, traces its origins back to the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

. The two performers came with messages from the ''

kami are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forc ...

'' and this was worked into a standup routine, with one performer showing some sort of opposition to the word of the other. This pattern still exists in the roles of the and the . Manzai

Continuing into the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, the style focused increasingly on the humor aspects of stand-up, and various regions of Japan developed their own unique styles of , such as , , and . With the arrival of the

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

, began to implement changes that would see it surpass in popularity the styles of the former period, although at the time was still considered the more popular form of entertainment. With the end of the Taishō period, Yoshimoto Kōgyō—which itself was founded at the beginning of the era, in 1912—introduced a new style of lacking much of the celebration that had accompanied it in the past. This new style proved successful and spread all over Japan, including Tokyo. Riding on the waves of new communication technology, quickly spread through the mediums of

stage Stage, stages, or staging may refer to: Arts and media Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly Brit ...

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

, and eventually,

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

, and

video games A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

Etymology

The

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

for have been written in various ways throughout the ages. It was originally written as , using rather than the alternative form of the character, , and the simpler form for (which also can be used to write a word meaning "talent, ability"). The arrival of brought another character change, this time changing the first character to .

and

Similar in execution to the concepts of "funny man" and "

" in

comedy (e.g. Abbott and Costello;

Martin and Lewis Martin and Lewis were an American comedy duo, comprising singer Dean Martin and comedian Jerry Lewis. They met in 1944 and debuted at Atlantic City's 500 Club on July 25, 1946; the team lasted ten years to the day. Before they teamed up, Martin ...

), these roles are a very important characteristic of . comes from the verb which carries the meaning of "senility" or "air headed-ness" and is reflected in the 's tendency for misinterpretation and forgetfulness. The word refers to the role the second comedian plays in "butting in" and correcting the 's errors. In performances it is common for the to berate the and hit them on the head with a swift smack; one traditional prop often used for this purpose is a pleated paper fan called a . Another traditional prop is a small drum, usually carried (and used) by the . A Japanese bamboo and paper umbrella is another common prop. These props are usually used only during non-serious routines as traditional requires there to be no props in terms of routine and in competitions. The use of props would put the comedy act closer to a '' conte'' rather than ''manzai''. The tradition of and is often used in other Japanese comedy, although it may not be as obviously portrayed as it usually is in .

Notable acts

Winners of M-1 Grand Prix

Asahi Shimbun web survey 2012

The most funniest duos, according to a web survey by

The Asahi Shimbun is a Japanese daily newspaper founded in 1879. It is one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. The ''Asahi Shimbun'' is one of the five largest newspapers in Japan along with the ''Yom ...

in 2012 (excerpt): (Participants of survey: subscribers of Asahi Shinbun's web service, where 2,598 respondents voted. Method of survey: voters pick up to 5 from a list of around 100 most prominent pairs.) * Part of the table: (linked from ) * Number 1: * 2: * 3: * 4: Bakushō Mondai * 5: * 6: Two Beat a/small>: One of them,

Takeshi Kitano , also known as in Japan, is a Japanese comedian, actor, and filmmaker. While he is known primarily as a comedian and TV host in his native Japan, he is better known abroad for his work as a filmmaker and actor as well as TV host. During hi ...

became a Japanese film director and television host. * 7: Nakagawake * 8: * 9:

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English 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 ( ...

* 10: * 14: Taka and Toshi * 16: Ninety-nine * 22:

Shinsuke Shimada is a Japanese comedian and television presenter. He first became popular as part of a manzai duo formed with his on-stage partner Matsumoto Ryusuke. The duo was active between 1976 and 1985. In 1991 he directed the film ''Kaze, Slow Down''. ...

and * 26: Summers * 28:

Tunnels A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

* 29: and File:Entatsu_Achako_Scan10036.JPG, File:All Hanshin-Kyojin IMG 0317-1 20200110.jpg, File:Wagyu_manzai_IMG_1474-1_20180401.jpg,

Literary associations

* Kikaku wrote with affectionate mockery a

haiku is a type of short form poetry that originated in Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases composed of 17 Mora (linguistics), morae (called ''On (Japanese prosody), on'' in Japanese) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern; that include a ''kire ...

on the dancers: "The New Year Dancers / Never miss a single gate – / Millet for the crane". * Buson more positively wrote: "Yes, New Year's dancers – / Pounding good and properly, / The dirt in Kyoto". * Naoki Matayoshi's novel ''Spark'' (火花, ''Hibana'') is set in the world of manzai comedians and deals with the main characters artistic struggles. The novel was awarded the prestigious Akutagawa Prize in 2015.

References

External links

What is Manzai
2015 archive

by Xavier Benjamin Bensky. A study in the cultural effects of ''manzai''. {{Authority control Comedy genres Culture in Osaka Japanese comedy Performing arts in Japan Stand-up comedy