Veteran Tsutomu Sekine Open Up Secret to Thriving in Entertainment Industry: Prioritizing Quality Time with Daughter Over Late Nights

I have been a TV kid since I was a child, and I am still a regular viewer. I record all terrestrial variety shows and watch them for four hours a day.

Tsutomu Sekine, 70, who celebrates the 50th anniversary of his career this year, describes himself as a professional viewer.

Even though he has reached his 70th birthday, Sekine continues to be energetic, appearing on TV programs, posting videos on YouTube, and acting as the chairman of the stage company Kankonkin Theatre. Moreover, despite such a long career, we have heard nothing bad about him. How on earth did he manage to establish this position?

We interviewed him directly after he published “Sekine Tsutomu’s Laws of Not Being Hated” (Fusosha) in February of this year.

Sekine analyzes that his bitter experiences in his youth are behind his not being disliked. He was in his 20s and worked as a comedian under the name “Rabbit Sekine.” He achieved his breakthrough with Mantis Kenpo, a technique in which he moves his hands while shouting Ka-ma-ki-ri,’ but his too crappy style was not well-received in the entertainment room.

When I was young, I was so desperate to make an impact that I didn’t have time to spare,” he said. So I started to overreact more and more. If there had been social networking services back then, I would have been flamed for being creepy and removed from regular TV appearances (laughs).

Although he appears on stage with Kazuki Kosakai (68), a junior at the agency, his impression of the praying mantis man is too strong, and he continues to not be as well-received as he would like. Kinichi Hagimoto (82), a senior at the agency, said these words to Sekine, who was struggling to make progress.

Kin-chan said, “If you have a million yen in your pocket, don’t show all of it, but only 50,000 yen. At first I had a hard time finding the right amount of salt, but after about two months, I was able to take a step back and get a more relaxed point of view. 

Sekine’s classmates include big names such as Sanma Akashiya (68) and Shinsuke Shimada (67). “It’s okay to laugh! ” (Fuji TV), where he co-starred with Tamori (78) for 29 years. He recalls that he learned a lot by coming into close contact with big names.

What Sanma-san and Tamori-san have in common is that they are common-sense people who are flat to everyone.Also, they are geniuses who are never pretentious and do not make others nervous. I think this is very important when working.

Tamori-san never brags and always listens to what we have to say in an interesting way. I often play golf with Mr. Sanma, and even if I bring a friend of mine who has nothing to do with the world of entertainment, he is always quick to make fun of me. He always leaves the golf course bursting with laughter.