<figure id="attachment_221068" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 922px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-221068"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="a0d50a71"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2021/12/2016052900717.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-221068" class="wp-caption-text">Sanpei Hayashiya II (left) will be leaving &#8220;Laugh Point&#8221; after the broadcast on December 26. On the right is another member of the same family, Taihei Hayashiya.</figcaption></figure>
 I don&#8217;t know who is watching &#8220;Laoten&#8221;. I&#8217;ve never heard of such a show with no ad-libs and a lot of talking.
That was Beat Takeshi who said that. This time, however, something happened that did not seem to be ad-libbed.
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Sanpei Hayashiya, a rakugo storyteller who has been a member of the long-running NTV comedy program &#8220;Laugh Point&#8221; since May 2004, will be leaving the show after the December 26 broadcast.
At the end of the program, prompted by the host Shota Shunputei, Sanpei said with a mysterious expression on his face
 I, Sanpei Nidai, have made up my mind to leave Laugh Point this year. I would like to thank you for your support over the past five and a half years. Thank you very much. However, in these five and a half years, I have never won ten zabuton (Japanese cushions).
 Therefore, I will go out front and improve my skills and relearn to earn 10 zabutons. I will train my body, train my mind, expand the range of my art, and come back with many experiences. Thank you very much.
Sanpei then posted a message on Twitter. Later, Sanpei also posted on Twitter
 I&#8217;m leaving Laoten. I did my best as a young performer, but I understand that I am not good enough.
He tweeted
 At the end of the show, I said I would come back, but I know it won&#8217;t be that easy. I would like to gain various experiences, not only in rakugo, and relearn. I would appreciate your continued support.
He commented.
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The reason for this seems to be a simple lack of ability. Laugh Point, which boasts of stable and good viewership ratings, is concerned about the aging of its audience and has been trying to attract young people to watch the show for several years by using various methods.
One of them was Sanpei, who was chosen at the young age of 45 to be a regular comic. He was a member of the Hayashi family and had the perfect name recognition. In addition, his wife was the former actress Sachiko Kokubu.
However, as the show went on, the Internet started to say
 《I&#8217;m sorry, but it&#8217;s not funny. 
 《There are times when the audience is a scene. 
 &#8220;It&#8217;s hard for me to force myself to smile.
and &#8220;It&#8217;s hard to force myself to smile. Even the other members of the comedy troupe made fun of him. Hayashiya Kiku fan said
 &#8220;When I heard Sanpei-san&#8217;s answer, I thought it was the autumn of art.
And the answer was
 What? （What?
The answer was, &#8220;What?
 I heard that in the past five and a half years, viewers have been asking Nippon TV, &#8216;Please don&#8217;t do Sanpei. Mr. Kikuuchi made a joke out of it on the show, but other members of Laoten, including Sanyutei Enraku, repeatedly gave Sanpei a hard time.
In an attempt to create his own character, Sanpei showed episodes of his &#8220;nosy mother&#8221; and his beautiful wife Kokubun on the show, but they were not well received by the viewers, as he was &#8220;just bragging about his thoroughbred.
Finally, on the episode broadcast on November 7, six young rakugo storytellers appearing on BS Nippon TV&#8217;s &#8220;Laugh Point Special Edition&#8221; appeared on stage to compete with Sanpei&#8217;s regular members in a &#8220;rivalry game.
 Again, Sanpei failed to make his presence felt. In a sense, I can only think that the program was planned as a &#8220;guessing game&#8221;. After that, I heard that Sanpei&#8217;s side asked him to leave the program. It was a voluntary resignation, but the outer moat was filled in.
He must have felt a lot of pressure. In the past year, he has lost weight and there were concerns on the Internet. A man who is a Laugh Track watcher told us, &#8220;Her cheeks are getting thicker and she&#8217;s getting older.
 Her cheeks are puffy, and she looks old all at once. His cheeks have become hollow and he looks old all of a sudden. He has lost so much weight that there was even talk of him being seriously ill. I was worried about him because his eyes would sometimes droop and he would become depressed even during the show.
Both Laoten and Sanpei had reached their respective limits. As a rakugo storyteller, it was a big disgrace that he was unusually &#8220;disqualified&#8221; from Laugh Point. Will Sanpei be able to shine on his own?

 Kyodo News

 Sanpei Hayashiya II has announced that he will be leaving "Laugh Point" after the December 26th episode. His father was known as the "King of Laughs" in the Showa era, but his son admitted that he was not good enough and decided to leave the show...

Sanpei Hayashiya’s dismissal from “Laugh Track” and pressure from NTV to “lose weight

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