<figure id="attachment_223672" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1024px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-223672"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="3555d765"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/01/2016052900658.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-223672" class="wp-caption-text">Sanpei Hayashiya (front row, middle) graduated from &#8220;Laugh Point&#8221; at the end of &#8217;21. Miyaji Katsura will appear in this seat from the January 23 episode&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
The name of KATSURA Miyaji, which had been close to unknown to non-rakugo fans, has been on a vector to be upgraded to national prominence with the first day of the Year of the Tiger. This is because he was chosen to be a regular contestant on the popular long-running TV program &#8220;Laugh Point&#8221; (Nippon Television Network Corporation).
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I was congratulated by Tsurube Shofukutei, who said, &#8220;Your life will change. This is a perfect example of the &#8220;goodness&#8221; of being a regular on Laoten.
 Shota (Shunputei), the host of the show, ordered me to appear on a program on Nippon Television Network Corporation to raise my profile, but I don&#8217;t think I need to worry because appearing on &#8220;Laoten&#8221; itself will help raise my profile.
So says a veteran entertainment writer. He continues, &#8220;I think it was a good choice.
 I think it was a good choice. What&#8217;s good about it is that Miyaji will change the atmosphere of &#8216;Laoten&#8217; and may even become the &#8216;destroyer of Laoten.
I have high hopes for him. The reason for this is as follows.
 Miyaji is a straightforward character who is well-liked by his seniors, but at the same time, he does not pay any attention to them in his art. This is because when he was initiated into rakugo by his master, Shinji Katsura, at the age of 31, he was strictly ordered to &#8220;be the best in today&#8217;s rakugo session and today&#8217;s yose,&#8221; without thinking about the performers who would come up after him.
 By adhering to this, Miyaji was able to rise to the top as a glamorous performer who could completely change the atmosphere before and after his appearance.
Originally, yose was also an aspect of the overall art of connecting to the tori master. There is a tradition of &#8220;casually doing a trick that suits your position on each day,&#8221; but Miyaji has destroyed that tradition.
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In fact, last year, Senchin Irifunatei, who was much older than Miyaji, came up after Miyaji.
 He said jokingly, &#8220;You&#8217;re so noisy, it&#8217;s hard to play.
I guess that&#8217;s what comedians really think.
 I think that is the true feeling of a comedian, but if he can show it on &#8220;Laugh Point,&#8221; he will have the destructive power to kick the other senior comedians to the curb. I&#8217;m sure that I&#8217;ll be able to do well as I&#8217;ve been working on my comedy skills as a young comedian on BS NTV&#8217;s &#8220;Laugh Point Special Edition.
 In &#8220;Laoten,&#8221; three questions are presented to the respondent before the show, and the respondent has to come up with the answers by himself without relying on anyone else. Sanpei Hayashiya couldn&#8217;t do it, so he asked to leave the show, but Miyaji could. Miyaji can do it. He is also good at getting things done. He has a lot to offer.
When he was young, Miyaji worked as a cosmetics salesman. Miyaji used to be a cosmetics salesman when he was young, and he has mastered the techniques of grabbing customers and making them laugh when selling in stores, and he is not afraid to do so.
 The only thing left for him to do is to pay attention to the senior respondents, but in five years, most of them will have been replaced. With that in mind, there&#8217;s no need for Miyaji to be shy, and I expect him to keep his style unchanged and come up with destructive answers that will take away the shares of the other contestants and make the atmosphere of &#8220;Laugh Point&#8221; more exciting.
Miyaji will not be buried like Sanpei, but will be the &#8220;destroyer of Laugh Point. With the addition of Miyaji to the rut that has been the strength of &#8220;Laugh Point,&#8221; we can expect the show to become even more powerful.

 Kyodo News

 Sanpei Hayashiya left "Laugh Point" at the end of 2009 to pursue his studies. He was replaced by Miyaji Katsura, who was just promoted to "shindan" last year. What is expected of him is to break the rut of "Laugh Point" in a good sense, but...

Miyaji Katsura, the Successor to Sanpei Hayashiya, is Expected to be the Breaker of the Laugh Track

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