<figure id="attachment_397306" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 527px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-397306"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="add809ee"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/10/42ff5a7bb6591672e88055afa7a31fc7.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-397306" class="wp-caption-text">Akashiya Sanma responds to a direct interview with this magazine after 7:00 p.m. in late October.</figcaption></figure>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I cried raggedly when I saw the Ezo squirrel eating acorns. &#8230;&#8230;</span></p>
<p>In the mid-October broadcast of &#8220;Odoru, Sanma Goten! Sanma Goten! 3-hour special&#8221; (NTV) in mid-October, many co-stars and viewers expressed concern about his mental state.</p>
<p>Starting with the &#8220;black market problem by comedians&#8221; reported in 2007, Yoshimoto Kogyo has been rocked by many scandals in recent years, such as the alleged sexual assault of &#8220;Downtown&#8221; comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto (61) and the firing of &#8220;Jungle Pocket&#8221; comedian Shinji Saito (42). For Mr. Sanma, one of Yoshimoto&#8217;s most prominent figures, the scandals involving his junior comedians must be as painful as if they were his own. Perhaps it was against this background that he made a statement on &#8220;Young Town Saturday&#8221; (MBS Radio), a radio program on which he is a personality, regarding Saito&#8217;s dismissal announced on October 7, saying, &#8220;I will no longer carry Yoshimoto on my shoulders. It even made the Internet news the next day.</p>
<p>Sanma is a caring and considerate man who is admired by his junior comedians. What does he really think about Yoshimoto Kogyo and the comedy world today? To get a sense of his thoughts, we approached him after work.</p>
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<h2>Thoughts expressed in response to our questions</h2>
<p>A little past 7:00 p.m. in late October, this magazine found a luxury car in Tokyo that Sanma had been using for many years. It was a misty light rain that day, and visibility was poor.</p>
<p>Noticing the reporter approaching, Sanma slowly rolled down the driver&#8217;s side window and answered our direct questions.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> What are you doing?&#8221;</span></p>
<p>I&#8217;m sorry. Good evening. My name is &#8220;Friday.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Hi.</span></p>
<p>Last week, you said, &#8220;I don&#8217;t carry Yoshimoto on my back anymore. I don&#8217;t worry about my juniors anymore.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Oh, really!</span></p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="You're just taking it on yourself."></div>
<h3>No request to Yoshimoto</h3>
<p>Sanma answered the reporter&#8217;s question without hesitation. When asked about his thoughts on Yoshimoto Kogyo, he answered in a matter-of-fact manner.</p>
<p>Do you have any requests for the company?</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I don&#8217;t have any.</span></p>
<p>Q. Did the timing of your statement indicate that you were feeling a sense of bitterness because of the burden that you have been carrying?</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I don&#8217;t feel any bitterness. It&#8217;s just something you have to carry on your back.</span></p>
<p>Mr. Sanma?</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Oh, yes. So I&#8217;m just carrying it on my own, even though I wasn&#8217;t asked to do so. And I&#8217;m not with &#8216;Yoshimoto&#8217; anymore.</span><span class="strongInContent"> I&#8217;m still with &#8216;Yoshimoto,&#8217; but I&#8217;m a freelancer. It&#8217;s a freelance agency.</span></p>
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<p>Q: When you are as big as Sanma-san, don&#8217;t you think that President Okamoto (Akihiko Okamoto) of &#8230;&#8230; and the company would ask you for advice?</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> No, nothing.</span></p>
<p>Nothing?</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Nothing. Then, please do me a favor!</span><span class="strongInContent"> I&#8217;m going, already!　Work!&#8221;</span></p>
<p>He closed the car window again and drove off briskly to the next site.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m carrying on on my own, I&#8217;m hurting on my own, I&#8217;m doing things on my own&#8211; Sanma, who was burdened with many things, still seemed to be saying, &#8220;It&#8217;s my own fault. I wonder if any part of his sense of responsibility reached his younger colleagues and his office.</p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="Sanma in a luxury car...a &quot;direct hit&quot; photo"></div>
<figure id="attachment_397307" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 526px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-397307"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="ffe205cc"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/10/3eeebbeed177e676e1cb2407fa4e9bb9.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-397307" class="wp-caption-text">He looked tired throughout, perhaps heartbroken by the scandals of his junior comedians.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_397308" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 526px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-397308"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="c61de3b9"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/10/30d5bea3492ce9f5e3e65970cfe52c23.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-397308" class="wp-caption-text">He said he was heading to his next job, took the wheel again, and the car drove off.</figcaption></figure>
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 Ippei Hara

 Following the dismissal of "Janpoke" Saito from Yoshimoto, Akashiya Sanma said on his radio program "Young Town Saturday" that he would "no longer carry the burden of Yoshimoto. The next day, the statement made the Internet news, and the public was worried about Sanma. ......

Akashiya Sanma Discusses “I Won’t Carry Yoshimoto” Comment Amid Scandals

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