Former “Plus Minus” Yoshimasa Iwahashi: Happiness of “living in a 50,000 yen apartment” after giving up his monthly income of 2 million yen and his mansion in Setagaya, Tokyo

On the day of the interview, Yoshimasa Iwahashi (46) was playing golf in Chiba Prefecture in the morning. The golfers he played with were Akashiya Sanma (69), Neptune’s Ken Horiuchi (55), and Curimuchu’s Teppei Arita (53). I have work in Osaka tomorrow morning, so I have to go home on the bullet train. I won’t be able to see my daughters this time,” he told FRIDAY, after which Iwahashi continued, “But if I see them too much, I’ll miss them.

Master Sanma holds monthly golf meetings for us, like a ″watching over Iwahashi group. The core members are Horiken, Jonio Iwai (50), and myself, but Jonio hasn’t been able to come lately, so this time Arita came. We used to play golf about once a month, but it just so happened that the only month we didn’t play was the month I went “berserk. My master seemed to be concerned about it, saying, ‘If you had played golf then, you wouldn’t be in this situation …….

Last year, “Plus Minus” won the Kamigata Manzai Grand Prize. The year 2012, which was supposed to be a year of breakthrough, unexpectedly turned out to be the year the duo broke up: Iwahashi’s contract was terminated by Yoshimoto Kogyo on February 22 over his behavior on SNS and other social networking sites.

After the round, Arita-san would assign me various characters, and I would play them out in my sweat, trying to find out what was funny. We did a rough act of ‘Let’s play the second generation of Shohei Otani, Matsuko Deluxe, or any other celebrity, but it didn’t go very well (laughs). It reminded me of how the world of comedians is like, and how hard it is.

Master I think both Master and Mr. Arita are thinking of ways for me to come back. In fact, I think they have suggested many times to put me on a terrestrial program. But even if the staff says, “Okay! but before I know it, the conversation has been put on hold. I guess there must be some kind of discovery.

After the contract was terminated, people left like spiders scattering. The only Yoshimoto comedians who really got involved with me were my mentor and Hiroaki Hamamoto (50) of Tendara,” Iwahashi said with a wry smile.

Three years old, hardly lived in.

Tendara is the signature comic at NGK (Namba Grand kagetsu), and even though it was risky for him to get involved with me, …… Hamamoto-san invited me out for karaoke and dinner and asked me, “How are you doing lately? He would take me out to karaoke and dinner and ask me, “How are you doing? We would go on trips together, and I would post photos of our trips on social media. My mentor and Mr. Hamamoto have been very open with me.

After leaving Yoshimoto, Iwahashi set up his own private agency. After leaving Yoshimoto, Iwahashi set up his own agency, hiring management and staff to film and edit his TikTok and YouTube videos.

I upload videos of me eating on TikTok, and I try to upload one video a week on YouTube. I also work as an MC for a company’s anniversary party, go to pachinko parlors to do sales, and do PR for an apparel company. I manage to make a living, but the out-of-pocket expenses and taxes are a pain.

Iwahashi relies on the proceeds from the sale of the mansion he built in Setagaya, Tokyo.

It is a three-story house with a 10-tatami-mat rooftop for barbecuing and relaxing in a hammock. The study and the laundry room, each about 2 tatami in size, can be used in an interesting way, like a secret base for fathers. The nearest station is Chitose Karasuyama. The limited express train stops there. There have been quite a few previews, but it hasn’t sold yet. It was built three years ago, and the family lived in it for less than a year. After that, I lived there alone for six months. It is clean because it has hardly been lived in. It’s already empty, so it’s ready to move in. Friday readers, how about it?”

After giving up his mansion in Setagaya, Iwahashi is now living in an 8-mat, 1K, 50,000 yen apartment in Osaka Prefecture, where his parents live.

He had the “worst slip-up of his life” in a job he took because of the high salary.

I was manager of a nightclub for a day, and I had to go to the table of a customer who poured champagne for me to liven things up. I’m a shy person, so I get nervous just being around all kinds of customers, and I don’t like people who tell me to drink and drink because I’m a comedian. It was tough, but the pay was good, so I remembered the faces of my daughters and managed to pour down the alcohol in gulps.

But when I went to a bar with live music and karaoke, they asked me to tell a story, and I did. There was a couple sitting in front of me who looked like a couple, and as soon as I finished, the guy said, “What’s the matter with you, you’re not funny at all! I’m sorry. I said, “I’m sorry,” and went back to my seat, but this time a woman came up to me and poured champagne on my head and said, “You’re not funny! You’re no fun! I thought to myself, “This is like the game “Ryu ga Gotoku” (The Dragon’s Dogma). ……, and all my acquaintances, who had encouraged me so much to “do the story,” turned their heads down. No one came to my rescue when I was drenched in champagne.

I was grateful to be offered the job, but how could I do it after only 10 minutes on stage? But the days of Yoshimoto, when he could earn tens of thousands of yen for a mere 10 minutes on stage, seemed glorious.

Still, Iwahashi says he has “no regrets” about his old life.

The company and my manager would get me jobs, and as long as I kept up with the schedule that was e-mailed to me every day, I could earn a fair amount of money. To be honest, I think I was blessed, and there were times when I regretted leaving Yoshimoto. But this year, for the first time, I traveled during the Golden Week holidays and realized how much the world enjoys the holidays.

I was so happy to be able to share the holidays with my friends. The other day, I went scuba diving on Miyako Island, and I cried. I was so moved. I thought, “I almost ended my life not knowing that there is a world like this. I have anxiety in my life now, but I also have freedom. I am grateful for that.

Comedians who knew the power of “Plus Minus” expressed regret over the breakup of the group.

Among them, Masashi “Tommies” (64) was the most vocal, saying, “It’s as if we are throwing away 400 to 500 million yen over the next 20 years.

The Kamigata Manzai Grand Prize is the biggest pay raise in the world. I was really sorry to my partner that I quit at a time when my monthly income was going up from 2 million yen to even more, but …… I had no longing for that future.

At NGK, if you do the same iron plate material, you will be popular all the time because the audience changes. you work 10 minutes, relax in the waiting room, and work another 10 minutes. you work for a week, rest for a week, and work again for another week. you work for 10 minutes, relax in the waiting room, and work again for another 10 minutes. you work for 10 minutes, relax in the waiting room, and work again for another 10 minutes. It’s the world of traditional performing arts, where you have to hone your skills. I think that is the best place to be, but with limited time left to live, I wanted to live a more exciting life. People make it sound like I went off the rails and quit in a fit of pique because of my chronic OCD, but of course that’s part of it. …… I’ve been doing manzai for the past few years, and it actually hasn’t been all that interesting.”

I can live stream from home whenever I want and quit when I want to. He can connect with people from all over the world, and if they find him funny, he can earn money by throwing money at them. For several years, Iwahashi says, “I was very interested in this new form of live performance.

OCD is a mess.

I’m studying English right now. My videos of me eating rice are being watched by quite a few foreigners on TikTok. I would like to distribute my videos in English and go to America and other foreign countries. When I was at Yoshimoto, I had very few days off, and there were days when I was on stage 12 times a day, so I didn’t have that kind of time to spare.

For a long time, Yoshimoto was opposed to me disclosing my OCD because it makes it difficult to laugh, but there are many people who hide the fact that they have this disease and live their lives as recluses. Because they are afraid that people will think they are weird. But, you know, no one likes to have OCD. It’s a complete mess. I may not be cured, but I can coexist. We can ″manage″ it. I’m not alone. I want to tell them, “Let’s do this together. I definitely want to do activities that make life easier for them.

Now that he has more time to spare, he can choose his work. He has taken it a little harder to get night work because he vowed to continue sending money to his daughters until they reach adulthood.

I have a good relationship with my ex-wife. She lets me see my daughters once a month, and we have video calls. She takes care of my health, and she gives me advice like, ‘You’ll be just as guilty if you just repost [my rants]’ (laughs). (Laughs.) My oldest daughter says she checks to see if I’m saying anything stupid on social media again. My ex-wife is from Tottori, but she is doing a great job raising our child in Tokyo, a place I have no connection to. I have nothing but gratitude.”

Iwahashi’s circle of friends has grown around Osaka, and he smiles, “Next year I won’t even have to do night work. When asked what the last 10 months since his contract termination have meant to him, he thought for a moment and then replied, “Muki-Tamago.

I’m a peeled egg,” he said.

I broke out of my hard shell and exposed my sensitive and delicate side. Many people stay in their shells because it’s scary and risky, but I’ve made it to the starting line. Now, what is going to happen to my life?　Right now, I enjoy hanging out the clothes I washed in the cheapest washing machine, which costs about 30,000 yen, in my apartment in Osaka. No one would ever think that Iwahashi would be drying clothes here, I thought. I love the difference between playing golf with Master Sanma and doing laundry alone. It’s like he is quietly sharpening his sword in a secluded place. What are you going to do now?　Can we do anything?　I can do anything I want. I think it’s a weird way to live, but it’s interesting. I can’t stop being excited.

By struggling and breaking out of his shell, Iwahashi has found the “fun” he was looking for.

From the December 13 and 20 , 2024 issue of FRIDAY