Following in the Footsteps of Legends: Hidehiko Ishizuka’s Encounter with Watanabe Production

Hello, everyone. The days with temperatures in the single digits are becoming more and more common. Are you wearing two layers of short sleeves? My name is Hidehiko Ishizuka.

I have already written about how I entered the Sunflower Theater Company’s training school to become a Japanese Sylvester Stallone. This time, I will write about what happened after that.

The manager’s words that hit me hard

I belonged to the youth division of the training school and worked hard with about 40 classmates in the evening classes. We had lessons in voice training, pantomime, and acting.

However, after one year, half of my classmates had dropped out, and by the end of the second year, only four of us remained. I thought, “There’s no way I can become a star in just two years,” so I wasn’t particularly anxious. Instead, I enjoyed myself, often making my classmates laugh during lessons. Then one day, the manager of the theater group said to me:

“Ishizuka-kun, you know. it might be better to be in a situation where you’re praised for making people laugh, rather than one where you make people laugh and get scolded.”

It hit me hard. Looking at the entertainment world objectively, there were people like Chosuke Ikariya, Shiro Ito, and Haji Hana, who were active as actors while also making people laugh on TV.

To reach the summit, I need to take a route that suits me. This was the first time I seriously thought about my life.

But I didn’t know what to do. I was feeling lost, lying around at home, when I came across a page in a magazine about an entertainment audition. My finger stopped on the section titled “Follow in the footsteps of Hip Up! Watanabe Production.” For some reason, I suddenly felt a strange confidence that I could “follow in the footsteps of Hip Up.” I immediately took action, passed the document screening, and the second-round theme was “Three-minute act.”

Wait a minute, what’s a “three-minute act”? I had made people laugh in conversations, but that wasn’t exactly “a bit.” That’s when I came up with the idea of using puns.

“You…” The unexpected words from the chief of the comedy team

At the audition venue, there were directors and producers from various TV stations, and in the center of the front row sat a mysterious man with the word “President” on his plate. As I wondered which president it could be, it was finally my turn. The act I performed is still fresh in my memory.

“(Holding a walkie-talkie) Captain~! Please give me canned peaches~! Yellow peaches, please~!”

Naturally, the room was filled with the kind of silence you’d expect in a library. Then, a little late, a single “Ha ha ha” laugh echoed through the room. It was the president.

“Why doesn’t the Yakult cheering squad stand up to cheer? Yakult, let’s sit down!”

Once again, only the president was laughing with “Ha ha ha.” I thought I had failed and lowered my head, when the chief of the comedy team from Watanabe Production came up to me.

“You passed.”

“Huh?”

“You’re… something good, huh?”

Looking back, I’ve often been told that there’s something “good” about me in the entertainment world. By the way, the person sitting with the “President” plate was Shin Watanabe, the president of Watanabe Production. I later learned that Mr. Watanabe always sat at the front row during comedian performances and laughed loudly, to make it easier for the performers.

Perhaps, you too should try finding a path that suits you, just like finding your own climbing route.

From the January 24/31, 2025 issue of “FRIDAY”