Yuji Miyake and Hisahiro Ogura Reflect on 47 Years as the Powerful Duo of “SET”

“Super Eccentric Theater” has lasted for 45 years because these two are here!

“Super Eccentric Theater” (SET), amidst many theater groups emerging and fading during the small theater boom, is celebrating its 45th anniversary in 2024.

Yuji Miyake (73), the leader, is a well-known popular TV personality who has been active not only on stage but also on television and radio. Additionally, the presence of his close friend Hisahiro Ogura (70), who was a founding member of the theater troupe, must not be overlooked.

Having known each other for 47 years, the duo’s combination has reached a mature level, and they revealed some unknown stories of hardships and joys.

Ogura: I originally had no interest in this world. But around the time I graduated from university, due to the oil shock, it was difficult to find a job in general companies. At that time, I watched a drama called “Ore-tachi no Matsuri” (Our Festival), where Masatoshi Nakamura (73) played a member of a theater troupe who would drink and party after rehearsals… Their daily life seemed so fun. I thought theater seemed great. Just as I was thinking that, I happened to see in a magazine that “Oedo Shin-Kigeki” was holding a debut performance, so I went to watch it.

Miyake: That debut performance was much more interesting than I had imagined.

Ogura: The lead, Miyake-san, was tall and looked like a model, but he was making the audience laugh effortlessly. That was simply cool.

Miyake: It’s more interesting when there’s a gap. That was exactly the point of what I was going for!

Ogura: After that, I went to audition for “Oedo Shin-Kigeki,” and the prompt was, “Please express your emotions—joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness,” and I didn’t know what to do.

I just said things like, “Oh, I’m so happy!” or “I’m so mad!” and read the lines in a flat tone (laughs). Then they told me to show my special skills, so I showed some backflips and karate forms because I had experience with gymnastics and karate in school. Maybe the contrast worked, and I passed the audition.

Miyake: I don’t remember any of that (laughs). It was 47 years ago, and I’ve done hundreds of auditions as a judge. But Ogura, even after joining the troupe, couldn’t do anything for a while. He was a bit shy and couldn’t raise his voice.

Ogura: I’m the type to immediately say, “This is no good! I’m not cut out for this.” There was one time backstage during a performance when I got really scared and thought I couldn’t do it. Then Miyake-san said, “Don’t say things like that now! I’ll talk to you later,” and he hugged me and jumped around to cheer me up.

 

Miyake’s manly spirit

In 1979, Miyake left Oedo Shin-Kigeki, where he had been performing, taking Ogura and other members with him to form SET that same year.

Miyake: “There were 15 of us. I asked the members I wanted to work with, ‘I’m leaving, are you coming with me?'”

Ogura: “I was really happy about that. I immediately said, ‘If Miyake-san is going, I’m going too!’ If I followed Miyake-san’s direction, the audience would laugh, and there was this reassuring vibe of, ‘If you stick with me, I’ll make it work!'”

Miyake: “At the time, everyone had complaints about the leadership and the office, so they would drink and complain. I said, ‘Then let’s do it ourselves.’ Even in Oedo Shin-Kigeki, when I said, ‘Maybe we should do this differently,’ and performed it, it would get a big laugh. Because I was delivering results, I think the members trusted me and followed.”

Ogura: “Later, I asked Miyake-san, ‘What was it like back then?’ He said, ‘I wondered if I was taking on their lives, and I was so anxious I couldn’t sleep at night.’ I was really surprised to hear that.”

Miyake: “Of course, it was my first time trying something like that, so I had doubts. But what I really hated was that the ‘doubt’ turned into reality with an unfortunate event.”

“One day, a person who struck it rich from mackerel fishing wanted to make a movie with the new office’s president. But that person fled during production. The costs for overseas shoots and the cast’s fees… everything that our office had covered turned into debt. It became pretty well-known in the industry as the ‘Mackerel Incident.'”

Ogura: “I was the youngest and least experienced, so I was just following along. I didn’t hear about this story until later.”

Miyake: “We were hit with debt right after the move, and it was devastating. But, at least SET’s performances were interesting, so that was the only relief. The audience gradually grew, too.”

Ogura: “In the early works, we did incredible shows like ‘Interbreeding,’ which was ahead of its time. That was fun!”

Miyake: “We would entertain the audience with gags and music, then bring a frightening conclusion that reflected themes that would later become real-world issues. I was conscious of giving the audience a sense of satisfaction after the performance.”

“In the early days of SET, we had a brilliant playwright with strong thematic skills, Sho Yagihashi (67), who had a lot of knowledge of theater, and me, who was experienced in comedy, comic bands, and jazz bands, with a deep understanding of humor and music. The team was really well-knit.”

Ogura’s preparedness

During this time, while their popularity continued to grow, in 2011, Miyake, who was 60 years old at the time, was hospitalized with spinal canal stenosis, leading to a long-term departure from the theater troupe. He was diagnosed with a loss of sensation in his lower body and was told that it might be difficult for him to return to the stage. The theater troupe was thrown into significant turmoil due to the absence of its leader and star actor, Miyake.

Miyake: SET had been performing almost every year since its inception, and at the time, we had another performance coming up. But during my hospitalization, I left things to the troupe members, so I wasn’t aware of the situation.

Ogura: At first, we were heading towards canceling the performance. But during a conversation, I casually said something like, “Is it really the right thing for the theater troupe to not perform just because Miyake can’t be there?” And for some reason, it was interpreted as, “Ogura is motivated!” (laughs).

In the end, the performance went ahead, and Miyake secretly showed up on the first day with crutches, didn’t he? Later, I heard that Miyake himself wasn’t told how serious his condition actually was.

Miyake: At first, the agency was only told that even with surgery, there might not be a full recovery. But sooner or later, they had to tell me too.

After the surgery, when the agency was going to tell me, my wife stopped them, saying, “Don’t tell him. Miyake will absolutely recover!” That helped me a lot, and I think it allowed me to focus fully on rehabilitation.

Ogura: We were told that Miyake had been hospitalized for a bad back. So, whenever we asked about it, the agency would just give vague answers. After hearing the full story later, everything started to make sense.

Miyake: When I was hospitalized, the directors and others would take turns visiting me, but since they couldn’t talk about the core issue, I often just listened to their struggles and unrelated stories. I always wondered why they were coming (laughs).

 

“I found it!”

Despite various troubles, the theater company has continued to this day. Reflecting on the 47 years since their meeting, how do they now view each other’s presence?

Ogura: Personally, I don’t have anything I can praise myself for, but I think there’s one thing I can be proud of. That is, “I found Yuji Miyake!”

Miyake: You say “found,” but it’s not like I went to see various plays. I just happened to be in the first play Ogura saw (laughs).

Ogura: My intuition that “if I follow this person, something will work out” was right.

Miyake: If we’re talking about that, I was the one who chose Ogura from the audition, so I think I was the one who found him.

Ogura: Miyake-san might have forgotten, but I once told him the same thing. Back then, he also said, “What are you talking about? I found you!” and it made me tear up a little.

Miyake: If I hadn’t met Ogura, SET might have disappeared much sooner. I’m really glad he came to our theater. If he had gone to another theater and that theater became successful, I would have been upset (laughs). Well, after 47 years, the guy who couldn’t even speak loudly at first has become an indispensable part of the company.

The two of them will be holding a comedy live show in February 2025 to celebrate Ogura’s 70th birthday, called The Title Match 3. It will be an omnibus of five pieces, one of which will have Ogura playing the role of the tsukkomi (straight man).

Miyake: We’re 73 and 70, so whether we have another live show after this depends on this one.

Ogura: It’s up to Miyake-san (laughs).

After 47 years, the strongest duo continues to pursue the insatiable laughter of their audience.

From the February 7, 2025 issue of “FRIDAY”