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

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.”