<p><span class="strongInContent">Yasuda Dai, &#8220;Japan&#8217;s best surprise comedian&#8221; who has survived being left on a deserted island, having his home monitored 24 hours a day by camera, and being honey-trapped &#8230;&#8230;, has been the subject of numerous harsh surprises. Kuro-chan of &#8220;Circus&#8221; tells the story behind the scenes in the series &#8220;Kuro-chan mo tsurazu yo! Kuro-chan is also having a hard time! Recently, more and more TV personalities have been talking about going independent. In the comedy world as well, an increasing number of comedians, such as Reiwa Roman&#8217;s Takabiruma, have become successful as independent comedians. Kuro-chan also seems to have his own theory on &#8220;independent comedians. &#8230;&#8230;</span></p>
<figure id="attachment_435705" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-435705" style="width: 6000px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="4d817933"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/08/7089543c202aa6ea11d8084f5f1a794a.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-435705" class="wp-caption-text"> In recent years, the number of independent comedians has been increasing. While the way of working is changing in accordance with the changing times, Kuro seems to have a &#8220;unique idea. &#8230;&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
<h3><span class="strongInContent"> The &#8220;Take off the bamboo&#8221; comedians who are all successful.</span></h3>
<p> Oh, Kuro always disguises himself with masks and hats, but somehow he is easily recognized. Wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah. Well, this is the fourth installment of this series. Let&#8217;s get on with it! The theme is the entertainment company I belong to, &#8220;Shochiku Entertainments. I&#8217;m going to write about it with gusto!</p>
<p> Recently, there has been a lot of talk about comedians who have left Shochiku Engei, in other words, &#8220;ex-shochiku&#8221; comedians. （Last year, Kintaro (43) and Minamikawa (42) made headlines when they &#8220;defrocked&#8221; one after another in March and May, respectively.</p>
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<p> For comedians, it is a difficult decision to leave the agency where they grew up. To be honest, with Minamikawa, I wondered if it was safe for him to quit. I thought, &#8220;Is it safe to quit? Because Minamikawa&#8217;s style was to make a character that spoke ill of Shochiku Enterprises. I thought that it would be better for him to quit after he had become more established in the tea ceremony &#8230;&#8230;.</p>
<p> But after he left the company, he shifted to a different character without saying anything bad about Shochiku Entertainment, and he continues to appear on the show even now. It&#8217;s impossible for her to be active even after quitting the agency with ordinary efforts.</p>
<p> Kintaro. It&#8217;s hard to believe that Kintaro has so much work and she manages her own schedule. She must have found a new ability. In short, I think both Minamikawa and Kintaro are really amazing. I think they are both really great. But what really matters is three years from now. After you become independent, you can get relatively more work, but will it last forever &#8230;&#8230;. I think I&#8217;m well off right now, but &#8230;&#8230; we&#8217;ll see (laughs).</p>
<p> Am I ready to bury my bones&#8230;&#8230;?　As more and more comedians are getting out of the bamboo business, my hierarchy will inevitably go up~. So, when other comedians break away from Shochiku, I say to them, &#8220;I will never leave Shochiku for the rest of my life!　I will be Shochiku for the rest of my life! I tell the president and employees over and over again, like brainwashing them (laughs).</p>
<p> (Laughs.) I have no intention of actually quitting. Even if I move to a different agency and have a certain amount of guaranteed work, the agency still loves the talent who has been with the company for a long time. It&#8217;s too hard to build relationships with the staff from scratch again. Even if they get paid more for their independence, they still have to deal with the hassle of managing schedules and negotiating salaries. That&#8217;s why I don&#8217;t transfer or go independent.</p>
<p> But &#8230;&#8230; if I were to break away, do you know what that would mean?　It would mean that there is no point in staying in this office!　So I hope Shochiku Entertainment will do their best to prevent that from happening (laughs).</p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" My theory on the increasing number of independent comedians"></div>
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<figure id="attachment_435707" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-435707" style="width: 6000px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="01613c3c"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/08/a87dc35b304091d3ec0d562676cb8568.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-435707" class="wp-caption-text">Kuro-chan made the &#8220;Itchiku Declaration&#8221; that he will remain at Shochiku Entertainments for the rest of his life. Kuro-chan also revealed his honest opinion about the future of Yasuda Grand Circus, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary next year.</figcaption></figure>
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<h3><span class="strongInContent"> Kuro-chan talks about the future of Yasuda Grand Circus!</span></h3>
<p> To be honest, when Minamikawa and Kintarou quit, I was going to come to him. I thought that when Minakawa and Kintaro quit, the work that had come to him would be transferred to me. I was really worried about whether I would be able to keep up my strength &#8230;&#8230;, but he didn&#8217;t come to me at all &#8230;&#8230; (laughs).</p>
<p> (Laughs.) Well, when I thought about it, I realized that our styles were completely different, so it was only natural. Then, Kenji Moriwaki (58), a senior colleague from our office, was hospitalized. He called me and said, &#8220;I&#8217;m going to be hospitalized, Kuro, I&#8217;m counting on you! I asked him, &#8220;Are you okay?</p>
<p> I asked him if he was okay.　If there is anything I can do, please let me know. A few days later, the chief manager said to me, &#8220;I heard that Kuro is going to do Mr. Moriwaki&#8217;s work. Is it true? I asked him what he meant, and he told me that Mr. Moriwaki had told him that he had gotten Kuro&#8217;s approval to do all my work. &#8230;&#8230;</p>
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<p> And when I looked at the job description, all I saw was running full marathons and other running-related work, which sent chills down my spine. &#8230;&#8230; No, I can&#8217;t do that (laughs). I&#8217;m really embarrassed, even though I didn&#8217;t agree to it at all. I started practicing running, but the marathon-related jobs turned me down as a substitute (laughs).</p>
<p> (Laughs.) Our activities as &#8220;Yasuda-Dai Circus&#8221; are about twice a month. So, as far as I am concerned, we are like a unit, but we talk behind the scenes as well, so it is not that we do not get along. Well, the leader is persistent and troublesome (laughs). So I don&#8217;t think I will ever leave the group. Even if I wanted to quit, I would not say so.</p>
<p> If one of my partners says, &#8220;I want to quit,&#8221; I can take the position of saying, &#8220;I want to continue, but I can go to &#8230;&#8230;. I can say something like, &#8220;I respect their future. That way, I can be the &#8220;victim,&#8221; which makes it easier for me to get the next job (laughs).</p>
<p> Well, next year will be the 25th anniversary of Yasuda-Daikircus. We are often asked if we are going to participate in live performances and award shows, but the stress of putting together material is too much, and we won&#8217;t make it to the finals anyway, so we won&#8217;t (laughs). (Laughs.) Well, I hope to keep a &#8220;good distance&#8221; between us in the future as well.</p>
<p> Thanks again for reading this issue!　I&#8217;ll have another good one for you next time, so look forward to it!</p>
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 Kuro-chan

 Takayuki Ogawauchi

 Kuro-chan from "Yasuda Dai Cirucus," Japan's best surprise comedian, talks about what's going on behind the scenes in the industry in the serial "Kuro-chan mo tsurazu yo! In the fourth installment of the series, Kuro-chan talks about his "office independence. In the fourth installment, Kuro-chan talks about his "theory of independence from an agency. In this fourth installment, Kuro talks about his views on office independence.

 Serialization: "It's Tough to be Kuro-chan, Too!　Part 4: Kuro-chan talks about his true feelings toward the many successful "out-of-take comedians" and his vision for the future.

Kuro-chan’s “love for an office that is a little bit different”!　Kuro-chan’s “A Slightly Unusual Love for His Office

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Kuro-chan’s “love for an office that is a little bit different”! Kuro-chan’s “A Slightly Unusual Love for His Office

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Kuro-chan’s “love for an office that is a little bit different”!　Kuro-chan’s “A Slightly Unusual Love for His Office