Why Tetsuya Morita and Bukuro Azuma graduated from the awards race for “Saraba Seishun no Hikari” (Farewell, Light of Youth)

Why did a regular award-winner choose to “graduate”?

Morita said, “Nowadays, it is good if I can take one day off a month. Even when I do get that day off, I end up having to attend YouTube planning meetings and film shoots.

The man who smiles while showing his white teeth is Tetsuo Morita, 44, of the popular comedy duo “Saraba Seishun no Hikari. His partner is Azuma Bukuro (40), and Morita is solely in charge of making up stories.

Although they do not have many regular programs, they have made many appearances on TV, and have three regular radio programs and four regular online programs on Abema TV and other online channels. Their YouTube channel has easily over 2 million subscribers (main and sub channels combined), and the total number of views has reached over 700 million, making them very popular.

What has further cemented the popularity of “Saraba~” are their solo live performances, which have become a regular annual event since 2005, with each year’s tour taking them to larger venues, all of which are sold out. Morita says, “I have toured eight times this year for the first time.

This year is the eighth time we’ve toured, and every venue has been a big hit. We are still doing the same vulgar material (laughs). (laughs). I don’t think the clientele has changed that much. It’s not that the audience has become more excited. I feel that many of them are calm and watch our comedy. The older ones are in their 50s. I would say there is a 50/50 split between men and women.

Currently, he is active not only on TV and radio, but also in a variety of other media.

Morita says, “We like TV, so we do everything we can on it, and we are active on YouTube because it allows us to express our colors the best.

The two met at the Shochiku Training Institute in Osaka and formed the group in 2008. They first challenged “King of Conte” and “M-1 Grand Prix” in 2008, right after they formed the duo. Since then, they have reached the finals of “KOC” from 2012 to 2006, with the exception of 2004. On the other hand, “M-1” has lost in the semifinals four times and made it to the finals in 2004. The image of “Saraba” was that of a regular in the awards race. However, after 2006, he announced his graduation from the awards race.

I thought it was not worth it to aim for awards,” said Morita.

What does he mean by “not worth it”?

Morita said, “I had a jinx that even if I worked hard all year to come up with a story, if I drew the first place winner by lot, there was no way I would win. This year, the top entry, “Long Coat Daddy,” won, but that was really true at the time. Award races were originally meant to be a dream come true. It was supposed to be a way for those who were not making any money at all to get to the side that was making money. Nowadays, however, I think there are more duos who enter the awards race because they want to sell on TV, or because they want to be in the awards race.

Graduation from the awards race is usually a big risk for comedians. Strangely enough, however, as soon as they stopped participating in awards shows, they began to get more work.

The reason for this was that they were able to concentrate on their solo live performances. As they had more time to spend on the creation of their material, the level of perfection increased, and the reputation of their live performances gradually grew. The decision to withdraw from the awards race was truly a turning point.

The December 12 issue of “FRIDAY” (November 27) features an interview with the two members of “Saraba Seishun no Hikari,” detailing the hardships they have faced from their debut to the present, their own theories on comedy, and the true faces of the duo.

From the December 12, 2025 issue of FRIDAY