<figure id="attachment_233917" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 5504px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-233917"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="8bee08e7"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/03/TZ1_4645-rotated.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-233917" class="wp-caption-text">In ‛09, he started his career with Shochiku Engei as the manzai duo Shinichi Kenji. After a two-and-a-half-year hiatus, they joined Grape Company in `13. Since then, he has been active as a pin comedian.</figcaption></figure>
 I often say to Masayoshi Yamazaki (50), &#8216;I&#8217;m only dating you because my wife thinks you&#8217;re funny, but I don&#8217;t think you&#8217;re funny at all! I&#8217;ve been told that.
Shinichi (36), a comedian who won the &#8220;R-1 Grand Prix 2022&#8221; on March 6, is laughing as he says so. He became the 20th champion with his artistic style of singing poisonous lyrics in a beautiful voice.
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
Shinichi joined his current agency in 2001 and began his career as a full-fledged comedian. He won the championship with the support of his seniors at his office, including the two members of &#8220;Sandwich Man&#8221; and Nagano (47), but it was not only his fellow comedians who supported him. But it was not only his fellow comedians who supported him, but also famous musicians.
<a href="#" data-ident_hash="1311f0dd"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/03/TZ2_0191.jpg" alt=""></a>
 Masayoshi Yamazaki, Shintaro Tsuneda of Sukima Switch (44), Yuya of Sid (40), and Yoshitaka Yamada of Yoshida Yamada (38) have been a great help to me. It is a futsal connection, isn&#8217;t it? I myself originally participated in the Inter-High School Championships when I was a student at Hokuyo High School (Osaka), and my part-time job was also at a futsal field for a long time.
Among them, it is Masayoshi Yamazaki who says he is the most indebted to them. It was an unexpected person who brought them together.
 When I had just started my career as a comedian, I had a chance to visit a recording of Masayoshi&#8217;s Internet program through a friend from his office. I had always been a fan of Masayoshi-san, so I went backstage to meet him. After that, I met him several times, and Masayoshi&#8217;s wife was the first one to say, &#8220;You&#8217;re funny! I heard that he told me about it. Masayoshi didn&#8217;t seem to be totally convinced. (Laughter).
 Masayoshi-san always teases me, saying, &#8220;I&#8217;ve never thought it was funny. When I playfully respond, he says, &#8220;I only call you because my wife likes you! I am always told, &#8220;You&#8217;re not going to be able to do that. He really takes good care of me, and I can&#8217;t thank him enough.
In addition to his artistic style, Shinichi has always been surrounded by music, including friendships with big-name musicians. He attributes this to a successful experience he had in elementary school.
 When I was in elementary school, my music teacher used to tell me to sing by myself as a model. Something about that stuck with me. In junior high school, my music teacher praised me, saying, &#8216;You are a very good singer. I think that somewhere in my mind, that I am a good singer has always supported me.
He is also very particular about the music he uses for his story songs.
 I wrote down in a notebook and analyzed all the comedians who had done rhythm material in the past, including Tetsu and Tomo, Youku Hada (46), AMEMIYA (43), and most recently, Doburokku. I thoroughly dissected and examined not only their artistic styles, but also their music.
 For example, the song &#8220;Why is that?&#8221; by Tetsu and Tomo starts with a guitar chord that repeats A minor and E minor. In the case of &#8220;Doburokku&#8217;s&#8221; &#8220;Maybe, but&#8221; the G minor is well interspersed into the melody to make it memorable to the ear. I searched for chords that had not been used before, and that&#8217;s how I came up with the current song, &#8216;Boku ga suki na mono&#8217; (&#8220;What I like&#8221;).
A special program on Fuji Television is also scheduled for June 19 as a benefit for the winner. The content of the program has not yet been decided, but he is thinking about having a music-related program there as well.
 I would like to invite some of the artists I have known and have a one-night-only music concert,&#8221; he said. I would like to have Masayoshi-san and &#8220;Sukima Switch&#8221; appear on the program, and of course, I would perform as the closing act!　I wonder if everyone would be willing to come out at a discount (laughs).
Shinichi&#8217;s challenge continues with the music he loves.
<a href="#" data-ident_hash="c37a6edb"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/03/TZ2_0666-rotated.jpg" alt=""></a>

 Takero Shigumura

 Masayoshi Yamazaki (50) often says to me, "I'm only dating you because my wife thinks you're funny, but I don't think you're funny at all! He laughs as he talks about the "R-1 Grand Prix 202" that took place on March 6, 2012.

Big names everywhere! Shinichi’s Unexpected Friendship

Access Ranking