Departure of Ken Shimura left Ryuhei Ueshima’s a Huge “Sense of Loss”
Ryuhei Ueshima passed away on May 11. He was adored by many comedians“I’m not listening.”
“I’ve got you.”
“It’s all good.”
He was also well known for his many junior colleagues who loved him.
“Ueshima-san admired the way the comedy duo “Downtown” took their junior comedians out for drinks, so he gathered together a group of comedians who were not yet successful and formed the “Ryuhei Kai” (dragon faction). Now, from its members, there are super successful comedians such as Teruyuki Tsuchida, Hiroyuki Ariyoshi, and Gekidan Hitori,” said a sports newspaper reporter.
The “Ryuhei Kai” was a major force in the entertainment world. The episodes were repeatedly broadcast on the popular variety show “Ametalk!” (TV Asahi), a popular variety show.
Ueshima is also known for his interaction with Ken Shimura, who passed away in 2008.
Mr. Shimura and Mr. Ueshima had a “master-disciple” relationship that anyone would envy. In 1996, Mr. Shimura called Mr. Ueshima through a mutual acquaintance, Toshiaki Kawada, a professional wrestler.
He told him, “I’ll put you on “Bakadon,” and he scouted him. Since Mr. Shimura called him and made the offer directly, he must have been impressed with Mr. Ueshima’s ability even before he met him,” said a TV station official.
The two were often seen together in the downtown area of Azabu Juban, Minato-ku, which was said to be Mr. Shimura’s “home ground.” From upscale clubs to Japanese-style pubs, the sight of the two drinking together in good humor until the wee hours of the morning had become a town tradition.
Mr. Shimura contracted the coronavirus two years ago and passed away suddenly. Last year, Mr. Ueshima told this magazine about his relationship with Mr. Shimura in his later years.
“When I heard of his death last March, all I could do was to be surprised. I knew he was in the hospital, but I didn’t think he had gotten that bad. While appearing on the memorial program, in my heart I did not believe in the fact that Mr. Shimura was no longer in this world. I finally came to accept the fact that he passed away during this year’s Bon festival.
Still, there is not a day that goes by that I do not remember Mr. Shimura. Whenever I see sweet potatoes on the street, Mr. Shimura would say, “When I was a kid, sweet potatoes were so dry and bad. I still don’t like sweet potatoes when I was a kid.”
Still, there is not a day that goes by that I do not remember of Mr. Shimura. Whenever I see sweet potatoes on the street, I remember Mr. Shimura saying, “When I was a kid, sweet potatoes were dry and bad. I still don’t like sweet potatoes when I was a kid,” he would say.
As long as my head doesn’t go blank, I will never forget it, and I will live my life remembering it every day.
The last time the two exchanged words was about a month before Mr. Shimura passed away. It was Shimura’s 70th birthday party.
“I arrived early that day and had about 30 minutes alone with Shimura before everyone else arrived. Shimura told me, “It’s been a while since I’ve had a drink with Tatsu-chan. I miss you, don’t you?” I told him we should go out for a drink again, but then Corona started to be popular and the timing didn’t work out. In the end, he was drinking alone. I was refraining from drinking too, you know. I’m sure he must have been lonely.”
Mr. Ueshima spoke of his sense of loss at the passing of Mr. Shimura. The deaths of these two men, both of whom were major figures in the world of comedy, came too soon.
PHOTO： Shinji Hamasaki
