is a Japanese

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but it is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have deve ...

conglomerate. It was founded in 1912,

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, as a traditional

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

, and has since grown to be one of the most influential companies in Japan, employing most of Japan's popular

owarai is a broad word used to describe Japanese comedy as seen on television. The word ''owarai'' is the Honorific speech in Japanese#Honorific prefixes, honorific form of the word ''warai'' (by adding o- prefix), meaning "a laugh" or "a smile". '' ...

(comedy) talent, producing and promoting the shows they appear in. The two main headquarters are stationed in

and

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. Yoshimoto has been expanding its business in recent years, due to the ''owarai'' boom. They now have their own comedy theme park in Otaru, Hokkaido and have begun signing the likes of musicians, producers,

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

s and singers alongside business with the Japanese ''owarai'' industry.

History

1912–1932: Establishment of Yoshimoto Kogyo-bu

On April 1, 1912, Kichibei Yoshimoto and his wife Sei Yoshimoto purchased the Second Arts Building in

. They later established Yoshimoto Kogyo-bu in January 1913 in

Shinsaibashi is a district in the Chūō-ku ward of Osaka, Japan and the city's main shopping area. At its center is , a covered shopping street, that is north of Dōtonbori and Sōemonchō, and parallel and east of Mido-suji street. Associated with Shi ...

. In 1922, they purchased two theatre establishments in January and May in

and

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

1932–2005: Rename to Yoshimoto Kogyo, influence on ''manzai''

On March 1, 1932, Yoshimoto Kogyobu changed its name to Yoshimoto Kogyo and set up their second headquarters in Tokyo. In 1933, Yoshimoto Kogyo's

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

department was established. Yoshimoto helped shape the

manzai is a traditional style of comedy in Japanese culture comparable to double act comedy. usually involves two performers ()—a straight man () and a double act, funny man ()—trading jokes at great speed. Most of the jokes revolve around mut ...

comedic style after World War II, and the

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

that used for the word ''manzai'' were introduced by Yoshimoto in 1933. In November 1935, Asakusa Kagetsu Theatre opened under Yoshimoto Kogyo in Asakusa, Tokyo. In 1941, in collaboration with the national

intelligence agency An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, Intelligence analysis, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy obj ...

and the

Imperial Rule Assistance Association The , or Imperial Aid Association, was the Empire of Japan's ruling political organization during much of the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. It was created by Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe on 12 October 1940, to promote the goals ...

, Yoshimoto Kogyo established the ''Yoshimoto Theatre Caravan'' and began tours across the nation. On February 13, 1943, Tsūtenkaku, a landmark tower owned by Yoshimoto, suffered a fire which severely damaged it. Rather than repairing the structure, it was disassembled with the steel and other materials used for the war effort. On March 10, 1945, Several theatres owned by Yoshimoto Kogyo were destroyed or severely damaged due to the

Bombing of Tokyo The was a series of air raids on Japan by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), primarily launched during the closing campaigns of the Pacific War, Pacific Theatre of World War II in 1944–1945, prior to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima ...

. In October 1946, the Yoshimoto Kogyo headquarters in Tokyo split off from the main company to form its own entity as Yoshimoto Kabushiki Gaisha. In November 1946, Yoshimoto Kabushiki Gaisha established the ''Oizumi Eiko Kabushiki Gaisha'', which later joined several other companies to form

Toei Company , simply known as Toei Company or Toei, is a Japanese entertainment company. Headquartered in Ginza, Chūō, Tokyo, it is involved in film and television production, distribution, video game development, publishing, and ownership of 34 movi ...

. On May 14, 1949, Yoshimoto Kogyo began trading on the Osaka Securities Exchange. In 1959, the company established its own

comedy troupe A comedy troupe is a group of comedians and associated Employment, personnel who work together to perform comedy as entertainment. The term is often used interchangeably with comedy group, and the troupe may specialize in a specific comedic genr ...

theater group, Yoshimoto Shinkigeki. On October 2, 1961, Yoshimoto Kogyo began trading on the

Tokyo Stock Exchange The , abbreviated as Tosho () or TSE/TYO, is a stock exchange located in Tokyo, Japan. The exchange is owned by Japan Exchange Group (JPX), a holding company that it also lists (), and operated by Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc., a wholly owned sub ...

. From 1962 to 1963, the Kyoto Kagetsu Theater and the Namba Kagetsu Theater opened. In 1982, Yoshimoto New Star Creation was established in Osaka. A second headquarters in Tokyo was established in 1995.

2005–present: Expansion

In January 2005, Isao Yoshino replaced Masao Kimura as director. Kimura had been part of the company since entering in 1969. Yoshimoto Kogyo, Faith,

Fandango Fandango is a lively partner dance originating in Portugal and Spain, usually in triple metre, triple meter, traditionally accompanied by guitars, castanets, tambourine or hand-clapping. Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is u ...

and Intel Japan formed a strategic alliance, and established Bellrock Media in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. On October 1, 2007, Yoshimoto Kogyo restructured as a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

. In 2009, Yoshimoto Kogyo establishes partnership with the

Creative Artists Agency Creative Artists Agency, LLC (CAA) is an American talent and sports agency based in Los Angeles, California. With 1,800 employees in March 2016, it is regarded as an influential company in the talent agency business and manages numerous client ...

. On February 24, 2010, Yoshimoto Kogyo stopped trading on all stock exchanges.

Controversies

Anti-social group scandal

In 2019, several comedians associated with Yoshimoto Kogyo admitted they had accepted money and attended parties held by the

yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media (by request of the police) call them , while the yakuza call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ''yak ...

in 2014 without the knowledge of the company. 11 celebrities under the company were suspended, one of whom included Hiroyuki Miyasako. Shinya Irie, a member of the comedy duo Karateka, was fired earlier for arranging their appearances at the party without the agency's permission. President and CEO Akihiko Okamoto also admitted that the company had found out about the connection between the comedians and the anti-social forces but pressured the comedians to stay silent. Okamoto also apologized for Miyasako and Ryo Tamura and decided to reinstate their contracts after initially firing them. He and chairman Hiroshi Osaki vowed to take a 50% pay cut for one year as atonement over the scandal. The celebrities returned from suspension and resumed their activities on August 19, 2019.

Artists

Comedians

Solo

Sanma Akashiya is a Japanese comedian, TV presenter, radio personality and actor most commonly known as Sanma-san. His real name is . His talent agency is Yoshimoto Kogyo and his shishô (master) back when he studied '' rakugo'' is Shōfukutei Matsunosuke. T ...

* Takashi Fujii * Koji Higashino * Tomonori Jinnai * Koji Imada * *

Kendo Kobayashi is a Japanese comedian and actor.''Mokuyō Junk Zero: Kendo Kobayashi no Temeoko''. TBS Radio & Communications, TBS Radio. 18 Jun 2009. His real and former stage name is . He is nicknamed , , and . He is represented with Yoshimoto Creative Agency ...

* Kazutoyo Koyabu *

Daisuke Miyagawa is a Japanese comedian and actor. Miyagawa grew up in Ōtsu 270px, Ōtsu City Hall is the capital city of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 343,991 in 153,458 households and a population density of 740 pe ...

* * Obata no Oniisan * Jimmy Onishi *Onishi Lion * Tomochika *

Naomi Watanabe is a Japanese comedian, actress, and fashion designer. She rose to fame in 2008 for her imitation of Beyoncé, after which she was given the title "the Japanese Beyoncé". Career Watanabe does impersonations of popular artists in Japanese cultu ...

* Tonikaku Akarui Yasumura * Hōsei Tsukitei * * Natsuko Yokosawa

Groups

* ( Hon Kon and Itsuji Itao) *Aiseki Start (Kei Yamazaki and Kan Yamazoe) *All Hanshin-Kyōjin (All Hanshin and All Kyojin) *Akina (Kenta Akiyama and Nobukazu Yamane) *Amakō Inter (Nagisa and Seiko) * Ameagari Kesshitai ( Hiroyuki Miyasako and Tōru Hotohara) *Bad Boys (Kiyoto Omizo and Masaki Sata) * Chidori (Daigo and Nobu) * Chihara Kyodai (Chihara Seiji and Chihara Junior) *Black Mayonnaise ( Takashi Yoshida and Ryuichi Kosugi) * Cocorico (Shōzō Endō and Naoki Tanaka) *Colocolo Chikichiki Peppers (Soto Nishino and Nadal) * COWCOW (Yoshi and Kenji Tada) *

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

( Masatoshi Hamada and Hitoshi Matsumoto) *

EXIT Exit(s) may refer to: Architecture and engineering * Door * Portal (architecture), an opening in the walls of a structure * Emergency exit * Overwing exit, a type of emergency exit on an airplane * Exit ramp, a feature of a road interchange A ...

(Rintaro and Daiki Kanechika) * Football Hour ( Terumoto Goto and Nozomu Iwao) *Fruit Punch (Kenji Murakami and Kentaro Watari) * FUJIWARA ( Toshifumi Fujimoto and Takayuki Haranishi) * Ginshari (Kazuhiro Unagi and Nao Hashimoto) * Gokuraku Tombo (Koji Kato and Keiichi Yamamoto) * Hanamaru・Daikichi Hakata ( Hanamaru Hakata and Daikichi Hakata) * Harisenbon ( Haruka Minowa and Haruna Kondou) * Heisei Nobushi Kobushi (Takashi Yoshimura and Kenta Tokui) *Impulse (Toshiyuki Itakura and Atsushi Tsutsumishita) *Jaru Jaru (Junpei Goto and Shusuke Fukutoku) * Jichō Kachō ( Junichi Kōmoto and Satoshi Inoue) * Jungle Pocket (Shinji Saito, Hirohisa Ota and Otake) *

Kamaitachi is a Japanese yōkai from the oral tradition of the Kōshin'etsu region. It can also refer to the strange events that this creature causes. They appear riding on dust devils and cut people using their sickle-like front claws, delivering shar ...

(Ryuichi Hamaie and Kenji Yamauchi) *King Kong (Akihiro Nishino and Yuta Kajiwara) * Kirin ( Akira Kawashima and Hiroshi Tamura) *

License A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...

(Kazuhiro Fujiwara and Takafumi Inomoto) * London Boots ( Atsushi Tamura and Ryō Tamura) *Matenrō (Anthony and Otoni) *Miki (Asei and Kosei) * Nakagawake (Reiji and Tsuyoshi) * Nankai Candies ( Ryota Yamasato and Shizuyo Yamazaki) *Morisanchū (Kazuko Kurosawa, Miyuki Oshima and Tomoko Murakami) * Ninety-nine ( Takashi Okamura and Hiroyuki Yabe) * NON STYLE (Akira Ishida and Yusuke Inoue) * Okazu Club (Ocarina and Yui P) * Oriental Radio (Atsuhiko Nakada and Shingo Fujimori) * Panther (Satoshi Mukai, Ryotaro Kan, Takahiro Ogata) *Peace ( Naoki Matayoshi and Yuji Ayabe) * Penalty (Hide and Wakki) *Razor Ramon ( HG and RG) * Regular (Kōta Matsumoto and Akihiro Nishikawa) *

Savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

(Shigeo Takahashi and Masumi Yagi) * Shimofuri Myojo (Seiya and Soshina) * Shinagawa Shoji (Hiroshi Shinagawa and Tomoharu Shoji) *Super Maradona (Kazuhiro Tanaka and Takechi) *

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

(Ryuji Akiyama, Hiroshi Yamamoto and Hiroyuki Baba) * Rozan (Fuminori Ujihara and Hirofumi Suga) * Taka and Toshi (Taka and Toshi) *Trendy Angel (

Tsukasa Saito is a comedian from Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. He performs ''Manzai#Boke and tsukkomi, boke'' in the comedy duo Trendy Angel with Takashi. Personal life He was born in Machida, Tokyo, and raised in Aobadai, Yokohama after living in Saginuma, ...

and Takashi) *

Tutorial In education, a tutorial is a method of transferring knowledge and may be used as a part of a learning process. More interactive and specific than a book or a lecture, a tutorial seeks to teach by example and supply the information to complete ...

(Yoshimi Tokui and Mitsunori Fukuda) *Universe (Hara and Kawase Meijin) *

Wagyu Wagyu (, Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: ''wagyū'', ) is the collective name for the four principal List of Japanese cattle breeds, Japanese breeds of beef cattle. All wagyū cattle originate from early twentieth-century cross-breeding between ...

(Shinji Mizuta and Kenshiro Kawanishi) *Waraimeshi (Koji Nishida and Tetsuo) * Woman Rush Hour (Daisuke Muramoto and Paradise Nakagawa) *Yasei Bakudan (Cookie and Rossy)

Recording artists

NMB48 NMB48 (read "N.M.B. Forty-eight") is a Japanese idol group that debuted in 2011 as the second sister group to AKB48, produced by Yasushi Akimoto. NMB48 is named after the Namba district in Osaka city of Osaka Prefecture, where the group is based ...

* Yoshimotozaka46 * Radio Fish * Re:Complex * Kawachiya Kikusuimaru * Run&Gun *

Fayray , (born April 18, 1976) stylized as FAYRAY, is a Japanese singer-songwriter. She made her debut in July 1998 with the single "Taiyō no Gravity". She grew up in the United States and speaks English. Biography Fayray is the middle child of a fa ...

Jealkb Jealkb (ジュアルケービー ''juarukeebii'') is a Japanese visual kei rock band made up of seven members, all of them comedians including London Boots Ichi-go Ni-go's Atsushi Tamura. History Their debut single ''Metronome'' hit number 1 ...

* The Boom * Yoyoka Soma * OWV *

Rocket Punch Rocket Punch (; or as RCPC) was a South Korean girl group formed and managed by Woollim Entertainment in 2019. The group consisted of six members: Yeonhee, Suyun, Yunkyoung, Sohee, and Dahyun. Former member Juri Takahashi, Juri departed from th ...

* Enjin * Octpath

Actors/actresses

* Ayumi Beppu * Hirohito Gotō * Chizuru Ikewaki * Asami Kawasaki * Annu Mari * Kumiko Nakano * Ryo Nishikata * Natsumi Ogawa * Masi Oka * Tetsuji Sakakibara * Sōichirō Sorihashi * Kozo Takeda

Others

* Ayaka Ichinose (

gravure idol A model is a person with a Role (disambiguation), role either to display commercial product (business), products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as an Model (art), artist's model. Modelling ("modeling" in British and ...

) * Toshio Okada (

Anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

producer and author) * Masahiko Katsuya (

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...

and

pundit A pundit is a person who offers opinion in an authoritative manner on a particular subject area (typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport), usually through the mass media. The term pundit describes both women and men, altho ...

) * Shigefumi Matsuzawa (

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

) * Nobukazu Kuriki (

mountaineer Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

and

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

) * Kazuyuki Ishihara (

garden designer A garden designer is someone who designs the plan and features of gardens, either as an amateur or professional. The compositional elements of garden design and landscape design are: terrain, water, planting, constructed elements and buildings, ...

) * Kazuhisa Ishii (baseball commentator, ex-MLB pitcher) *

Kansei Nakano is a retired Japanese politician. He was a member of the Democratic Party of Japan and served as the Vice-Speaker of the Lower House of the Diet. Nakano was born in 1940 in Nagasaki. At age four, he experienced the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. I ...

(politician)

Property

Yoshimoto Kogyo is the owner of a number of corporate offices and stages, most situated in the downtown areas of Osaka and Tokyo. The company has two headquarters, Osaka HQ (大阪本部) and Tokyo HQ (東京本部) and a number of stages, namely Lumine the Yoshimoto (ルミネtheよしもと), 5 up Yoshimoto (5upよしもと),

Theater (NMB48劇場), Nanba Grand Kagetsu (なんばグランド花月), and a new stage in the popular

Shibuya is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in Tokyo, Japan. A major commercial center, Shibuya houses one of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shibuya Station. As of January 1, 2024, Shibuya Ward has an estimated population of 230,60 ...

district of Tokyo, Yoshimoto Mugendai Hall (ヨシモト∞ホール). Yoshimoto also had a comedy museum in downtown Osaka called Yoshimoto Shōtengai (吉本笑店街), but it closed in 2009.

Other assets

Yoshimoto Kogyo also owns a

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

YES-fm 78.1
(callsign: JOZZ7AF-FM), based in Namba,

References

External links

Yoshimoto Kogyo
- Official site in Japanese

- Small English Yoshimoto profile
Japan-zone
{{Authority control Japanese talent agencies Performing arts in Japan Companies based in Osaka Prefecture Companies formerly listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Entertainment companies established in 1912 Japanese companies established in 1912 Television production companies of Japan