The are an

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". '' ...

duo with a long history composed of

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 ...

-born and . Both of them attended where Ishibashi, the taller of the two, participated in baseball, and Kinashi participated in soccer. They originated not as a

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 ...

duo, so much as an ippatsu gag and monomane act. During the early 1980s, they became immensely popular with young Japanese audiences, appearing in several television shows, but their popularity exploded with their show '' The Tunnels' Thanks to Everyone''. Many times they absorbed more than 30% of nationwide television viewers, a great feat for any television show. They then turned their attention to creating music, spawning a string of hit singles that also generated massive sales and attention. They created many words and expressions that resonated with the youth of Japan included such as and , which are abbreviations meaning "ex-boyfriend" and "ex-girlfriend". Both phrases are still in popular use today. Also, their tendency to use inside jokes that only the show's staff would understand and laugh at created a sur-like response from the audience, inciting nervous laughter from a confused audience, while the staff laughed loudly on-mike. Interest in the group quickly mellowed in 1990, as Tunnels took a half year vacation from the show, and U-tchan Nan-chan replaced them. They returned later saying, "We are sorry to have laid the burden on U-tchan Nan-chan," but were never really accepted back by the public. As groups such as

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 ( ...

and U-tchan Nan-chan became more popular with young audiences, Tunnels changed their focus to talk and interview-related shows. Recently, they have teamed with

DJ Ozma , known professionally as DJ Ozma (stylized DJ OZMA) and legally as , is a Japanese pop singer and musical artist. He is also known as Show Ayanocozey of the rock band Kishidan and Naomi Camelia Yazima of the drag queen pop group Yazima Beaut ...

to "produce" the group Yazima Beauty Salon, who the three found in America. In reality, Ozma and the Tunnels are the members of Yazima Beauty Salon,

cross-dressing Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes traditionally or stereotypically associated with a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and express onesel ...

and performing in character as Margaret Camelia Yazima (Kinashi) and Strawberry Camelia Yazima (Ishibashi).

References

External links

*
とんねるずのみなさんのおかげでした/Tunnels no Minasan no okage deshita Official site
{{Authority control Japanese comedy duos Japanese boy bands Comedians from Tokyo