In this age of shūshoku hyōgaki (就職氷河期, the employment ice age) the one industry that's filling young people with hope and plans for the future is this: the world of owarai (お笑い, comedy).

Gaining a foothold in other facets of the entertainment business like haiyūgyō (俳優業, acting) or tarento (タレント, talent or media star) is an undertaking on par with sending a rocket into space and have it return with an asteroid sample. So in this narrow little archipelago, the best route to geinōkai (芸能界, Japanese world of show business) leads through the gates of owarai. Not to say that this is an easy project, but the chances of being initiated and not starving to death afterward, are pretty good.

Japan's best-known and most successful owarai agency is Yoshimoto Kogyo (吉本興業), based in Osaka, which has a long-standing culture of revering slapstick and money — not necessarily in that order). Its roots trace back to a wife who got sick of her husband spending all his allowance on comedy theaters so she decided to start their own stable of comedians and keep the cash in the family.