Several weeks ago, Kyosen Ohashi died at the age of 82. Ohashi was one of the most important figures in the annals of Japanese TV, a critic-cum-emcee-cum-producer who was responsible for "11 PM," the late-night talk show whose casual nudity and frank discussions of topical matters brought a measure of sophistication to the medium starting in the 1960s. Ohashi featured writers and comedians on the show who could be interesting with or without scripts.

In the past several decades, this model eventually morphed into what is now called the variety show, a genre built around a chosen concept (travel, food, current events, etc.) and populated by comedians. Variety shows have become successful not so much because they are popular, but because they are cost-effective and easy to put together. All you need is a bunch of funny people being themselves.

Television as the career apex for Japanese comedians is the kernel of the plot for the 10-part Netflix series "Hibana," which is based on the Akutagawa Prize-winning novel by Naoki Matayoshi, half of the comedy duo Peace. The fact that a comedian won Japan's most prestigious literary prize was no fluke or publicity stunt. Matayoshi has said his hero is Osamu Dazai, the Japanese representative of the pure writer — hard-drinking and irresponsible in his human relations but a perfectionist in terms of style and form.