Tag - comedy

 
 

COMEDY

Yurie Collins is a bilingual comedian based in Tokyo. In addition to being a prize-winning roast comic, her dating-themed "Tokyo Hoe Tales" shows have proven to be a hit with women of all nationalities.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Dec 10, 2024
Yurie Collins: ‘Everyone seems sedated, fed-up … that’s why they turn to comedy’
Yurie Collins is a bicultural stand-up comedian who has opened for comedian Atsuko Okatsuka and the upcoming Iliza Shlesinger show in Tokyo.
Naomi Watanabe, a comedian known for challenging gender and beauty norms in Japan's male-dominated comedy scene
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2024
BBC honors two Japanese in annual list of inspiring women
The theme this year was resilience, celebrating women who "are pushing for change and improving lives at community or global level."
Performers at Stand Up Indonesia Tokyo shows crack plenty of jokes, but the main purpose behind the group, organizers say, is to provide a space where Indonesian expats can express themselves about any struggles they may have about living abroad.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Oct 14, 2024
Tokyo’s Indonesians get through life abroad with a couple of laughs
Stand Up Indonesia Tokyo is a community of comedians, comedy fans and others with connections to Indonesia seeking a reminder of home.
Yoshimoto Kogyo, the agency that manages comedy trio Jungle Pocket, announced in mid-September that group member Shinji Saito had been experiencing health issues and underwent hospitalization, and that he requested a hiatus.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 7, 2024
Comedian Shinji Saito investigated over sexual assault
The member of comedy trio Jungle Pocket is alleged to have performed nonconsensual sexual intercourse on a woman in a bus at a filming location in Shinjuku.
Adriana Torres performs her monologue during the closing of a stand-up comedy workshop at the El Buen Pastor women's prison in Asuncion.
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 29, 2024
Comedy offers new routine for women prisoners in Paraguay
Inmates took part in a two-month workshop run by the Corazon Libre NGO, which uses comedy to help convicts prepare for life on the outside.
Since opening in 2022 in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo Comedy Bar has hosted comedy workshops, roast battles, open mics and international guests.
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 12, 2024
Tokyo Comedy Bar supersizes laughs with 11-night festival
Spanning 46 different shows, this month’s comedy festival spotlights rising local talent and international names in both English and Japanese.
Comedian Daisuke Muramoto has been shunned by the Japanese media for taking his act into political territory. Filmmaker Fumiari Hyuga traces his post-pandemic search for a place in show business in "I Am a Comedian."
CULTURE / Film
Jul 3, 2024
‘I Am a Comedian’: A documentary following Daisuke Muramoto’s rocky comedy journey
Documentarian Fumiari Hyuga captures the story of an uncouth Japanese comedian’s efforts to say what can’t be said.
Actors Judge Reinhold and Eddie Murphy attend the premiere of "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California, last month.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 2, 2024
Eddie Murphy's 'every man' hero returns in 'Beverly Hills Cop' sequel
Forty years after the original, the iconic 1980s franchise revists Axel Foley and his pals while serving old-school action.
According to Hitoshi Matsumoto’s lawyer, he is suing Bungei Shunju, the publisher of the Shukan Bunshun weekly magazine over an article that was published in the magazine and online on Dec. 27.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 23, 2024
Comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto sues publisher over sexual assault article
The Downtown member is suing Bungei Shunju, the publisher of the Shukan Bunshun weekly magazine, for defamation.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / Community
Jun 10, 2023
Finding familiar ground at a D&D-inspired Tokyo comedy show
The stories are wild and the jokes are improvised, but expat audiences find these monthly shows a comfort.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 21, 2023
No joke: China's backlash against stand-up stirs fear of comedy clampdown
A Beijing-based comedian said a number of their shows had been canceled in the wake of a joke about the military.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 4, 2022
So you want to be a stand-up comedian?
Learn the tricks of the trade at Tokyo Comedy Bar, the capital's new stand-up comedy venue.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Feb 27, 2022
Diane Kichijitsu: ‘Human interactions provide plenty of comedic material’
The male-dominated world of 'rakugo,' traditional Japanese comic storytelling, has welcomed a British woman who's in on the joke.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 26, 2020
Comic Saku Yanagawa was on his way to cracking the U.S. — then COVID-19 happened
Comic Saku Yanagawa is making a name for himself in the U.S., but with racist hecklers and awkward Zoom gigs, he's facing his toughest crowds yet.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
May 11, 2020
Yuriko Kotani embraces Britain’s penchant for irony and dark comedy
Standup comedian's comparisons of Japan and the United Kingdom have not only have delighted English-speaking audiences across the world, they have also helped her embrace her identity.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 1, 2020
Meet the expat comedians who keep Tokyo smiling
Probably the biggest paradox of stand-up comedy is that while there are no schools of humor — no Bachelor of Laughs degree, not even a “funny” skill on Linkedin to endorse your friend for — stand-up comedians are out there in good numbers. Even in Tokyo, where speaking English can be a struggle,...
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 8, 2020
Yuriko Kotani: The Japanese comedian laughing her way through dark days in the U.K.
Japanese comedian Yuriko Kotani journeys back from her adopted U.K. for a series of live shows, in which she discusses the quirks of the British and their language.

Longform

Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?