In what was perhaps a make-or-break moment for their careers, comedy duo Woman Rush Hour did something on prime-time television in December that most of their fellow comedians try their best to eschew: They talked about politics.
The 5-minute-long manzai act lampooned Japan's purchase of military equipment from the United States, the abundance of nuclear reactors in Fukui Prefecture and Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike's fizzling populist boom, stunning a nation where political satire seldom plays a part on mainstream entertainment shows.
"There are too many words considered taboo in Japan," said 37-year-old Daisuke Muramoto, the more outspoken half of the duo, in a recent interview with The Japan Times. As a comedian, he said, "you tend to stay away from saying aloud phrases like 'nuclear power' and '(U.S.) air bases in Okinawa,' for example, because you're afraid you might get scolded or blacklisted somehow for saying those things" on television.