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July 13, 2025
 

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YOSHIMOTO KOGYO

Tokyo police on Thursday sent to public prosecutors papers on six comedians from major Japanese entertainment agency Yoshimoto Kogyo on suspicion of gambling via online casino services.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 3, 2025
Papers on six Japanese comedians sent to prosecutors over online gambling
They are suspected of accessing and gambling on overseas online casino websites between January 2023 and December 2024.
The National Police Agency has been warning people that gambling on online casinos is illegal in Japan even if they are operating legally overseas.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 16, 2025
Police investigate comedians over alleged online casino gambling
Officials warn that online casinos are illegal in Japan even if they are operating legally overseas, but the number accused of using them continues to rise.
Hitoshi Matsumoto (left) and his Downtown comedy partner, Masatoshi Hamada, at an event in 2014
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 27, 2023
Popular Japanese comedian denies sexual assault allegations
The talent agency of Hitoshi Matsumoto, one half of the duo Downtown, said it is considering legal action over the report.
JAPAN
Aug 9, 2019
Scandal-hit Yoshimoto Kogyo urged to sign written contracts with its 6,000 entertainers
Scandal-hit artists' agency Yoshimoto Kogyo Co. is being urged to exchange written contracts with the comedians, actors and athletes on its books.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 3, 2019
News outlets in Japan less afraid to tackle entertainment issues
Ever since Johnny Kitagawa died on July 9, the media has been filled with sentimental tributes to the pop idol impresario, mostly by the young men whose careers he cultivated, but also by those with a stake in Japan's hermetic show biz world.
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2019
Five things to know about the scandal enveloping top Japanese comedy agency Yoshimoto Kogyo
From one channel to the next, almost every comedy and variety show on Japanese TV features personalities from entertainment powerhouse Yoshimoto Kogyo Co.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2019
Scandal-hit comedians apologize for receiving money for organized crime group event
Hiroyuki Miyasako, a member of popular comedy duo Ameagari Kesshitai, offered an apology at a news conference Saturday for performing at an event hosted by an organized crime group and receiving money from it.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jul 9, 2019
Japanese comedians turn to yakuza-linked 'underground performances' due to unstable income
Despite mounting criticism over recently revealed "underground performances" for organized crime by some comedians, quitting such work appears difficult, as they are important sources of income for the entertainers, many of whom are apparently not earning enough money from activities through their talent...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jun 6, 2019
Japan's king of comedy, Yoshimoto Kogyo's Hiroshi Osaki, expands his realm
It has been 10 years since Hiroshi Osaki took the reins at Yoshimoto Kogyo, and in that time Japan's oldest and arguably most influential entertainment agency has veered down several different paths. While comedy remains at the forefront of the company's activities, as it has for over a century, these...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 22, 2017
'Spark': A fool and a straight man walk into a bar...
Stand-up — one comic in front of a microphone — is the default setting for live comedy in the United States. In Japan the equivalent has long been rakugo, a traditional form in which a single performer tells comic stories. Today, however, aspiring comics usually opt for manzai, a style of duo comedy...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 15, 2017
Known for seeking thrills on TV, Daisuke Miyagawa goes for laughs in 'The Stand-In Thief'
Need someone to chase pigs in Thailand? Daisuke Miyagawa's your man. How about punching watermelons in Australia? Miyagawa's your man.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2017
Yoshimoto Kogyo comedians team up with Fukushima to restore disaster-hit scenic rail line
Fukushima Prefecture has teamed up with major entertainment company Yoshimoto Kogyo Co. as the prefecture reopens a scenic local railway line that had been partially closed due to damage from torrential rain six years ago.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Aug 23, 2014
Yoshimoto Kogyo's role in creating a real-life robot with a sense of humor
With big, round, smiling eyes and a shirt and bow tie displayed on the screen on his chest, humanoid robot Pepper is ready to entertain his guests. Music begins to play, and Pepper shows off his moves to the 1960s hit song "The Loco-Motion" as a crowd of onlookers laughs with pleasure.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Mar 27, 2014
Okinawa film fest gives fans an up-close view of the stars
Why go to Okinawa for movies? For anyone familiar with the international festival circuit, especially at its higher, artier end, the Okinawa International Movie Festival may well prompt this question — and a negative answer. "It's not a real film festival!" a fellow foreign journalist exclaimed to...
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Apr 24, 2013
Yoshimoto seeks laughs and profit beyond Japan
Osaka-based Yoshimoto Kogyo, the giant talent agency that celebrated its 100th anniversary last year, has made an enduring business out of that fleeting phenomenon: laughter.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 25, 2012
Play reveals manzai's U.S. roots
Watching the fast-paced, two-person manzai routines that characterize much of Japanese TV comedy these days, it's difficult to imagine that two key influences on that genre's birth were stars of cinema's silent era: Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 22, 2012
Can showbiz really sever yakuza ties?
Last August, comedian and TV emcee Shinsuke Shimada retired from show business following allegations that he'd been palling around with an underworld figure. His withdrawal came on the eve of the implementation of a well-publicized police crackdown on organizations that work with antisocial elements,...
Japan Times
LIFE
Nov 27, 2011
Yoshimoto Kogyo's New Star Creation: Comedy's a funny business in Japan
Downtown, Ninety-Nine, Cream Stew, Neptune, Bananaman, Penalty, Black Mayonnaise, Tutorial, License, King Kong, Peace, Punk Boo Boo, Slim Club, Oriental Radio . . .
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 18, 2010
Yoshimoto Kogyo: Entertaining the nation
One would have to be a hermit, literally shut off from all media, to avoid exposure in Japan to the comedians and other entertainers managed by Yoshimoto Kogyo Co., the nation's oldest and arguably most powerful entertainment agency.
BUSINESS
Nov 22, 2002
Mitsui ties with Yoshimoto Kogyo
Trading house Mitsui & Co. said Thursday it has tied up with Yoshimoto Kogyo Co., a leading entertainment production group, to produce and sell "shochu" distilled spirits.
Tokyo hit by torrential rainfall at rush hour
People line up at Shibuya Station in Tokyo as they try to avoid the heavy rain on Thursday.
Foreign drivers in Japan to face tougher license conversion rules from October
According to the National Police Agency, there were 75,905 people who converted their foreign driver’s license to a Japanese one in 2024, up from 48,885 in 2019.
Nissan clinches $4.5 billion bond deal after orders soar
Nissan Motor has raised $4.5 billion through a junk bond sale in U.S. dollars and euros, part of which carries a record-high coupon rate.
Chinese fighters came within 30 meters of Japanese spy aircraft, Tokyo says
A Chinese JH-7 fighter jet makes an near an Air Self-Defense Force YS-11EB surveillance aircraft over the East China Sea this week in this image released Thursday.
What Japanese politics could look like after Upper House election
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (center) waves to attendees as he departs after delivering a campaign speech in Yokohama on Sunday.
An emoji used to say it all. Now it might say too much.
Apple’s Craig Federighi shows off a set of emoji at a conference on June 13, 2016. While the small pictures have proved helpful in conveying nuance in our texts, younger people are using them less often.
‘Our ultimate goal is to save every single Japanese video game’
After nearly shuttering earlier this year, the Tokyo-based Game Preservation Society continues its work to save the early history of Japanese gaming.
Rare vintage shots and first-time shows at TOP’s 30th anniversary
The museum's curators selected a wide array of works from the archives for the milestone exhibitions. Among other photos, Nobuyoshi Araki's work from the series "Winter Journey" (1990) was included in the "Continuity and Change" exhibition that concluded in June.
New IG Arena set to dial down temperature at Nagoya Basho, in a good way
With IG Arena getting glowing early reviews as the Nagoya Basho’s replacement venue, it may be a while before fans wax nostalgic about the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium.
Once a niche, anime is now mainstream content for Netflix and other streaming services
Though Netflix remains the dominant choice globally for anime viewers, Amazon Prime Video has also invested heavily in anime, steadily adding titles to their catalogue.

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