The Idea that Lives on the Stage: Takaaki Yoshimoto and the Systematization of Comedians: The 1970s

The Idea that Lives on the Stage: Takaaki Yoshimoto and the Systematization of Comedians: The 1970s

In the 1970s, Japanese society was experiencing a period of drifting values with the end of rapid economic growth. The defeat of the student movement, the shock of the United Red Army incident, and the uncertainty of life due to the oil shocks. Against this backdrop, "anti-establishment" became a buzzword, and "criticism of the system" became a sales pitch in the entertainment industry. But, says Takaaki Yoshimoto. The anti-establishment ideology of comedians is meaningless. This is because comedians are "rooted in the system.

For him, comedians were the lubricants of institutional society, manipulating the sad and the funny to relax the community. Their art shines not from outside the system, but from within. Rather, it is only by "shifting from the inside" while living within the system that their art can become an idea. The essence of Yoshimoto's theory of comedians lies in the paradox of standing inside the system and making use of it while pretending to destroy it.

This insight is also a question for today's artists. "Do your words really transcend the system?" And.