The Postwar Yoshimoto Show and the Entertainers Behind the Scenes at Toho: The Human Structure Behind the Scenes in the 1950s

The Postwar Yoshimoto Show and the Entertainers Behind the Scenes at Toho: The Human Structure Behind the Scenes in the 1950s

In the 1950s, Japan was recovering from the devastation of the war, and entertainment was a way for ordinary people to make a living. Theaters and movie theaters provided a precious place for people to forget the difficulties of everyday life, and the Yoshimoto Show attracted a large audience by providing laughter through its manzai and light entertainment. The stage became a mirror reflecting the society during the reconstruction period as the comedians who came to Tokyo from the countryside with their dreams overlapped with the lives of the audience.

Behind the light of the stage, however, another reality lurked. Backstage at Toho Pictures, while supporting the glamorous stage performances, was filled with tension, frustration, and complicated relationships among the actors and actresses. Stars who never cease to smile in front of the audience are lonely and anxious backstage, and the author sensed their human nature up close as an experience of his youth. The world where light and shadow intersected was also a memory of youth that vividly imprinted the reality of the entertainment industry.

At that time, television was still in its infancy, and the stage and movies were the greatest entertainment for people. Entertainers were a symbol of hope, but at the same time, they were forced to work hard. The laughter of Yoshimoto's stage performances and the tension-filled dressing rooms of Toho symbolize the hope and anxiety, recovery and exhaustion that postwar Japan was facing, and illustrate how entertainment culture was a place that embodied the light and shadow of society.