(Subbed) Gaki No Tsukai - Foodie Report Part 2

ハンバーグ Hamburg - is yet another popular dish in Japan. It definitely is western influenced but over the years, Japanese has revised the recipe to cater to their taste buds. 

(Subbed) Gaki No Tsukai - Foodie Report Part 1

グルメリポート(Gourmet Report) - Foodie reporters are all over Japanese TV shows. Almost all morning and afternoon news shows would have segment dedicated to reporting on (usually) the local restaurant's popular food.

(Subbed) Gaki No Tsukai - The Five Essential Elements of Comedy

In Japan, it is understood that there are five cooking ingredients which need to be added in order:

(Subbed) Gaki No Tsukai - Low Budget Episode edited by legendary producer Suga

The legendary Gaki producer, Suga gives his best(?) shot at editing the otherwise a boring footage of Gaki members just hanging out.

(Subbed) The Classic Gaki No Tsukai – Hamada vs. Matsumoto / Batsu Game

Every year from 1990 through 2003, the Downtown duo, Matsumoto and Hamada bet against each other on the Japanese baseball championship series. They were also known to bet on which team, red or white, would be the victor of the annual-year-end singing competition on NHK channel. 

(Subbed) Clips of Matsumoto commenting on news about Hamada's infidelity

Following may help you understand parts of Matsumoto's comment:

CHAGE & ASKA is a popular music duo comprised of two male singers, Chage and Aska. Back in May 2014, Aska was taken into policy custody for possession of the control narcotics. Subsequently, his partner Chage publicly apologized on his behalf.

(Subbed) The Balloon Man

It's tougher than it looks.

(Subbed) Sekai no Hatemade Itte Q - The Best of edition

世界の果てまでイッテQ - Sekai no Hatemade Itte Q - roughly translates to "Going to the end of the world," has been one of the more popular shows in Japan since 2007. The show introduces viewers a series of off-beat events happening all over the world by having the celebrity participate in them. With lots of clever editing and abundance of popup captions with sound effects, it certainly makes these foreign events intriguing and fun.

(Subbed) Gobu Gobu - Hamada's Favorite Stuff in Osaka 4/4

Hamada introduces his "favorite" love hotel in this clip. It's hard not to wonder whether he's been a frequent guest at this hotel with his recently-found mistress.

(Subbed) Gobu Gobu - Hamada's Favorite Stuff in Osaka 3/4

The comedy duo, License (if you're a fan of Gaki-no-tsukai, you've most likely seen them) is on the mission to find the curry that Atsushi can finish eating, which is probably impossible given the Atsushi's sensitivity to anything spicy.

(Subbed) Gobu Gobu - Hamada's Favorite Stuff in Osaka 2/4

繁昌亭 - Hanjotei is a comedy theater in Osaka Tenmangu shrine where you can catch many of the local and nationally known rakugo performers. You can read more about this place at Osaka Info.

(Subbed) Gobu Gobu - Hamada's Favorite Stuff in Osaka 1/4

The show "Gobu Gobu" features Hamada and his new sidekick Atsushi Tamura, and together, they explore what Kansai area has to offer in sightseeing and the cuisine. This first of the four clips show them attempting to make the most gourmet mixed fruit juice.

(Subbed) Downtown - In their younger days.

The “senpai and kōhai” relationship is an integral part of growing up and living in Japan. It’s a mentor system woven into all types of social settings including school, sports teams, and business settings.

It goes without saying in Japan that freshman are expected to behave a certain way towards students in grade levels higher than their own. And any student, regardless of age, must speak politely to his teachers. This custom continues as you venture into the business world where respect is strictly shown to coworkers with more experience.

You can imagine how this could get complicated once you're faced with an ambiguous situation. For example, there have been times when my good friend introduced me to a friend of his for the first time, and I spoke to him using タメ語 - Tamego (casual language). Then I later found out he’s much more “Senpai” in age than me. Looking back, my first clue should have been the honorific “san” (“Mister”) my friend placed behind the name of the person during the introduction.

As you watch the following video, you might not understand or appreciate the severity of DOWNTOWN's inexcusable behaviors in their younger days. But if you can grasp how rude it would be to address someone senior to you by their first name without using an honorific label, then you get the idea. 

(Subbed) Tetsujin Tiger Seven

Not all the Superhero shows were successful back in 70's. To be fair though, there were more than two dozen superhero shows produced between 1972 and 1973. Here's a show that only ran for a season called the "Tetsujin Tiger Seven"- 鉄人タイガーセブン. The production team must have felt pretty confident following the final season of a pretty successful show called "Kaiketsu Lion Maru- 快傑ライオン丸. There were three major differences between the two shows;

1. Main character's head is changed from lion to tiger.
2. Ride of choice is changed from a horse to the motorcycle.
3. Period piece to a modern age.

Though the show was not embraced among kids, its legacy lives on as one of the more daring shows today. Here are some of the examples of innovative and carefree writing;

1. As the main character morphs into Tiger Seven, he abandons his motorcycle, which goes on to run over a small child.
2. A villain from "lost continent" befriends a little girl and dies together as they hold hands.
3. Tiger Seven puts on his "special glove," but finishes the villain with his kick.

The show deserves a come-back.

Enjoy the short clip.

(Subbed) Japanese Prank Show

The premise of "Devilman" is simple - defeat demons by becoming one. The 70's popular animation was adaptated from the "Devilman" comic book series which chronicled a simple school boy who becomes a part-time "Devil" and fights against demon clans about to take over the earth.

(Subbed) Downtown's Habit

Japanese has a specific term for when we shake our leg or shake our knee as we're sitting down. And it's called 貧乏揺すり- Binbou Yusuri, which roughly translates to "Poor man's shake."
Why the "poor"? There are several theories:

(Subbed) Catch a fly like Musashi Miyamoto.

Before Mr. Miyagi or Jackie Chan boasted their ability to catch a fly with a pair of chopsticks, there was Musashi Miyamoto, perhaps the most celebrated Japanese swordsman from 17th century, whose tale about him catching a fly in the air with his chopsticks, has been passed onto for many decades.

You can read more about Musashi Miyamoto here.

(Subbed) More Suberanai Hanashi すべらない話

I know it's been a while but here are more Suberanai Hanashi pieces that I personally liked.
Enjoy,

(Subbed) 爆発卵 Bakuhatsu Tamago - An Egg Bomb

Here's another classic episode from a long-lasting Japanese television show called "Tantei Knight Scoop" (Detective Knight Scoop)

Disclaimer - Please, please, please, do NOT try this at home.
Enjoy,

(Subbed) Create the Yonkoma Manga with Celebrities

This show features four celebrities who compete in making their drawing, chosen by the host Hamada, to be the part of 4-cells manga piece.
Do you recognize the girl in this show? Her name is Shoko Nakagawa who appeared as a host in the "Urban Legend - My Neighbor Totoro" which I worked on a while back here.