is a Japanese comedian. He is active as a stage performer, emcee, and manager of the amateur Ibaraki Golden Golds (ibaraki goruden goruzu) of the Japanese Baseball Association (nippon yakyuu renmei).
Born in the Taito ward of Tokyo, Japan, he graduated from Komagome High School, and now belongs to the Asai Kikaku talent agency.
He is called "Kin-chan" by fans and those within the entertainment industry. He is also known as "Hagimo", "Kin", etc. Amongst the many entertainers he has developed on his shows, who are known as the "Kinchan Family", he is known as "Taisho" ("The General").
In the 1970s and 80s, with acts like "nande so naru no!" ("Why does that happen?!") and physical comedy such as his distinctive "Kinchan run" (based on Hachiro Azuma) he blossomed into a polished professional. Many of his famous lines like "dochira dake" and "banzaai nashi yo" are still heard today. Some comedic jargon such as "ukeru" (and "yaya uke", "baka uke", etc.) that have become common Japanese words are said to have originated from his variety show Kinchan No Don To Itte Miyo. He presented three successful variety programmes in the 1970s and 1980s,Penn, William (2011) "TELEVIEWS / Best TV is being held hostage on premium satellite ", Daily Yomiuri, 8 July 2011, retrieved 2011-07-12 and by the mid-1980s was one of the most popular comedians on Japanese television."'Kindon' Japan's Carson", Albany Herald, 20 February 1983, p. 15C, retrieved 2011-07-12
Biography Before Konto 55-go
Hagimoto aspired for a career as an entertainer as far back as junior high school times, when after graduation he approached the local Asakusa comedic legend Toshimitsu Omiya to ask for an apprenticeship, but was told to at least finish high school first.
After high school he was at last slated to enter Omiya’s Asakusa Shochiku Engeijō comedic troupe through an introduction by the Toyo Gekijo (Toyo Kogyo Keiei) troupe of the Asakusa Koen Rokku red-light entertainment district. However, after being told by Omiya "you can always come to our place if it doesn't work out there" he stopped at the last minute and went to nearby Tōyō Gekijō instead.
He started out as an apprentice. At Toyo Gekijo, he took direction from many veterans such as Shin-ichi Ike, Eiji Ishida, and Hachiro Azuma. He was taken under the wing of their master and head of the Asakusa scene, Senzaburo Fukami (the master of Beat Takeshi, who later scolded Hagimoto for trying to conceal his beginnings in the Asakusa burlesque scene after moving on to television).
After developing at Toyo Gekijo, he moved to the affiliated Asakusa Furansu-Za, where he polished his act doing intermission skits. It was there that he met comedian and later partner Roru Ando (later known as Jiro Sakagami). At that time, however, they were more rivals than partners, competing to get laughs. His impression of Sakagami was "If I perform with him I'll get upstaged."
After this he left Toyo Gekijo and went through some other troupes, then headlined the newly formed Gekidan Asakusa Shinkigeki at Asakusa Shochiku Engeijo. During that time, he trained under broadcast writer Katsuo Hamaka and undertook the creation of true professional comedy. At that time he also met Michio Iwashiro, who would later be responsible for most of the lines for the Hagimoto's Konto 55-go act. Also, through Hamaka's connections, he met TBS network producer Sōya Mukai and entertainment manager Ryoji Asai (head of Asai Kikaku), and began his career as a professional talent. He appeared in a commercial for a comedy program that Mukai was handling called "Jintaka Panchi". However it took him 22 filming takes, perhaps due to nerves, and he was compelled to quit.
The disappointed Hagimoto gave up on a television career and decided to focus on a stage career. He broke up the Asakusa Shinkigeki, and started anew at the Atami Tsuruya Hotel. There he came up with the solo skit "Tsukue", which would later be an early staple for Konto 55-go which took Japan by storm.
During the time with Katsuo Hamaka, he was a friend of Shin-ichi Ichikawa, who would make his scriptwriting debut with the television series Kaiju Busuka. He would later write for the Nippon Television 40th anniversary special drama Goruden Boizu ("Golden Boys") in which a young Hagimoto appeared (with Kazuki Kosakai).
Konto 55-go
He formed the "Konto 55-go" ("Skit #55") duo after an invitation from Jiro Sakagami in 1966, originally for a one-act contract (according to them, they had become a regular act without realizing it after renewing several times).
They became a sensation appearing on the live program Ohiru no goruden sho with Takehiko Maeda on Fuji Television (1968–71). After this, they dominated television with programs such as Konto 55-go no Sekai Wa Warau (Fuji TV), Konto 55-go no Urabangumi wo Buttobase! and Konto 55-go no Nande Sou Naru No? (NTV), Chimu 55-go and Minna de Deyou 55-go Ketteiban! (TBS), Whoa! Konto 55-go!! and Konto 55-go!! Waratte tamaru ka!? (NET TV, now Asahi TV). They continued performing as a duo after that, but gradually started a solo career as well starting in 1975 as the star of the hit show Pittashi Kan-Kan (TBS) hosted by Hiroshi Kume.
Shichoritsu 100% Otoko (100% viewer rating man)
He appeared solo from 1972 on the Nippon Broadcasting radio program Kinchan No Don To Itte Miyō!!. The program based mostly on letters from listeners rose in popularity and debuted on television in 1975 on a Saturday night slot on Fuji Television. At the same time he was hosting Oru suta kazoku taikou utagassen ("all-star family singing battle") (1972–1986, Hagimoto until June 1984) on the same network and Suta Tanjo! ("birth of a star") (Nippon Television), where he developed a style of interacting with the family of guests and amateur extras. This was expanded in shows such as Kin Don! which featured a cast of primarily amateurs called the Kin Don Gekidan, and in features interacting with passersby while walking down streets on location, and mastered to perfection in later shows.
When given proposals for new shows, he often responded, "I can't emcee, so I want you to hire a girl who can emcee properly." It is said that this was the beginning of the "assistant" role in shows.
Later in 1981 his series Kin Don! Yoi Ko Warui Ko Futsu no Ko (Fuji Television) began on Mondays at 9:00 pm. After continued high ratings in his next shows Kinchan No Doko Made Yaru No!? (Kin doko) on Asahi in 1976 and "Kinchan no Shukan Kin-yobi" (TBS) in 1982, he picked up the nickname "100% Otoko", reflecting the sum of the ratings for the three shows. The many celebrities whose careers were born on these shows became known as the "Kinchan Family".
Hagimoto is not only skilled at making ordinary performers into professional comedians, but also in drawing out the comedic side of celebrities. Among those he developed into comedic starts includes Kiyoshi Maekawa (singer, previously a "cool" character actor), Hiroshi Uchiyama and Cool Five (mood ballad group), Rie Nakahara (young ballad singer), Junko Maya (formerly a stage actress), and Masaru Shiga (villain actor).
However, though Hagimoto's popularity and fame rose through his programs, many stars were washed up in the process. By appearing on his programs, many stars sacrificed their acting or musical careers. Though their renewed popularity was mostly due to Hagimoto's talents, many became overconfident in their own abilities. One example is Seiroku Saito, who gained sudden fame appearing on Kin Doko, but was rarely seen on television afterward.
Aside from starring in and producing top-rate variety programs, he became the face of programs beginning with Suta Tanjo (NTV) in 1971, continuing with Oru sta Kazoku Taiko Utagassen (Fuji) as host, the still running 24-Jikan Terebi ("24 Hour Television") (NTV) from 1978, and also in radio on the Rajio Chariti Myujikkuson ("Radio Charity Music-thon") (Nippon Hoso) from 1975.
Hagimoto went on a six-month "recharge" hiatus from all his regular programs starting in March 1985. He stated that he didn't have the confidence to maintain the popularity of his "100% Otoko" level, also commenting that he was tired of the ad lib style programs that were becoming popular at the time. He reportedly never liked ad-lib, often begging partner Sakagami backstage to stick to the script. However, in regards to requests from NTV director Takao Saito to follow the script he commented that "performers have pride as performers", and was known to ad-lib on stage at times. Regarding the hiatus he was also noted afterward as saying that he felt down about the start of a downward trend in ratings.
Post-hiatus
After returning from hiatus, he returned to television but struggled with the failure of subsequent programs, and saw the surrender of his early '80s spot in the "Owarai Big 3" with Beat Takeshi and Tamori to Sanma Akashiya. However, he still regularly appears on television such as on Kinchan & Katori Shingo no Zen-Nihon Kaso Taisho ("Kinchan & Shingo Katori's All-Japan Costume Grand Prix"), and is still a household name. He hosted the closing ceremonies of the Nagano Olympics in 1998. Since 1980, he has been active organizing the Kinchan Gekidan with Kiyoshi Maegawa, performing on stage.
Kinchan baseball club
As a boy he loved baseball and was devoted to his high school team. Perhaps due to that and a lament for the recent decline in baseball's popularity in Japan, he aimed to show the fun of baseball by starting the Kantō-based amateur baseball "Ibaraki Golden Golds" (based in Sakuragawa-mura, now Inashiki-shi, Ibaraki) of the Nippon Yakyū Renmei (Japanese Baseball Association) on December 26, 2004. With an unprecedented collection of former professional players, comedians, and a female player he created the most popular amateur team ever. This started a trend of clubs started by celebrities such as Kensaku Morita, Jōji Yamamoto, and Hiroshi Moriguchi, and made a large contribution to the revival of baseball's popularity.
Within the team, rather than the usual Hagimoto-kantoku (Coach Hagimoto) he is called Kintoku, an abbreviation of Kinichi-kantoku. During exhibition games, he is known to hold the mike and give running commentary on the game or encourage the players, drawing the crowd into the game. In addition, he has formed a sister team, the Miyazaki Golden Golds.
Hokkaidō incident On July 19, 2006, while on an exhibition road trip to Hokkaidō, team member and former comedic duo Gokuraku Tonbo member Kei-ichi Yamamoto was charged with sexual assault on a 17-year-old girl. He was dismissed from his talent agency Yoshimoto Kogyo the same day. The following morning, Hagimoto announced his intention to break up the team, having previously told the amateur baseball federation of his intention to break up the team a full eight hours before his public announcement.
The announcement caused waves, with local residents circulating a petition to continue the team and media surveys also showing widespread support for continuing. On the field before a game with Sega Sammy in Niigata Prefecture on July 22, he reversed his decision to break up the team.
Though there was strong support for him from the media and public opinion, he was criticized by some athletes for breaking up the team based on his own feelings then just as whimsically retreating on his statement due to the public reaction without properly considering the feelings of the players who had no involvement with the incident. Also, his leadership skills were questioned since he did not take personal responsibility as manager. Furthermore, there was no apology for the fact that other players were involved in the incident.