On Nippon TV’s “Daigo’s Comedian Receipts,” Osaka-based comedy duo Smile revealed they were paid just 7,500 yen for a 15-hour location shoot. Daigo was reportedly left speechless on learning this has been going on for 13 years.
On 5ch, discussion centered on how much Yoshimoto Kogyo (the talent agency) takes as its cut and the pay gap between Kansai local shows and Tokyo key-network programs — though plenty of harsh comments like “that’s fair, they’re just not funny” also piled up.
Osaka’s “brutal location-shoot comedian” makes a desperate plea — the shocking reality of 7,500 yen for a 15-hour shoot, going on for 13 years already… Daigo left speechless
On the July 24 episode of Nippon TV’s “Daigo’s Comedian Receipts,” titled “Naniwa Comedians Invasion SP: An SOS From Friends Who Knew Daigo Back Then,” comedians who work mainly in Osaka and go way back with Daigo gathered in the studio to air their harsh realities.
One of them was comedy duo Smile. Yosuke Seto introduced himself by saying, “Do you know what we’re called in Kansai? The brutal location-shoot comedians nobody looks up to.”
Quitting comedy for a part-time job would pay better.
6Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 22:38:11.34ID:N+l58ZrP0
Then just quit.
It's that simple — just make it big.
7Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 22:39:20.04ID:dRDQRCdK0
Go walk all the way to some mountain hut in the rainforest
and watch tigers instead.
8Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 22:40:01.93ID:kgi+6Y9f0
Smile's manzai (comedy duo routine) just isn't funny, so it can't be helped.
9Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 22:40:14.44ID:1pEw/3ZG0
When Yoshitaka first showed up, I honestly thought he was seriously off in the head.
64Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 23:12:29.87ID:2fJJnKfq0
>>9
Even if that's an act, it reads as scarier than funny.
10Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 22:40:46.48ID:lFm1jhaE0
Nothing improves because there are idiots out there who actually laugh at that.
12Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 22:41:23.30ID:YFQJYnkY0
They give them a boxed lunch too — did they subtract the break time from the 15 hours?
13Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 22:41:42.12ID:V2qXBkAu0
I thought Woo-Yeah Yoshitaka (his catchphrase nickname) was some dangerous guy.
17Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 22:43:02.20ID:/BHs0dqp0
Well, Yoshimoto (the agency) skims a big chunk off the top.
18Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 22:43:18.17ID:fURq4dHc0
Tajin, the location-shoot comedian from Namba, used to show up a lot on Nagoya shows for a while,
but I haven't seen him around lately.
19Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 22:43:24.63ID:zoPpRSSV0
There's also a comedian named Smile, plus multiple bands with that name — it gets confusing.
21Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 22:44:06.24ID:T/4F/3mS0
They're not even funny enough to justify 7,500 yen, so it's only fitting.
22Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 22:44:34.85ID:0dp3UzOA0
The agency's skimming off the top, so that's just how it goes.
Talent agencies can't run for free either.
24Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 22:46:03.12ID:bJ/oKPLY0
That's way too cheap lol
I don't hate that renovation segment though
it's a long-running feature that's lasted 13 years lol
that's rough even so lol
26Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 22:46:22.24ID:Nhm8Xuk10
And apparently, in between those shoots, Yoshitaka gets hassled hard by delinquents too.
29Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 22:48:54.28ID:L3P9CV8X0
Funny or not aside, that looks brutal, so 7,500 yen is just sad.
30Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 22:48:57.44ID:KVVS7FSr0
Honestly, it's exhausting how comedians keep popping up on every single Kansai show.
No matter the channel, it's comedian after comedian trying to push their own bit,
all giving off that eager, pouncing "Koyabu" vibe (after comedian Koyabu, known for hogging the spotlight) — really annoying to watch.
33Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 22:50:15.10ID:W2qoFqiu0
No matter what kind of contract this is, wouldn't it run afoul of minimum wage law, the Subcontract Act, or the new Freelance Act?
35Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 22:52:04.11ID:NhT+jLtk0
But then again, if you make it big, we're talking a world where you can pull in 50 million yen a month.
37Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 22:52:13.21ID:9d178qKm0
Oh, it's these guys.
Their free talk is hopelessly unfunny,
and on location shoots they're just loud — seems like fair treatment.
It's not like they're irreplaceable.
38Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 22:53:09.17ID:Jkv4e3690
So Kansai station pay really is a whole order of magnitude below the key (Tokyo) networks.
39Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 22:53:30.44ID:2H4HwGTK0
Meanwhile their juniors are pulling in millions of yen just from manzai live shows.
40Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 22:54:01.74ID:l/K1r3o10
This is the only show where I ever even see Smile.
41Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 22:54:27.57ID:oDYE5r/10
The market's small, so it can't be helped.
43Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 22:55:51.74ID:dh6iAl2Y0
And yet they kept getting huge sums from the Cool Japan Fund.
45Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 22:59:39.67ID:fV7mzKfs0
"Smile Construction Co."? Yep, thought so.
They really milk that bit.
46Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 23:00:24.94ID:NSv6Y5FV0
It's Tomi-Masa's fault for allowing that pay rate —
Higashino's as sharp as ever, teasing him about it on air.
47Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 23:01:23.27ID:cfuTY7zd0
Do people not realize pay varies person to person?
49Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 23:01:27.73ID:ZJMbxkKD0
Well, it probably comes down to how much Yoshimoto skims off the top.
Basically like being a technical intern dispatched by a Chinese labor broker.
51Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 23:02:34.88ID:efCNdWw20
Doesn't "Smile Construction" use pretty lavish materials for the renovation every time?
Is the viewer who applied for the segment the one footing that construction bill?
53Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 23:03:26.11ID:fV7mzKfs0
I wonder how much Chidori got paid for that long-running "mooch a boxed lunch" location segment on the same show.
54Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 23:03:40.86ID:amPB0XLz0
At this point, quitting comedy and starting a renovation company would probably
make more money.
56Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 23:04:37.70ID:pwcoFTFK0
If you actually meet Yoshitaka in person, he's nothing like that — just a normal guy.
71Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 23:17:39.48ID:/JhI7g1P0
I see —
so they use this as their signature bit to cash in elsewhere, meaning overall it's actually a pretty sweet deal.
74Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 23:20:00.13ID:kRxGf5+H0
>>71
There's also a variation where, during the downtime waiting for paint to dry, they got sent off to do promotional work for the Expo.
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