Comedy Duo Jicho Kacho’s Kawamoto Junichi Takes Hiatus for Pancreas Trouble: ‘Total Fast — No Food, No Drink’

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The story

Kawamoto Junichi (51), of the comedy duo Jicho Kacho, announced a temporary hiatus on his X (formerly Twitter) account on September 27. His post only said, “I’ll be doing a total fast — no drinking, no eating,” without revealing further details about his condition. On 5channel threads, many users recalled that Kawamoto had previously been hospitalized for pancreas trouble and was supposed to have cut back on drinking afterward, sparking surprise and concern with comments like “Wait, was he drinking again?” At the same time, plenty of posts brought up the 2012 controversy over his mother receiving welfare benefits, mixing health concerns with references to his past.

Jicho Kacho’s Kawamoto Junichi to Take Temporary Hiatus Over Pancreas Trouble: “I’ll Be Doing a Total Fast” (TV Asahi/ANN) – Yahoo! News

Sun, 9/27, 14:15 JST

Kawamoto Junichi (51), of the comedy duo Jicho Kacho, announced on the 27th via his own X account that he will take a temporary hiatus.

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

What people said

4AnonymousSep 27, 2026 14:27
So he WAS drinking?! Quit mooching off national health insurance already!
69AnonymousSep 27, 2026 14:58
Re: #4
Same with cigarettes — he supposedly quit smoking 5-6 years ago, but then there was an article 2 years ago about his "last cigarette." And now it turns out he was drinking again too. If he doesn't quit both completely, it's seriously going to be too late.

But apparently he got divorced, so there's probably no one left around to stop him.
6AnonymousSep 27, 2026 14:28
51, huh.
Just like Sandwichman (comedy duo) — guys pushing 50 who don't take care of themselves end up falling apart.
7AnonymousSep 27, 2026 14:28
If it's a relapse, that means it's gotten pretty bad.
His pancreas might be shot.
8AnonymousSep 27, 2026 14:28
Wasn't it that he started drinking again once he started feeling better?
15AnonymousSep 27, 2026 14:31
Wasn't he supposed to have quit drinking?
Like, why did this guy just quietly start again like nothing happened?
16AnonymousSep 27, 2026 14:31
You're all so mean, gloating over someone else's illness 😚
20AnonymousSep 27, 2026 14:34
With chronic pancreatitis, men's life expectancy drops by 10 years.
21AnonymousSep 27, 2026 14:35
Isn't it supposed to be a "silent organ"?
Does pancreatitis actually hurt?
59AnonymousSep 27, 2026 14:54
Re: #21
If you can actually feel the pain, it's already terminal.
Former Okinawa Governor Onaga went the same way — despite intensive treatment after his diagnosis, he passed away within six months.
72AnonymousSep 27, 2026 14:59
Re: #21
It hurts. It hurt so much I went to the hospital and got admitted immediately. Basically fasted for 5 days with about 4 IV drips running the whole time.
But my weight didn't drop at all — I was amazed at how good IVs are.
24AnonymousSep 27, 2026 14:36
Pancreatic cancer is apparently one of the nastiest cancers there is.
26AnonymousSep 27, 2026 14:36
Probably a gallstone blockage.
That gets common once you hit this age.
29AnonymousSep 27, 2026 14:37
He should just give up on coming back to showbiz and focus on recovering.
31AnonymousSep 27, 2026 14:38
Is he going to die? Or is it not that serious?
35AnonymousSep 27, 2026 14:43
With pancreatic cancer, by the time it's found it's usually already stage 4, and you've got about six months left. Source: my own dad.
36AnonymousSep 27, 2026 14:43
He was just gloating to his haters about landing a younger girlfriend too lol
37AnonymousSep 27, 2026 14:43
Even after all this, the fact that he still won't quit drinking means he's basically got
end-stage alcoholism.
39AnonymousSep 27, 2026 14:43
Haven't seen much of Kawamoto lately, but I've seen even less of his partner.
40AnonymousSep 27, 2026 14:44
Ain't no spare pancreas here for a transplant, buddy!
42AnonymousSep 27, 2026 14:45
Apparently pancreatitis can be caused by stress.
This was right before that stage show Sanma was hosting — that's probably the cause.
97AnonymousSep 27, 2026 15:17
Re: #42
When I got acute pancreatitis even though I don't drink, the doctor told me,
"For men the number one cause is alcohol, and for women it's usually listed as unknown, but it's mostly stress."
I'd just broken up with my ex and was a wreck, so it was probably stress — but I lost 7kg in a month and my lower body especially looked like a different person, so in a weird way I was grateful: more clothes fit me and I got a new boyfriend right away lol
43AnonymousSep 27, 2026 14:45
Sounds like he's had a lot of serious illnesses —
doesn't seem like he'll live all that long.
46AnonymousSep 27, 2026 14:47
Take care of yourself.
And then just fade away quietly after this.
Stay well.
48AnonymousSep 27, 2026 14:48
"No food, no drink" — that's textbook pancreas trouble.
Did it flare up again?
51AnonymousSep 27, 2026 14:50
I remember him saying back then he'd never eat ramen again for the rest of his life.
Don't tell me he'd gone back to an unhealthy lifestyle.
68AnonymousSep 27, 2026 14:57
Does "no drinking" mean no water either?
76AnonymousSep 27, 2026 15:02
Re: #68
IV drip only.
71AnonymousSep 27, 2026 14:59
I've got a friend back home who works at the local government office —
they said what Kawamoto did wasn't illegal, and that there are plenty of people out there who earn well but give zero support to family members.
They also said Kajisack (YouTuber/former comedian Kajiwara Kazuhito) has PR people handling his image lol
80AnonymousSep 27, 2026 15:06
Re: #71
Everyone already knows it's not illegal.
The question is whether you can laugh at the comedy of a guy who abandoned his own parent.
And if he was actually in on it together with his mother, that's even less funny.
88AnonymousSep 27, 2026 15:09
Re: #71
Unlike Kajiwara, he made money by using his mother as material —
he even put out a book about their dirt-poor life as his "bit," while bragging on TV about blowing a million yen in one night.
And the punchline is his mother stayed poor the whole time.
74AnonymousSep 27, 2026 15:01
Seeing this freaked me out, so maybe I should get my pancreas checked for the first time in 3 years. I only ever get my stomach and intestines examined.
85AnonymousSep 27, 2026 15:08
Re: #74
Can't you tell from a regular blood test?

Background and Key Points of This Story

Kawamoto has a history with controversy dating back to 2012, when it came to light that his mother was receiving welfare benefits despite his own income, drawing heavy public criticism. However, this is a commonly misunderstood point: it was a social debate over support obligations and how the welfare system is administered, not a case where “fraudulent receipt” of benefits was ever legally established. This latest announcement only mentions “pancreas trouble” without specifying whether it’s pancreatitis or pancreatic cancer, though many posts in the thread brought up the severity of pancreatic cancer regardless. Since drinking is considered one of the main causes of pancreatitis, and it was widely known that he had a past hospitalization for it, this hiatus announcement drew both calls for him to quit drinking for good and simple expressions of concern for his health.

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Entertainment] Jicho Kacho’s Kawamoto Junichi to Take Temporary Hiatus Over Pancreas Trouble: “I’ll Be Doing a Total Fast”.”

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