Toru Hotaru: ‘We Even Teased Tennen Shizai’ — On the Influence of Matsumoto Hitoshi’s 2-Million-Copy Bestseller ‘Testament’

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Toru Hotaru, former member of the comedy duo Amagari Kesshitai, appeared on TV Asahi’s “Mimi no Ana Kappojite Kike!” (“Open Your Ears and Listen!”) and spoke about the influence of Matsumoto Hitoshi’s book “Testament,” which became a bestseller with over 2 million copies sold. On the thread, users debated whether the “teasing” aimed at Tennen Shizai and Ninety-Nine back then was actually an attempt to crush them, along with the shifting relationship between Matsumoto, Hamada, and their junior comedians.

Matsumoto Hitoshi’s “Testament” Had Insane Influence… Toru Hotaru: “I Think They Even Teased Tennen Shizai for Dancing” — The Book Sold Over 2 Million Copies

TV Asahi’s “Mimi no Ana Kappojite Kike!” aired on the 24th, with Toro Salmon’s Kubota Kazunobu and Westland’s Iguchi Hiroyuki serving as MCs.

On this episode, Toru Hotaru of the former duo Amagari Kesshitai appeared as a guest.

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article here

2Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 22:53:12.82ID:kN/P0RBF0
The Yamanba skits on 'Hitori Gocchu' after that were unbelievably boring.
4Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 22:54:00.98ID:ibb1bZnZ0
They made them dress in hip-hop-style outfits, right?
Hosshan too.
5Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 22:54:11.29ID:xblTqmzb0
Isn't Mattsun (Matsumoto) retiring already?
37Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 23:16:13.65ID:9eyfaZ8F0
>>5
That's not something you can easily say…
44Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 23:25:26.99ID:WF90qexm0
>>5
As for 'isn't he retiring' — these days he's turned into the terrifying Baumkuchen Man (a mocking nickname referencing the sexual-misconduct allegations against him)!

Any woman who eats it ends up getting hauled off in the location van!

Somebody, please stop this Baumkuchen Man terrorizing all of Japan!

The Ice Cream Man from that American movie has become real life!
6Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 22:55:01.10ID:mNMgRt9O0
These days, Matsumoto's probably had his income completely overtaken by the Tennen Shizai guys.
11Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 22:56:45.05ID:QvVQc6rE0
>>6
I bet streaming pays more these days than TV, where fees are shrinking.
25Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 23:04:25.49ID:ec3rOd+O0
>>6
Over a decade ago, Degawa said Ninety-Nine's annual income was 200 million yen.
26Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 23:05:12.58ID:imvV078g0
>>6
I think Okamura's the top earner, but his only regular gigs are Gurunai, Chiko-chan, two Kansai local shows, and a radio slot,
so even at a high rate, it's probably not as much money as people assume.
7Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 22:55:12.31ID:gayHjb5w0
People who quit smoking have weak willpower.
I'm never quitting, no matter what.
8Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 22:55:59.25ID:IHNo2X8y0
>>1
Teasing him about the Adidas tracksuit was no joke.
10Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 22:56:21.64ID:dZLHsgrp0
They didn't mention that afterward, Shinsuke went on to produce comedians in Kansai, right? Was that Westland?
12Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 22:56:46.24ID:ibb1bZnZ0
The Japan Movie Specialty Channel was airing 'Osaka Story' with Ikewaki Chizuru, Sawada Kenji, and Tanaka Yuko,
and there's a scene with Miyagawa Daisuke in it — he's got long hair like Kimutaku (Kimura Takuya) had back then, and it looked so out of place.
14Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 22:59:26.09ID:sb3Jjj4+0
Even back then, Matsumoto's cocky swagger was cringeworthy.
76Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 00:52:16.14ID:sr7SPBLs0
>>14
And Junior, who was the poster child for being one of Matsumoto's yes-men,
also hated the Tennen Shizai crew, Ninety-Nine included — and later, after Miyasako left Yoshimoto, he was blatantly kicking a man while he was down.
18Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 23:01:57.98ID:9bJMRTDC0
Just shows how small-minded Matsumoto is.
67Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 00:33:41.06ID:dnu7y6gT0
>>18
It's less 'teasing' and more like he was actually trying to crush them.
21Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 23:02:48.40ID:ibb1bZnZ0
On the behind-the-scenes footage that came as a separate video with the 'Kishiwada Shonen Gurentai' DVD,
there's a bit where Ninety-Nine chartered a helicopter just to get from Kishiwada to an event in Nara.
22Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 23:03:01.17ID:ryPYPQny0
2 million copies, that's huge.
I did read it standing in the bookstore though.
23Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 23:03:01.45ID:oIMXrMZM0
Seeing the threads lined up like this hits different.
24Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 23:03:37.79ID:YIkBzPIs0
Hotaru: 'That guy's finished now.'
27Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 23:05:16.61ID:1EbE9Nu50
Underestimate [Beat] Takeshi and you'll never become him.
39Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 23:19:35.18ID:o53YA+fq0
>>27
Takeshi's the one who got overtaken by Downtown and Tunnels in comedy long ago.
He hasn't produced anything in comedy since the Heisei era began.
I respect him as a film director, but as a comedian he's a thing of the past.
43Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 23:23:12.99ID:YyVxqUkm0
He'd already made it big with 'Gotcha,' and at 30, was dissing up-and-coming comedians eight years younger than him
— and not even playing it for laughs.
83Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 01:19:07.02ID:gK9zH0vD0
>>43
What he was doing wasn't any different from Yasushi.
51Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 23:35:17.61ID:Bc/LJMz10
Apparently he called Ninety-Nine 'Downtown's goldfish poop,' but
the real goldfish poop is someone like Kimura Yuichi.
52Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 23:37:44.71ID:JnSk2SQM0
And yet he coldly cut Miyasako loose, despite Miyasako being the one who helped him reach where he is today.
55Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 23:43:47.43ID:B0vm0byG0
>>52
Miyasako only got popular thanks to Yoshimoto in the first place, but he mistook it for his own doing,
went off the rails solo, and left Hotaru behind.
56Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 23:44:45.00ID:Ef5IZS5U0
I wonder what he thought about Hamada singing songs, getting all the screaming fangirls, and starring in dramas.
58Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 23:50:47.44ID:yLZ8Fpns0
>>56
I think that was the era they got along worst.
74Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 00:49:14.11ID:ne8uh8aI0
>>56
Downtown themselves sang and had girls screaming over them back in their Osaka days,
even though they used to trash comedians who dyed their hair or bulked up…
62Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 00:04:05.77ID:b1OvnflD0
All that karma came back around on him in his later years lol
68Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 00:35:55.86ID:J5QbJ0UO0
>>62
'Old men are total perverts, y'know?!'
(Lizard Old Man, Episode 1 — a Matsumoto sketch character)
66Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 00:25:50.63ID:cvHp+ojG0
It's not just Ninety-Nine — I get the sense Moriwaki and Nakayama Hide got the same crushing treatment too.
Moriwaki's own personality probably played a part in his case,
but it's a wonder Nakayama Hide never got crushed.
82Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 01:05:26.58ID:pNEbsxxK0
>>66
Hide-chan's talent agency has a lot of pull.
72Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 00:45:29.96ID:OSkVy78o0
Matsumoto's a small man built on a pile of lies.
78Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 00:55:08.21ID:sr7SPBLs0
>>72
Up until that whole Fuji TV incident, he was shielded by his partner Hamada and Chairman Osaki,
but once those two started keeping their distance, the gilding completely peeled off Matsumoto.

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisoku Sokuho+) thread “[Entertainment] Toru Hotaru: ‘I Think They Even Teased Tennen Shizai for Dancing’ — Matsumoto Hitoshi’s ‘Testament’ Had Insane Influence.”

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