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The story
On his late-night ABC Radio show on the 16th, TV personality Koji Higashino voiced concern over the recent wave of comedians announcing health problems, saying, “Were there always this many?” His remarks followed fellow performer Koi of Shampoo Hat revealing he has oropharyngeal cancer. In the thread, users listed off the ages at death of Showa-era comedians like Yasushi Yokoyama (died at 51) and Hachiro Azuma (died at 52) one after another, and opinions split over whether people simply “used to die younger than they do now” or whether “celebrities as a group have just gotten older.”
Koji Higashino worries about spate of ailing comedians: “Were there always this many?” “We can only wait”
TV personality Koji Higashino (59) appeared late on the 16th on ABC Radio’s “Koji Higashino’s Honmono Radio” (Friday 1am), voicing concern over how many comedians are in poor health.
He brought up Koi of Shampoo Hat (50), his co-star on the Kansai TV show “Marco Polori!” which Higashino hosts, who had revealed on YouTube that he has oropharyngeal cancer.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
There weren't.
People would just fade out of the business (FO, i.e. quietly disappear) back then, and even in regular society plenty of folks died before 60 anyway.
In other words, it's just the "demographic bonus" generation of comedians deceiving themselves — middle-aged bodies breaking down is simply how life goes.
Normally humans can't keep up a reckless lifestyle much past 35.
That's why people usually settle down and get their life rhythm in order by then.
Having a kid or taking out a house loan past 50 — seriously, what are these celebrities doing with their life math, lol.
How long do these guys plan to keep going?
There's one more.
K i n ' i c h i H a g i m o t o
Right. Yasushi Yokoyama died at 51.
I thought he was older, but he was actually quite young.
Back then everyone died before cancer even had a chance to get them.
Judging from how he sounded on Magical Lovely's radio show right before he went on leave, it smells like a mental health thing.
it's not like he was constantly on TV right up until he died.
He probably faded out around his late 40s, didn't he?
Hachiro Azuma — died at 52
Sanpei Hayashiya — died at 54
Mutsuo Totsuka — died at 42. Shinsuke Minami — died at 52, Shiro Ito — 89 (still alive)
Right, right. Master Sanpei was young too.
Yujiro and Hibari were both 52.
At the time I figured that was just normal, but looking back now, that's incredibly young.
Isn't Akira Kobayashi about the only one from that era still alive?
Yasushi had all that presence and he was only 51? lol
Wait, Yasushi Yokoyama was 51? Isn't that way too old-looking for 51?
He looks about 70.
I almost never take time off work.
Why is it so lopsided between the people who take time off and the people who don't?
Even so, Yassan's age at death — 51 — is shocking.
By the way, Itsumi was 48.
Anyone could go at any time.
People just go to the hospital too much.
Seeing this, it's clear that in the past people just couldn't be saved and died young. These days, hospitals catch it early, treat it, and extend people's lives.
Background and Key Points of This Topic
In the thread, multiple posts listed the ages at death of Showa-era comedians such as Yasushi Yokoyama (51), Hachiro Azuma (52), Sanpei Hayashiya (54), and Shinsuke Minami (52), and by today’s standards these were seen as “shockingly young.” This reflects the fact that while medical advances now allow for early detection and life-extending treatment, in the past many people kept working while harboring serious illness, only to have it discovered too late and die young. Opinions in the thread split between those who explain the current spate of ailing comedians as simply “the talent pool getting older” and those who argue “the reality hasn’t changed — people just used to die younger,” and notably, both sides backed their case with historical age-at-death data. One point readers might easily overlook is that comedians from the founding era of Yoshimoto’s NSC comedy school are already around 60, hinting that a generational changeover is drawing near.
*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Geino Sports Sokuho+) thread “[Entertainment] Koji Higashino worries about spate of ailing comedians: “Were there always this many?” “We can only wait”.”
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