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The story
Akihiro Nishino of the comedy duo Kingkong posted his “10 conditions for young hires I will never take on” on his X (formerly Twitter) account. Lines like “anyone who says quality over quantity is the worst possible cost-performance” sparked backlash on the forum thread, with posters accusing him of demanding work that skirts Japan’s labor laws and mocking the vibe as a “homey black company” (sarcastic slang mashing up a friendly job-ad buzzword with the term for an exploitative workplace). Even so, some commenters admitted there’s something to the underlying point about the importance of putting in the reps.
Kingkong’s Nishino: What are the traits of young hires he’ll never take on? “Flat-out salary thieves,” “won’t even talk”
Akihiro Nishino (46), of the comedy duo Kingkong, updated his X (formerly Twitter) account on the 27th, publishing his “10 conditions for young hires I will never take on.”
Nishino wrote: “People who say ‘quality over quantity’ right from the start → chasing quality before you’ve even put in the reps is the worst possible cost-performance,” and “Gloomy people, people who speak too quietly → it spreads through the team, so you end up paying extra just to fix the mood.”
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
It's not about talent.
This is exactly the kind of thing a shady CEO who works people harder than labor law allows would say.
I much prefer the deep, anguish-filled European approach to arts and culture.
You mean like one of those European art films that air on local TV late at night — a man and woman with cigarettes dangling from their mouths mutter something in a dim, curtained room, and two hours later it's just… over?
well, that's because it's basically a cult, isn't it.
This guy sounds fully ready to write off even legitimate employee complaints as "haters."
Sounds exactly like the kind of employee a cozy, "at-home" black company (an exploitative workplace with a friendly-sounding front) would want.
Did he rip it off?
I'd bet almost everything Nishino says here is just secondhand wisdom from the CEOs and investors he hangs around.
What has this guy actually achieved as a businessman?
It's not like he's taken a company public or anything.
builds up whatever strengths they have,
and trains away the weak points.
So doesn't this just mean it's an incompetent company that can't — or won't — train its people?
Exactly.
What's the point of proudly declaring "we have zero intention of developing people" — that's just admitting your own incompetence.
Peak lame.
The best part is you tacked on the polite "san" instead of just dropping the name bare — that's the funniest bit.
This is probably just him venting because his company is packed with nothing but this type:
the "please let me learn at your side, Nishino-san!" crowd,
the "I may have nothing but enthusiasm, but I'll give it my all!" crowd.
Sounds exactly like something a Poupelle true believer (fan of his "Poupelle of Chimney Town" franchise) would say.
How adorably naive of you to think Nishino actually does enough real work to have anything to complain about.
You're precisely the kind of pure, simple soul he's looking for.
Something I only figured out once I got older:
the ones with real stamina are the ones who win.
Yeah, unless you're either extremely sharp or extremely dim,
it's the ones with stamina who put in the volume that end up growing and getting results.
Honestly, just moving fast alone tends to get you noticed anyway,
and I've never once met someone with good stamina who was also a negative thinker.
I think that can go either way depending on the job and the balance needed.
Whether quantity or quality is "right" really depends on the case.
Nah, in practice there's almost nobody the advice "think about quality before putting in the volume" actually fits.
Honestly, I've never even seen that pattern play out.
I think we're probably just starting from different assumptions about what "quality" means here, or picturing a different situation.
In an environment where a single mistake is costly, you'd coach for quality (accuracy) first and ask for volume later.
On the flip side, in an environment where mistakes are tolerable or time pressure matters more, you'd prioritize quantity over quality.
I wrote my comment on the simple assumption that the balance shifts depending on which factor matters most.
Background and Key Points
Akihiro Nishino, half of the comedy duo Kingkong, has spent the past decade building a business identity that runs alongside his stand-up career: he wrote and illustrated the picture book “Poupelle of Chimney Town,” turned it into a hit anime film franchise, and runs an online membership community (an “online salon”) along with production companies that employ young staff to help make and merchandise that IP. In Japan, the phrase “black company” (burakku kigyō) is shorthand for an employer that pushes hours or conditions beyond what the Labor Standards Act allows — a well-worn complaint after years of “work-style reform” campaigns meant to curb exactly that. Posters’ jab about a “homey black company” plays on that term, suggesting Nishino dresses exploitative expectations in friendly, mentor-style language.
The thread’s real fault line wasn’t over labor law so much as over whether “quantity before quality” is sound career advice or a rationalization for a company unwilling to train people. Several posters (57, 59) argued that a competent employer builds up weak hires rather than screening them out, framing Nishino’s list as an admission of managerial failure; others (82, 85, 88) agreed with the underlying point that stamina and repetition, not early polish, are what actually produce growth.
What’s easy to miss is that Nishino’s ventures lean heavily on his online-salon membership base — fans who pay to participate and sometimes end up working for him — which is why the “cult” and “Poupelle true believer” jabs (17, 81) carry more bite than they’d have for an ordinary company; the thread never establishes actual labor-law violations, only suspicion based on his rhetoric.
*This article has been compiled as an excerpt/summary of the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Entertainment] Kingkong’s Nishino Akihiro: What are the traits of young hires he’ll never take on? “Flat-out salary thieves,” “won’t even talk”.”
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