This article is part of our ongoing “Introduction Series” that talks about the different genres of Japanese film and how to better appreciate them. Japanese comedy is the topic of the second installment, and here we’ve interviewed Australian Chad Mullane, a successful comedian at Japan’s biggest comedy agency Yoshimoto Kogyo, who has also subtitled numerous comedy films.

According to Chad, most Japanese comedy is based upon exchanges between the "boke" and the "tsukkomi". When the funny man jokes around or says harebrained things, the straight man states out loud exactly what is wrong with the other’s words, actions and/or the thought processes that got them there. In most "manzai" acts, the two roles are clearly defined, and this has become one of the signature styles of Japanese comedy.

So what are the comedy films like in a country where "boke-tsukkomi" comedy touches everyone’s daily life through the various forms of media? How can we best appreciate Japanese humor—and which are the best Japanese comedy films for people just starting out? We asked Chad to tell us more.

Interviewer/Author: Aiko Iijima, Photographer: Akari Nishi, Editor: Aiko Iijima & Satomi Hara (CINRA, Inc.)

What’s the difference between Japanese and Western humor?

── What did you think about Japanese comedy when you first encountered it?

Chad: Well, it was certainly something unique. I first came to Japan as a first-year high school exchange student, and I ended up in the Kansai area. It turns out the locals consider the region to be the Holy Land of Comedy, and they’re very serious about being funny. Instead of tricking me into saying swear words on my first day, my classmates made me do a proper "manzai" act. “Japan has something called "manzai",” they told me. “There’s a "boke" and a "tsukkomi". One says something stupid, then the other says, ‘"Nande ya nen"’ (What the hell?). Stand up, you’re doing this!”

Chad: I then learned that "manzai", with its straight man and funny man, was pretty much the basis for all Japanese comedy—and there were also many subgenres that split off from there. Seeing a modern, evolved version of the basic Abbot and Costello-like "boke-tsukkomi" style was a revelation. The good old slap-across-the-head is still occasionally used for greater comedic effect, but I realized the true essence was far from slapstick.
I was also astonished by the sheer number of comedians and comedy TV programs, and then again by how successful young people were in the industry. It felt reachable, and much more diverse than what I’d grown up with. I had no idea I’d become a Japanese comedian myself—I had no idea Japan was funny!

── Japan has a long comedy tradition. "Rakugo", for example, is a type of comedy that arose in the latter half of the 17th century, where a single performer plays multiple roles using only gestures—weaving in puns and other gags into a humorous story. Could you give our non-Japanese readers a basic rundown of other types of comedy besides the "manzai" you just mentioned?

Chad: There are just so many. Among the types that involve fixed roles and a standard setup are conte, where comedians play characters and act out a story, similar to a sketch, and "shinkigeki"—which is usually an hour-long play, featuring more people than conte, and which has scenes that range from zany to tear-jerking.
Unlike "rakugo", which is delivered seated, there is a form of stand-up solo comedy in front of a microphone called "mandan", for which musical instruments or other props can also be used. In "ogiri", multiple people compete to deliver the funniest responses on a certain topic. There’s even something called "reaction-gei", where comedians simply react to being put in certain situations—that may not sound like anything to write home about, but if you ever get to see what I’m talking about, you’ll agree that it’s both sidesplitting fun, and unmistakably an art. The list goes on.

── So the styles of comedy are definitely different—but are there differences in the subject matter or material as well?

Chad: I think one of the major differences is that Western comedians often seem to be fighting something, and they’re just using humor as their weapon. Meanwhile, Japanese comedians avoid fighting anything but themselves, and they only ever fight to see who’s funnier. In the West, comedians seem to use their jokes as a way to drive social change in areas like discrimination or politics, or as a form of social satire. In Japan, I think it’s more of a “pure” art. They pursue comedy for comedy’s sake. That doesn’t mean it’s simple, it’s just that comedians have no ulterior motive.

── It does seem that Western stand-up comedy tends to come with a strong message behind it.

Chad: Exactly. Personally, I find that messages get in the way of laughter. They may make an act more interesting, but they make it less funny. The West also tends to use religion as material, and they tell dirty jokes, whereas Japanese comedy tends to avoid topics that are polarizing, and those that are cheap. By finding and creating humor within the finer details of things that happen in daily life, and by looking at what goes on in an individual’s mind as opposed to what’s going on in the world, I think Japanese comedy actually ends up even more universal.

The "tsukkomi" as one of the keys to Japanese comedy

── Could you compare Japanese and Western comedy films for us?

Chad: I think one of the biggest differences lies in the "tsukkomi" culture, which is so strong in Japan, but virtually absent now in the West. I grew up watching Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin films, and loved Western comedy in general, but over the years, I think the straight man actually devolved. They went from being the voice of reason, to those who simply gave a nonverbal reaction─a sideways look, a raised eyebrow, or a deadpan stare─to often being totally absent altogether.

On the other hand, in Japanese comedy—and in Japanese comedy films—the straight man does a lot of talking. Once I started looking at Western comedy from the perspective of the Japanese tsukkomi, who points out exactly what’s strange about the funny man using precise language, the Western acts started to become monotonous. Where I might have laughed at the funny man before, the jokes suddenly seemed repetitive and flat. I think the jokes aren’t taken to the next level, because there’s no tsukkomi there to put the pressure on them.

── So is it safe to assume that "tsukkomi" culture translates to Japanese comedy films as well?

Chad: I do think that "boke-tsukkomi" humor is at the heart of Japanese comedy films. "One Cut of the Dead" (2017) is an example of a straightforward Japanese comedy that’s like a movie version of a "shinkigeki" skit.

Japan also has a lot of comedy films that started as "manga", but I imagine that a lot of the material in those manga originally comes from comedy as well. I run across a lot of "manga" artists in my work, and it’s amazing how many of them follow incredibly niche, late-night comedy programs.

What’s the hardest thing about subtitling Japan’s unique brand of comedy?

── You’re also involved in film subtitling. What do you pay attention to in that process?

Chad: Regardless of the style or content of the film, everything in Japanese comedy is about the final "ochi", or punchline. So I’ve got to figure out a way to navigate towards it. And they are plenty of obstacles.

A unique feature of subtitling is that you’ve only got a certain number of characters you can display, calculated to the seconds per frame, and you’ve got to condense everything to fit within those parameters. "Manzai"-based comedy routines in particular move very fast and the "tsukkomi" often breaks the flow with a single utterance—which makes it either impossible to maintain the rhythm, or impossible to keep the wording feel natural. No matter what you do, the subtitles becomes less funny. So, trying to make something funny with subtitles as your tool is quite an unfunny business. It’s as much of a science as it is an art.

When the visuals are more important than the subtitles, you want to keep the words to a minimum. As long as the meaning gets across, you can insert phrases that are shorter, even if they seem a bit strange compared to everyday conversation—in the business we call it “subtitlese”.

── It sounds like the way you translate things is quite different depending on the type of comedy and the way it’s paced.

Chad: Very much so. When you shorten something, even if you’re able to get the meaning across, you’re likely to lose some degree of humor. Coming up with English that’s as colloquial as possible helps, but in the end, with all of the different constraints, you really have to focus on exactly what needs to be communicated most. Maybe it’s a subtle nuance. Maybe the joke needs to work now. Or maybe it’s better to skip over this one, because it will make another joke seem that much funnier ten minutes down the track—and on and on. Trying to hone in on exactly what needs to be communicated can be seriously exhausting!

── So you’re not just translating in the moment—you’re also planning for the upcoming jokes.

Chad: Exactly. Sometimes I even agonize over whether to put both the "boke" and "tsukkomi"’s lines in the frame at the same time, or put them one after the other. But I’ve also come to realize that, despite all the limitations—which range from culturally-specific content to media-related issues—there are some bits that are simply unbelievably easy to translate. When I come upon these, it’s like a red flag in reverse—I know the content is undeniably funny, and it’s something truly universal that all of humanity can laugh at.

So, I sometimes get irritated when I have to translate something that’s just not funny. I’m thinking, “I could do better than this…” But then again, if the work is funny, as a performer, I get jealous. It’s a frustrating job, no matter how I look at it!

Experiencing the fun of the "boke" and "tsukkomi" in Hitoshi Matsumoto’s "R100"

── Could you tell us about a film that translated really easily?

Chad: It would have to be "R100" (2013) directed by Hitoshi Matsumoto. I think it’s a film that really allows any audience to appreciate and enjoy the concept of "boke" and "tsukkomi". In the first part of the movie, the story moves along without anyone calling out the "boke" at all, until new actors are introduced halfway through the film that finally start playing the "tsukkomi" role. It was first screened at the Toronto Film Festival, and I got to watch the premiere, sitting next to the director, in the middle of a theater filled with thousands of locals. Keeping in mind that Matsumoto-san is the main reason I decided to move to Japan and join Yoshimoto, you can imagine the pressure—if the film bombed, it would be all my fault (lol).

Chad: But as the film played, I was relieved as the audience around us started internally filling in the role of the "tsukkomi" on their own. In other words, they laughed. Even in places where a Japanese audience would probably prefer to have an actual spoken "tsukkomi". In the end, their reactions were perfect—gradual laughter, big bursts of laughter, little chuckles. But then there was a bit of a violent scene, and for the first time, the theater went dead quiet…

── That must have been nerve-racking.

Chad: Fortunately, one person couldn’t take it anymore and blurted out, “Oh, no!” That promptly made the rest of the audience burst into laughter. Everyone needed that “Oh, no!” "tsukkomi"! Then, once the film reached the scene where the actors started actually saying the "tsukkomi" lines, everyone was on board. It was a special experience to see the audience genuinely appreciating the true value of a "tsukkomi". For all the crazy "boke" that had been going on and on, making the audience think “What the…?” time after time, the film finally provided one articulate slap across the head after the other, and the crowd loved it.

How can we better appreciate Japanese comedy films?

── What should foreign audiences look for when watching Japanese comedy films so that they can get more enjoyment out of them?

Chad: I think the fun is in the details. This is just my personal view, but I think are a lot of perfectionists in Japan—and among those, filmmakers rank highly when it comes to their level of dedication to perfectionism. This all leads to a ton of attention being paid to the details in their work. Particularly when it comes to exacting timing, which is the lifeblood of comedy. I think you can see proof of that in virtually any film you watch.

── Just a tiny shift in timing between the "boke" and the "tsukkomi" really changes the mood, then.

Chad: When Japanese people grow up in the "boke-tsukkomi" culture, they naturally play these roles in everyday life. Before they know it, they’re not just making funny comments─they’re making funny comments that absolutely demand a decent "tsukkomi". The easiest way to do this is take something to the extreme, and I think this spirit is something everyone can appreciate in Japanese comedy films ─the jokes aren’t just funny-ish, they go all the way.
Hideki Takeuchi, who directed "Fly Me to the Saitama" (2019) and "Nodame Cantabile: The Movie" (2009, 2010), is great for the way he makes the fun go all the way, from the lines, to the acting, to the sheer scale of the silliness. All done with extreme precision. And both of those films originally came from "manga".

Chad’s picks for Japanese comedy film first-timers

── So even if you haven’t grown up with the "tsukkomi" culture, most people will still be able to laugh at what the straight man says─they either say exactly what’s on your mind, hitting the nail on the head and scratching your itch, or they come back with a sharp, dry or simply lightning-speed quip that you’d never think of yourself. Could you end by giving us your recommendations for Japanese comedy films?

Chad: The first one that comes to mind is "Hentai Kamen" (2013) directed by Yuichi Fukuda. The first "manga" magazine I read when I came to Japan had "Kyūkyoku!! Hentai Kamen" in it, which is where the film comes from. I think it’s amazing that the concept was already developed 20-30 years ago, since it has a similar sensibility to "Deadpool" (2016). It’s interesting to note that the film was a surprise hit in Hong Kong. I believe the fact "Hentai Kamen" and Hong Kong share the same initials is what gave the film a nice jump-start─“HK” must have felt close to home (lol).

Chad: People should also check out films released under the Sushi Typhoon label. I think you’ll really enjoy them if you liked "Little Shop of Horrors" (1986) and the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975). One of my favorites is "Deadball" (2011) by Yudai Yamaguchi, whose "Cromartie High The Movie" (2005) is a great deal of fun.

Chad: Films like "A Ghost of a Chance" (2011) and "Hit Me Anyone One More Time" (2019) directed by Koki Mitani are more “intricate” comedies. In his films the foreshadowing elements always receive nice pay-offs─I think it’s safe to say the structure makes them fun in any language.

── Are there any comedy films that you think give people insight into Japanese culture or society?

Chad: For that, I’d have to recommend the "Company President" series (1956-1970) starring Hisaya Morishige. They’re period pieces that give you a sense of the unbridled optimism Japan during the economic boom years. Generally speaking, I don’t really like “happy” films, but I think you’ll find this series beams a genuine glow that is so contagious, you can’t help but fall in love with them.

For something a little more low-key and sophisticated, director Satoshi Miki definitely makes some trendsetting films. If you find his work a little too highbrowed, you could try director Kankuro Kudo—something like "Yaji and Kita: The Midnight Pilgrims" (2005). But wherever you start, there are so many comedy genres, and great comedy films, you should just get out there and start enjoying them! And share the joy!