“I Am a Comedian,” a movie that follows the “comedian who disappeared from television” Woman Muramoto, reveals the true nature of the “difficulty of living” among Japanese people.

My encounter with Daisuke Muramoto and the strange things that happened to my body


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I discovered comedian Daisuke Muramoto in 2018, my first summer in Tokyo.

I moved to Tokyo from my hometown of Osaka to become a stage actor and worked part-time at a restaurant in Daikanyama.

It was a very hot day, and all the customers who had no choice but to sit on the terrace because of their pets were complaining about how hot it was. Mojitos sold well both inside and outside the store.

The first time I saw him on TV was when he won “THE MANZAI” in 2013. A few years later, he suddenly disappeared from television screens.

Flames, gays, left-wing comedians… A disturbing phrase has been circulating around his name online, with one saying he was “hanged out to dry for political comments”. I was more impressed by his rock style of life than by the content of what he broadcast on a nationally broadcast program.

One morning. He was sitting in a window seat inside the store, with an English text spread out on the table.

“Hello. Sorry if I’m bothering you. I’m a huge fan of you. I’m so glad to see you, sir.” I’m very happy to be able to do it)

At first, he seemed a little surprised to be suddenly addressed in English.

“Oh! Senkyu! Senkyu!”

That’s how my relationship with Mr. Muramoto began, and he started talking to me every time he came to the store. When business was slow, I even taught English.

The following year, one day in June.

When I went to work as usual, I felt something strange on the left side of my body. My left arm suddenly became cold and numb.

He rushed to the hospital and had an MRI scan of his brain, which revealed a cavernous hemangioma in the hypothalamus of his right brain, and he was rushed to the hospital.

“Since the onset of the disease is in the brain stem, it would be best to avoid surgical measures.”

When a neurosurgeon at a certain Tokyo metropolitan hospital told me this, I felt despair.