Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Meeting a Legendary Japanese Cut-Up!

 Noriro Niiyama. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On October 15, I was able to meet comedian Noriro Niiyama. Niiyama-san (real name: Norio Watanabe) was born on January 1, 1936, and formed a manzai comedy team with his partner Toriro Niiyama (real name: Eiji Yokozawa) in 1958. The act eventually broke up in 1985. 


Noriro Niiyama appeared in several films along the way, particularly Nikkatsu comedies in the late 1960s. These include The Invincible One (1967), starring Akira Kobayashi and co-written by Fumio Ishimori, as well as The Wedding Salesman (1968). It was certainly a joy to meet Niiyama-san, and I hope to get a chance to do so again in the future.

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