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| Noriro Niiyama in October 2019. Photo by Brett Homenick. |
The recent news of Shinichi Yanagisawa's passing prompted me to look up another actor I met at the HUB Asakusa in October 2019. The performer in question was comedian Noriro Niiyama. Mr. Niiyama (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.
When we met, Mr. Niiyama gave me his business card with his cell phone number on it, and today I gave some thought to ringing him up to see if he might be interesting in meeting. However, when I did some research, I found that he passed away on December 19, 2022, at the age of 86. He had been diagnosed with leukemia not long before his eventual passing.
His manzai partner Toriro Niiyama has apparently already passed away, but details of his passing, including the date he died, are apparently unknown.
Noriro Niiyama appeared in several films during his career, particularly Nikkatsu comedies of 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's devastating to see so many figures from the Showa era pass away. Rest in peace, Mr. Niiyama.
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