Hitoshi Matsumoto

Hitoshi Matsumoto
Born	(1963-09-08) September 8, 1963 Amagasaki, Japan
Medium	Owarai Television
Nationality	Japanese
Years active	1983 – Present
Genres	Owarai
Children	1

Hitoshi Matsumoto (松本 人志, Matsumoto Hitoshi, born September 8, 1963), or Mat-chan (松ちゃん) as he is commonly known, is a Japanese comedian best known as the boke half of the popular owarai duo Downtown alongside Masatoshi Hamada. Like Hamada, Matsumoto was born and raised in Amagasaki, just outside Osaka city and prefecture and technically in Hyōgo Prefecture, though he usually refers to himself as an Osakan.^[1]

He directed, produced, and starred in the 2007 movie Big Man Japan, which was shown at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival in the Directors' Fortnight section.

Early life

Matsumoto was born in Amagasaki, Hyōgo, to a poor family. He has one older sister and one older brother, Takahiro Matsumoto (松本 隆博, Matsumoto Takahiro), an established folk guitarist who released an autobiographical book titled "Matsumoto's Older Brother" (松本の兄, Matsumoto no Ani).^[2] He has expressed his feelings about growing up in a poor household in a poem titled Chicken Rice (チキンライス, Chikin Raisu) which Hamada turned into a song in 2004.^[3] In his poem, he wrote how laughter was the only way to get through those times.^[4] He credits his poverty for giving him a good imagination and sense of play, as it forced him to invent his own games to entertain himself.

His favourite manga as a child was Tensai Bakabon by Fujio Akatsuka. He aspired to become a manga artist.

He attended Ushio Elementary School, where he met Masatoshi Hamada. He graduated from Amagasaki Technical High School in 1982. Although he secured a job at a printing office, to pursue his dream of becoming a comedian, he was invited by Hamada in 1982 to enter Yoshimoto Kōgyō. Together, they became Downtown, and made their major debut in 1983.

Personal life

Bachelorhood

Matsumoto remained single with no history of marriage for years after his comedy partner, Hamada, was married with children. He stated that he was not into romance, finding acts such as sharing a bed or bathing with someone else bothersome and unnecessary.^[5] He mentioned his dislike for children and said that if he married and had children, he would end up seeing them as rivals for his wife's attention.^[6] He preferred dogs as companions.^[7]

It was revealed in July 2008 that Matsumoto was dating then 25-year-old tarento Ihara Rin.^[8] In the evening of May 17, 2009, it was announced that Matsumoto's official bachelorhood had ended with a secret marriage ceremony between himself and the aforementioned Ihara.^[9] Ihara, a former weather announcer for the Japanese news program "ズームイン!! Super" (Zoom In!! Super) is nineteen years Matsumoto's junior, and apparently became pregnant by Matsumoto, prompting the marriage.^[9] The announcement of the marriage came via fax by Matsumoto's managing organization to several media outlets, including a personal message by Matsumoto himself: "My partner will become an average citizen [i.e. not an entertainer] and is currently pregnant. As this is a delicate time, I would like this to be dealt with as gently as possible. It would be best to hold a press conference, however this situation is awkward and I will refrain from doing so."^[9] The original faxed announcement did not contain details on Matsumoto's wife; however it has become widely known that his new partner is Ihara.^[9]

On October 6, 2009, Matsumoto and Ihara Rin became parents to a daughter. At the time, Matsumoto was in South Korea for the screening of the film "Symbol."^[10]

Interests

Matsumoto's hobbies include driving, billiards, and video games. He has played billiards against numerous musicians on the Downtown hosted music show, Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ, such as Gackt. His favorite video game is Tetris and says his nickname is "The Tetrist" (テトリスト).^[11] He jokes he can play Tetris until the corners of the blocks wear out and become rounded.^[12] However, in his televised Tetris battles with both Utada Hikaru (on Music Champ) and Shinya Arino of Yoiko (on LINCOLN),^[12] he showed mediocre skills and lost.

As an admirer of Vincent van Gogh, he has gone to Amsterdam to visit The Van Gogh Museum. These trips were filmed for The True Hitoshi Matsumoto (松本人志の本当, Matsumoto Hitoshi no Hontō), a special NHK BS documentary series.^[13] Another figure he respects is the late comedian, Kanbi Fujiyama.^[14]

He enjoys tokusatsu shows and owns DVD box sets of series such as Kamen Rider and Giant Robo. He has parodied tokusatsu a number of times on his previous show, Downtown no Gottsu Ee Kanji (with characters such as the Go-Renjai, Miracle Ace and Aho Aho Man), and in his directorial film debut, Dainipponjin.

Health

He has demonstrated good physical fitness on Gaki no Tsukai. He defeated his comedy partner Hamada in a high jump competition by clearing 1.40m on the first try.^[15] In 1999, he outran Hamada, Hōsei Yamasaki and both members of Cocorico in a 100-meter race (he ran the entire length while the other four ran a quarter of the length each in the form of a relay race).^[16] Three years later, he performed notably better than them in a long jump competition.^[17]

Although he claims to have no interest in sports,^[18] he has occasionally dabbled in boxing as he is friends with former world boxing champion Joichiro Tatsuyoshi.

Once a heavy cigarette smoker, he quit in 2003.

On June 28, 2010, Yoshimoto Kogyo announced that Matsumoto would not be performing on any shows for two months due to an injury on his left hip, which required surgery.^[19] For two episodes, the remaining Gaki no Tsukai cast members discussed his condition,^[20][21] with Matsumoto returning to hosting on August 31, 2010.^[22] In subsequent segments of the show requiring rigorous physical activities, such as the annual New Year's Eve 24-Hour Batsu Games of recent years, he is exempted and instead given idle or captive roles, in spite of the injuries.

During the 2012 Gaki no Tsukai batsu game involving the group becoming airline assistants, Matsumoto revealed he had suffered a stress fracture preparing for said batsu game, and despite doctor's orders, he still participated in the batsu game.

Fashion

Matsumoto often appears on television wearing a suit and tie, with the tie tucked in his pants as a personal touch. When not wearing a suit, he opts for denim pants and a plain white T-shirt. He dislikes wearing clothing with words on them – he believes entertainers, who express themselves through body language, should not be displaying someone else's "meaningless" words on their bodies.^[23] Incidentally, his comedy partner Hamada always appears on television in casual brand name clothing, often with a graphic print or logo T-shirt. He has since softened from this stance and will wear colors and patterns on occasion.

Hyōi-geinin

Matsumoto is a self-proclaimed hyōi-geinin (憑依芸人).^[24] Hyōi means "spiritual possession," and geinin means "entertainer." This term is said to have been invented by Matsumoto, and it refers to entertainers who can take on a personality completely different from their own when on stage or in front of a camera. Hyōi-geinin tend to be shy and uncomfortable with revealing their true character and find it hard to perform without hiding behind an outrageous personality or appearance. As such, the often silly and oafish Matsumoto is said to be more mild-mannered and serious off screen.

Other terms that are said to be (but not confirmed to be) popularized by Matsumoto:

• samui or sabui (寒い, サブい) Literally meaning "cold," it refers to anything corny and unfunny.
• BLUE ni naru (ブルーになる) To become "blue" (sad).
• gyaku-gire (逆ギレ) When one becomes angry as a response to someone who is angry at them.^[25]

It is also claimed by some that he has popularized the act of labeling someone as "an S" (sadist) or "an M" (masochist). He considers himself an M, while his comedy partner, Hamada, is an S.^[26]

List of works

Films

Comic shorts:

• Tōzu (頭頭) (1993)
• Sundome Kaikyō (寸止め海峡) (1995)
• Visualbum Vol. Apple – Promise (ビジュアルバム Vol. リンゴ – 約束) (1998)
• Visualbum Vol. Banana – Kindness (ビジュアルバム Vol. バナナ – 親切) (1998)
• Visualbum Vol. Grape – Relief (ビジュアルバム Vol. ブドウ – 安心) (1999)
• Sasuke (佐助) (2001)
• Zassā (ザッサー) (2006)

Full-length movies:

• Big Man Japan (2007)
• Symbol (2009)
• Saya Zamurai (2011)
• R100 (2013)

Television and radio

• Hitori gottsu (一人ごっつ) (1996–1997)
• Densetsu no kyōshi (伝説の教師) (2000)
• Ashita ga aru sa (明日があるさ) (2001)
• Hōsō-shitsu (放送室) (Since 2001)
• Hitoshi Matsumoto no suberanai hanashi (人志松本のすべらない話) (Since 2004)
• Matsumoto Hitoshi no Konto (MHK) (松本一志のコント) (2010)

Books

• Isho (遺書) (1994) ISBN 978-4-02-256809-0
• Matsumoto (松本) (1995) ISBN 978-4-02-256898-4
• Matsumoto Hitoshi Ai (松本人志 愛) (1998) ISBN 978-4-02-257300-1
• Matsumoto Bōzu (松本坊主) (1999) ISBN 978-4-947599-62-9
• Zukan (図鑑) (2000) ISBN 978-4-02-257550-0
• Matsumoto Cinema Bōzu (松本シネマ坊主) (2002) ISBN 978-4-8222-1733-4
• Matsumoto Saiban (松本裁判) (2002) ISBN 978-4-86052-002-1
• Teihon Hitorigottsu (定本一人ごっつ) ISBN 978-4-86052-024-3
• Sukika, Kiraika – Matsumoto Hitoshi no Nigenron (好きか、嫌いか – 松本人志の二元論) (2004) ISBN 978-4-08-780401-0
• Sukika, Kiraika 2 – Matsumoto Hitoshi no Saishuu Sanban (好きか、嫌いか2 – 松本人志の最終裁判) (2005) ISBN 978-4-08-780422-5
• Cinema Bōzu 2 (シネマ坊主2) (2005) ISBN 978-4-8222-1744-0
• Cinema Bōzu 3 (シネマ坊主3) (2008) ISBN 978-4-8222-6321-8
• Matsumoto Hitoshi No Ikari Akaban (松本人志の怒り 赤版) (2008) ISBN 978-4-08-780503-1
• Matsumoto Hitoshi No Ikari Aoban (松本人志の怒り 青版) (2008) ISBN 978-4-08-780504-8

External links

• Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!! (Nippon TV) official site
• Lincoln (TBS TV) official site
• Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ (Fuji TV) official site
• Dai-Nipponjin review at SaruDama.com
• Hitoshi Matsumoto on IMDb
• Hitoshi Matsumoto discography at Discogs.

Notes and references