The corps is good, it’s lukewarm water
――While participating in the Kusayakyu team of the Takeshi Corps, in your early days as an entertainer, you were selling yourself with a refreshing idol-like image.
IdeThat was stressful for me, and I was happy when Takeshi said, “The army is easy, it’s good.” But once, I said, “Please let me do my best on my own a little more.” Matsuo Bannai, who applied for apprenticeship while kneeling on the ground and was accepted into the corps, thought it would be a shame for him to join the corps so easily. But in the end, although I tried my best, it didn’t ring and fly (laughs).
――How did Takeshi see the situation?
IdeOne day, when I was on the bench after baseball practice at Jingu Gaien, Takeshi said, “Let’s go to the office now.” We went to Yotsuya 3-chome office with the two of us in our uniforms, and Takeshi said to the president, “From today onwards, I’ll join the corps.” At that time, the president said, “It’s not that kind of character, so it’s different from the corps,” but he said, “This guy. I gave it to you. Mr. Takeshi said, “The corps is good, it’s lukewarm water,” but the first job was hot water.
The number of games played by the Takeshi corps well exceeded 100 games a year.
―― Was it baseball that deepened your relationship with Takeshi?
IdeYes, it’s baseball. There was a duo called the Cardinals (Guadalcanal Taka, Tsumami Edamame), and after all they connected through baseball, and they joined the corps before me.
Around that time, “Beat Takeshi no Sports General” (TV Asahi) started. At that time, I was playing a lot of games, well over 100 games a year.
-What was the match schedule like?
