Masaru Hamaguchi is a 35-year veteran comedian who formed the duo “Yoiko” with his classmate Shinya Arino in 1990. (Fuji Television Network, hereafter “Mecha Ike”) and “Uuchan Nanchan no Urinari! (Nippon Television Network Corporation) in the 1990s, and in the 2000s they appeared in “Ikinari! Kogane Densetsu. （In 2018, he married celebrity Akina Minami and is now the father of a three-year-old son. In 2018, he married celebrity Akina Minami, and they now have a three-year-old son . Hamaguchi, who is a member of Yoikoto, is still a member of Shochiku Engei, but he had a chance to go freelance on his own. Did he ever have a chance to go freelance on his own? I had the feeling for some years that I wanted to be free to do what I wanted to do. But to go freelance, you have to work very hard. …… But it is easier to work alone as a freelancer. In my current band activities, I often didn’t have a manager (laughs). When it came time to go independent, everyone around me was surprised. And it was a sudden move. I sent messages to all the managers and senior and junior members via LINE. On the September 10 episode of “Ariyoshi’s Wall” (NTV), I teamed up with Crystal Noda of Magical Lovely to perform a comedy. In the story, Noda plays a devil coach at a gym and Hamaguchi plays a customer, who gives him a hard time while he is training on a running machine. Noda asked, “Why did you quit Shochiku? Noda responds, “I had a little trouble with my boss about what I said and didn’t say! Noda replied, “I had a bit of a dispute with my boss about whether I said it or not,” which caused a stir among the viewers. He then replied, “I don’t want to say ‘it’s amicable’ on the spot, so I’ll just say it at ……. I mean, there were some differences of direction and opinions about junior staff, but I had to speak one-sidedly about specifics. …… But it wasn’t really a dispute. We talked it over, and we agreed to go free if that was how Hamaguchi felt. He told me that he would continue his activities as Yoiko and that he would support Hamaguchi’s activities as well. To be honest, I enjoy my job very much. It’s very rewarding. When I ask my seniors in the entertainment industry who have become independent, “How do you feel? they said, “I can see each job clearly, and I appreciate the people around me. I thought to myself, “Wow, that’s exactly what I was thinking. It does not mean that I am not grateful for the work I have been getting from the office. But when I received the offer directly from the agency, I was so happy (laughs). (Laughs) I can directly feel the joy of knowing that this program really needs me. During and after the recording session, I would always feel like, “Thank you very much for your support. Along with the freedom and joy of being a freelancer, he has also realized how much he appreciates the chores and details that the office has taken care of for him. Now, a former office manager at my brother’s real estate company is doing my “renting and selling” for me while also renting and selling properties (laughs). He has no experience in the entertainment industry and has been my contact since 2025, and he is excellent and very helpful. I don’t know how to send an invoice, and I’ve never written one. I don’t even know what a “company seal” is. The staff handpicks and chooses the offers, and they make sure to tell me what I need to know. I don’t have to say a word to them about contacting makeup artists and stylists. He is becoming an excellent manager. On “Ariyoshi’s Wall,” he was teased about the “de-take” and his disagreement with his partner Arino, but he says that the duo is getting along well. We are classmates, and we have been together for a long time. We are classmates and have been together for a long time. When I told them I was quitting the office, of course we talked about it. When I asked him if it was okay for me to quit the office, he said, “Oh, let’s do it, of course. But Arino asked me what form it would take, and I said seriously, “No, KinKi Kids is also doing it, though from a different agency, so it should be like that. I said seriously, “No, KinKi Kids are also doing it, but from a different agency, so it should be like that. The reason why the two Yo-i actors got their big break was “Mecha-Ike,” but did you tell the “Mecha-Ike” members that you were leaving Shochiku Enterprises? I didn’t tell them in advance, but they contacted me after the news broke. What was unexpected was that I received a line from Okamura (Takashi). He wrote, “Are you coming to Yoshimoto? I thought I had to give something back. I thought I had to respond to him, so I wrote back, “Are you sure? I replied, “I’m going to be a junior member of Ginshari. He wrote back, “I’m going to be your junior at Ginshari. I replied, “Let me think about it for a while,” and it stopped there. Also, Takeda (Shinji) was very worried about me and asked me if I wanted to go see the band perform live. He contacted me and asked if I could go see the band’s live performance. And when he actually came and saw me enjoying the event with the junior members of Shochiku, he left saying, “I feel relieved. I contacted Koji Kato-san a little later. He said, “As you probably know, I am now a freelancer, and although I feel responsible for my work, I am enjoying it. Please invite me to do another show somewhere. That’s the best. You’ve reached this age, so enjoy your work. He was very much like a “big brother” (laugh).” Even now, he feels a strong bond with the “Mecha-ike” members. Now that I am free, I have more time to spend with my family. My son is 3 years old, and he’s really cute. Now that I have a child at age 50 and am also freelance, I can decide how to allocate my work and how to spend my time. If I had been in my 20s or 30s when I was younger, I don’t think I would have had much time to spend with my children. It was not unusual for me not to be able to go home for a month at a time. But I don’t think I could have neglected such an important job just because I was spending time with my children. When I think about it, I wonder if it is a good thing that I am now 50 years old. I think it is a precious time given to me by God. But, you know, sometimes I feel like I’m in my 50s when my son is 3 years old. My son is 3 years old and in his 50s, and I feel like he is my grandchild (laughs). I feel like I am struggling and struggling to get by, but if you look at me objectively, you would think that I am enjoying my life doing all the things I like to do. But it is better to look happy than to look depressed in one’s fifties.
