(69) The Mystery of the Dissolution / The Activity Record of Akireta Boys
(Synopsis up to the previous installment) In 1953, when television broadcasting began, Akireta Boys, Haruhisa Kawada, and Ta Arigiyama immediately became active. However, Akireta Boys would soon disband.
※See (1) for basic information on Akireta Boys!
【When did they disband?】
Just as the formation date is unclear, the dissolution period of Akireta Boys is also not entirely clear.
Many sources state that they disbanded in 1951 (Showa 26), but this information is likely based on statements made by Boya.
The 'Akireta Boys' formed after the war underwent a developmental dissolution in Showa 26, and I was the one who proposed it.
The reason was not a falling out or anything of the sort, but because we had reached a point where we could all stand on our own and do well, so we decided that it was time to go our own 'separate ways.' That is why it was a 'developmental dissolution.'
In fact, since then, Keaton Masuda and Kyu Sazanka have both been very active on stage and in movies.
Boya states that they disbanded after the final performance of ' Hawaii Chin-dochu' (March 1951) after returning from their tour in the United States.
However, as we have seen, even after 'Hawaii Chin-dochu,' they continued to stand on stage as 'Akireta Boys' at the Asakusa Kagetsu Theater, the Imperial Theater, Shibuya Toho, and the Nichigeki, and they also appeared in movies and on the radio as a group.
Their regular radio program named after the group, 'Akireta World Travel,' was broadcast in 1952, and there were many movies they appeared in as a group, starting with 'Hiyodori Zoshi.'
It is a situation that is hard to perceive as having 'disbanded.'
So, when should we consider them to have 'disbanded'?
【Dissolution as seen from data materials of the time】
If you look through the ' Cultural Directory' (Copyright Ledger) of the time, which contains information on each member, you can roughly grasp the movements leading up to the dissolution.
First, checking the pages for Sazanka, Boya, and Masuda in the 'Showa 28 Edition' (=1953) of the 'Cultural Directory,' all three are listed as ' (Emp) Akireta Boys.'
(Emp) stands for 'Employer or Job Title.'
It is likely the recognition that they were currently active as 'Akireta Boys.'
The contact information for all three is listed as ' Katsuhiko Haida Office.'
Looking at the next 'Showa 30 Edition' (=1955) (it seems it was not published every other year, as there is no 29 edition),
there is no change for Boya and Masuda, but only Sazanka's information has changed from '(Emp) Akireta Boys' to ' (Prev) Akireta Boys.'
(Prev) refers to 'Previous Job, Brief History,' meaning he had left Akireta Boys.
Furthermore, in the 'Showa 31 Edition' (=1956), Sazanka's contact information changed from the Katsuhiko Haida Office to ' Shingeipro.'
He had transferred to the New Art Production, which Kawada was involved in establishing.
As cited in the section on New Art Production ( note(65)), he was already exclusive to Shingeipro in 1954 (Showa 29), so there seems to be a time lag in updating the information.
And then the 'Showa 32 Edition' (=1957).
The pages for Boya and Masuda also changed from (Emp) to ' (Prev) Akireta Boys,' and 'Akireta Boys' is treated completely as a past career. (※No 'contact information' is listed)
Also, looking at Boya's profile in the March 1955 'Kinema Junpo Special Issue: Japanese Film Encyclopedia, Film Personnel Edition,' it is already explained that Akireta Boys had disbanded.
Went to the U.S. in 1950. At first, I appeared as the Akireta Boys trio, but with the reduction of live performance theaters, there were more opportunities to appear in movies, and due to script requirements, it became more common for the three of us to appear individually, so Akireta Boys naturally dissolved, leading to the present.
Synthesizing these materials, it appears that the dissolution of Akireta Boys was a process where, after 1953, Sazanka first transferred, and then it gradually dissolved naturally...
However, as mentioned earlier, the fact that Boya himself said he proposed the dissolution means there must have been a point in time when they decided to disband.
Had they already decided to disband around the time of 'Hawaii Chin-dochu'?
There is also a story that Sazanka let slip that he 'smashed his guitar' when Akireta Boys disbanded (Seiichi Yano, 'Farewell, Beloved Entertainers').
He must have already been active individually and his ability recognized, so it feels a bit surprising, but perhaps he held 'Akireta Boys' that dear.
And this is also an episode that makes one think there was some kind of turning point where they decided to 'disband.'
Regarding the post-war Akireta Boys, Masuda wrote,
I tried doing Akireta Boys again (Showa 21), but Rihei Shiba had died in the war, and the state of the world had changed completely.
For Masuda, it seems that Shiba's absence and the changes in the times were the deciding factors for the dissolution.
【The Final Stage】
To consider how long Akireta Boys were active as a group, let's look at the entertainment section of the Tokyo Shimbun of that time.
On the radio, they appeared as a group on 'Cheerful Coffee Shop' (JOAK) broadcast on May 19, 1953, which is the last confirmed appearance.
The broadcast script can be viewed at the National Diet Library, and it shows them appearing with the Akireta Boys theme song and being introduced by the announcer as 'Akireta Boys.'
For movies, it seems their last appearance as a trio was in the movie ' The Town with Lovers' released in February 1953.
In the newspaper advertisement for this movie, they are also listed as 'Akireta Boys.'
On stage, their appearance in the Nichigeki 'Spring Dance' starting March 20, 1952 (Showa 27) seems to be their last as a regular stage performance.
After this performance, what can be confirmed in the Tokyo Shimbun are only special commemorative performances such as the Fubuki Koshiji France-departure send-off show and the Sayonara Turkey performance, and it seems they only gathered specifically for such occasions.
The final stage as Akireta Boys was also a special performance, the memorial performance for Kenzaburo Ito.
Ito was the manager for Akireta Boys and Katsuhiko Haida, and was said to be a legendary figure in the entertainment world nicknamed 'Lion,' but he died suddenly in a car accident in February 1953.
'Lion Dies' Kenzaburo Ito (misspelled as Kenichiro), who was the manager for Katsuhiko Haida and Akireta Boys, was a famous man in the entertainment world nicknamed 'Lion,' but that Lion, while heading to Kyoto by taxi after seeing off Haida who was departing for Shikoku in Osaka, collided with a truck in Hirakata and died. Upon hearing the sudden news, Haida sent a message from Shikoku, saying, 'A tiger dies and leaves its skin, but what did the Lion leave behind when he died...'
The memorial performance for manager Kenzaburo Ito, titled "Lion Show", was held at the Asakusa Kokusai Gekijo for two days on August 31 and September 1. In addition to the Haida brothers, Katsuhiko and Haruhiko, and the Akireta Boys, performers such as Shizuko Kasagi, Roppa Furukawa, Dick Mine, and Haruhisa Kawada and the Dyna Brothers also appeared.
I checked the Tokyo Shimbun for the following six months, but could not confirm any stage activities for the Akireta Boys.
While I would like to investigate further into the future and in regions outside of Tokyo, as far as I can tell at this moment, this memorial performance can be considered their "final group activity."
And I believe the sudden death of their manager, Mr. Ito, was one of the triggers for the dissolution of the Akireta Boys.
Based on the above materials, it is thought that the Akireta Boys dissolved in 1953, and their final activity was on September 1.
In other words, their activity period in the postwar era was longer than in the prewar era.
It feels somewhat symbolic that the Akireta Boys, who were born in 1937 (Showa 12) at the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, dissolved in 1953 (Showa 28), the year the occupation ended and television broadcasting began.
As if their role of encouraging and healing people with laughter and music through the turbulence of wartime and the occupation had come to an end...
From here on, new comedians like the Dassen Trio and Kiyoshi Atsumi would emerge from strip theaters, and Hana Hajime and the Crazy Cats, who were a jazz band touring occupation force camps, would gain popularity on television and take the world by storm.
[Bibliography]
"This is a Serious Comedy" Saburo Boya / Hakubikan Shuppan / 1990
"Keaton's Backstage Stories of Life" Kitton Masuda / Hokkaido Shimbun Press / 1990
"Farewell, Beloved Entertainers" Seiichi Yano / Bungeishunju / 1985
"Kinema Junpo Special Issue: Japanese Film Encyclopedia, Film Personalities Edition" March 1955 / Kinema Junpo-sha
"Directory of Cultural Figures" "1953 Edition," "1955 Edition," "1956 Edition," "1957 Edition" / Japan Copyright Council / 1953-57
"Cheerful Coffee Shop: Flea Market 212" / Tokuro Oshima / NHK / Broadcast May 19, 1953
Tokyo Shimbun / Tokyo Shimbun Co., Ltd.
(Next time 6/2) Epilogue 1: What Happened to Kawada