Episode 172: 'The Naked Swan Exhibition' Daily Guest 12 - A Great Story from Seiji Chihara

On May 10, 2025, at 3:00 PM, the embodiment of entertainment, comedian Seiji Chihara, came as a guest. (Titles omitted hereafter)

Seiji Chihara reads 'The Naked Swan'

Chihara: Everyone, have you read the book (The Naked Swan)? I read it too, and as a way of life for one woman, I think there are parts that even men can be influenced by or impressed by. Also, there are women in the audience, and I think women should read it too. In my opinion, actresses have a bigger 'old man' part than a 'woman' part. The part about not depending on others is very strong. So, I think people who have a lot of the 'woman' part might find it hard to understand. But well, I'd like to hear what women think after reading it. The footprints of choosing one's own path are written in this book.
Fuji: The theme of this exhibition is 'Turning life's drama into entertainment.' Seiji-san, you are a comedian, and I believe you are someone who has truly created a lot of entertainment. I think you are a truly fitting guest for this place.
Chihara: Rather than entertainment, I'm just living as I please. I have almost no service spirit to try and entertain people. It's more like, 'Just watch me if you want.'
Fuji: I think there are many episodes where Seiji-san hits the essence of things. For example, a baby was crying on an airplane, and another passenger, an old guy, got angry and said, 'Shut that baby up!' Seiji-san, you retorted, 'You were a baby once too!'
Chihara: That was because I felt sorry for the mother. She was young, petite, and looked apologetic. If it had been an impudent, nasty middle-aged woman, I don't think I would have helped like that. Besides, the old guy who got angry was also behaving badly.
Seriously! There are so many nasty old guys these days. Let's all try to be well-behaved, clean old guys! There is nothing uglier than an ill-mannered old guy. Even though I'm saying this while crossing my legs (laughs).
(Audience laughs)

Chihara: I don't want to help people or anything like that; I just want to feel refreshed myself. Before I go to sleep, or ultimately before I die, I don't want to think, 'I wish I had said that back then.' So, I do whatever I want to do, and I make sure to say whatever I want to say.

The story of Chihara Junior's traffic accident

Fuji: I want to hear the story about when Chihara Junior-san had a traffic accident.
Chihara: That was about 30 years ago. Junior-kun had an accident on his motorcycle and was taken by ambulance. At that time, I was drinking with a girl from a hostess club. It was near here (The Naked Swan Exhibition), around Matsumizaka. Around 1:00 AM, I got tons of calls from both the manager and my mom. They said Junior had a traffic accident. The manager said, 'Come to the hospital,' and my mom said, 'Go to the hospital.'
But I can't do anything even if I go. I'm not a doctor. I retorted, 'What am I supposed to do if I go!' but the manager said, 'Just come.' No, the only thing I can do right now is hit on the hostess. I was just one step away. I had the hostess and was getting closer to my house little by little. My apartment was just across the street. At a time like that, if I go to the hospital when I can't do anything, it's a huge loss for me!
And well, the fact that they were calling meant Junior was still alive. If he were dead, it wouldn't be the time to be making phone calls. But they kept calling until past 4:00 AM. With that many calls, things weren't going to work out with the hostess. I thought, 'It can't be helped,' and went to the hospital. I was wasted. Because I was annoyed, I wanted to show off to the manager, so I even brought the hostess along.
Then, at the hospital, they said, 'We can only talk about your brother's condition to family members.' Doctors always say that immediately. That happened all the time since I was a kid. So I was taken to a room by the doctor and explained Junior's condition. But since I was wasted, the doctor asked, 'First of all, are you okay, brother?' but there's no way I was okay! I was almost there with the girl, and I was annoyed because I kept getting called in the middle of the night.
Then, they showed me the X-ray of his skull. And it was split perfectly. Right down the middle. *Snap*. But that's why humans survive, apparently.
Fuji: What do you mean?
Chihara: Since the human skull is made of several pieces combined, if the seams just split open, they actually heal quickly. I was saying, 'The human body is amazing!' with genuine excitement.
Then, I was put into the intensive care unit. The room was near the front, close to surgery. They say people with short lives are in the rooms near the front. When I went in and saw Junior's face, it was swollen. It was swollen like a basketball. The moment I saw that, I said, 'You're really swollen!' He said something too, but he couldn't speak, and I didn't know what he was saying. When I asked him about it later, he said, 'I don't remember.' After that, he was helped by many people and got better.
What I learned at that time was that since his life was saved, it meant we were definitely going to be successful. I told that to the manager, and when I tried to leave with the hostess, the manager said to my back, 'You're the only one who should die!'
Fuji: After that, did things go well with the hostess?
Chihara: Like that would happen!
(Audience laughs)

I want to be an old man who updates himself

Chihara: I am a fatalist. I'm sure when you all look back on your own lives, you have moments where you think, 'That guy is the key to my life.' What I want to say is that everyone thinks too much about how they have to get along with everyone or how they have to spend time smoothly with everyone. It's no use thinking too much.
I often get into fights too. People often say I get along with everyone, but I don't get along with anyone at all. Especially with old men and old women, I'm always fighting. However, I don't really get into fights with young people. Nowadays, young people have more information and can see the whole picture, so they can handle things well. But old men and women really don't update themselves, so we clash.
Fuji: When I asked Seiji-san, 'What do you hate?' sometime, you said, 'I hate old men!' didn't you?
Chihara: I hate old men. Old men just act arrogant because they've been old for a long time. Everyone becomes an old man eventually. But there are good old men and bad old men. Recently, there are too many bad old men.
Fuji: Seiji-san, you said, 'That's why I keep updating myself.' Regarding that, what I thought was 'I see' was the '4/8woman Photo Exhibition' we held in Ebisu last year. Seiji-san came to the venue. When I asked, 'Why did you come?' you said, 'I've never been to an actress's exhibition, so I tried coming.' I'm sure you didn't even know me at that time.
Chihara: I didn't know you at all.
Fuji: It wasn't because you liked a certain actress, but I thought you just came to experience something new. I thought that was Seiji-san's way of updating.
Chihara: I'm just a dabbler. I want to try everything once, touch everything, or smell everything.

Fuji: Is there anything new you've done recently?
Chihara: Recently, yes. I'm trying to eat course meals. I love motorcycles, and during Golden Week the other day, I went to Hokkaido on my bike. When I was in Hakodate, my friends and I said, 'Shall we go eat?' and we tried to go to a famous Western-style restaurant in Hakodate called 'Gotoken.' When I called, they said, 'Customers without a reservation can only have the course meal.' I was like, 'What!?' I want to eat what I want to eat. In a course meal, things you don't want to eat come out too. Why do I have to pay a high price and eat things I don't want to eat? So I quit.
But I was still curious about 'Gotoken,' so the next day at lunch, I went to eat their lunch. When I ate the stew for lunch, it was sooooo delicious, and I wanted to eat a lot of other dishes, so I regretted so much why I didn't eat the course meal from the beginning. So I've decided that from now on, I'll only eat course meals!

Being able to wait 20 years to be successful is a talent

Chihara: But, everything should be in moderation. Some people decide that they have to do this, or that they should be like that, but you're better off stopping that. It's a hassle. There are times when you want to eat with chopsticks, and times when you want to grab it with your hands. There are times you want to take a bath, and times you don't. It's better to live freely.
Fuji: Is that why you started thinking that way, because you became a monk, Seiji-san?
Chihara: No, no. Even before that. It hasn't really changed since I became a monk, but my image of monks has become really bad.
(Audience laughter)
Chihara: Seriously. I thought all monks were good people, but there are actually a lot of ill-mannered monks. This past month, I've been fighting with monks constantly.
Fuji: Why do you fight with them?
Chihara: Well, the high-ranking ones are proper, or rather, they feel very respectable, but the mediocre monks have bad manners.
Fuji: What kind of bad manners?
Chihara: They tend to be jealous of people above them, or if someone younger than them gets promoted quickly, they get jealous of that too. There's a lot of that. I wonder if it's the same for regular company employees in society. Speaking of which, a comedian said something interesting the other day. He does gags and stand-up comedy as a wandering performer. At a bar, he went to perform for a group of eight people from the same company. Those eight were drinking at two different tables, four at each. Apparently, one group of four was just bad-mouthing their company. The other four were talking about their work instead of bad-mouthing. The ones who were just bad-mouthing would do something lame and cold like 'I'm going to the bathroom' right before the comedian delivered the punchline. But the ones talking about work listened properly and even gave him a tip. People who are positive, people who live positively, are able to be kind to those around them, after all. Also, when that wandering comedian was performing for someone, he somehow got wrapped up in that person's vibe and ended up drinking with them. It was an older guy he was meeting for the first time, but as they drank together, the comedian let his guard down and said something weak like, 'I've been a comedian for 20 years, but things aren't going well. I don't have any talent.' Then the guy said, 'What are you saying? Being able to wait 20 years to make it big means you have plenty of talent. People without talent can't wait 20 years to make it big. You haven't realized that, have you?' I thought, what a great guy, and it turned out he was the president of a decent-sized company. It makes you realize that such people really see the big picture. I want to grow old like that. As I said before, you have to keep updating yourself. To do that, you need to look at various information, and I think a life where you absorb various things is a good one.

Fuji: Seiji-san, could you give us a summary at the end?
Chihara: For those who haven't read this book, especially women, I would like you to read it. Rather than putting yourself in their shoes, I want you to read it from the writer's perspective. I want you to know that there are women who have chosen a life where they pick their own way of living like this. People tend to dismiss AV, but if you try accepting it once, your perspective might broaden a little. You won't lose anything by reading it, so please, by all means, give it a read.