Tsuyoshi Kusanagi - Started an image shiritori (#105)

(#104) Open one's heart → 'Ku' → Tsuyoshi Kusanagi

I thought I'd try doing Otomatsu-kun for the first time in 30 years, so I put on makeup, but
my memory is hazy, and I'm in a state of 'who on earth am I supposed to be?'

"Otomatsu-kun" was a segment within the variety show "Yume ga MORI MORI", which aired on the Fuji TV network for three years from 1992 to 1995.

It was a skit that parodied the anime "Osomatsu-kun," with the members of SMAP playing six brothers.

The settings for the skit, from the left, are—

• Midomatsu (Shingo Katori)... Loves nature and is always holding a bonsai tree. His catchphrase is "Ecology."

• Kiimatsu (Tsuyoshi Kusanagi)... Loves curry, and his sentences often end with "...de Indou" (a play on 'India').

• Akamatsu (Takuya Kimura)... Cool yet passionate. He holds a bright red rose.

• Shiromatsu (Katsuyuki Mori)... An honor student with white-rimmed glasses whose motto is "Pure and Righteous."

• Aomatsu (Masahiro Nakai)... An annoying guy who is a hot-blooded, single-celled, athletic youth who loves the blue sky and sea.

• Momomatsu (Goro Inagaki)... A precocious boy who loves erotic things and is full of delusions.

Hmm~♪ Looking at this, it's obvious, but everyone is so young! ...I mean, Katsuyuki Mori is still here in the first place (*1) (￣∀￣)♪

I feel that the experience of doing such serious skits, which was quite novel for idols at the time, became a major turning point for SMAP later on.

In particular, the character settings in Otomatsu-kun reflected the personalities of the members playing them quite well, which is why the skits that unfolded were realistic and funny.

Although it aired in the late-night slot in the 23:00 hour, their recognition among the general public gradually increased as idols capable of a variety of performances, not just singing, but also skits, comedy, and sports.

SMAP's terrestrial television activities culminated in the monster variety show "SMAP×SMAP," which spanned over 20 years, but the three years of the 30-minute Saturday late-night variety show "Yume ga MORI MORI" could be said to be its foundation or origin.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Another pillar of "Yume ga MORI MORI" besides the skits was
Super Kickbase.

To put it simply, kickbase is like baseball played with a dodgeball. ← That's a bit too simple (^^ゞ

Kickbase itself is a sport devised in America around 1917 to teach the basics of baseballbaseball, and it is said that in Japan, it spread through children's association activities in Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture, though honestly, I'm not sure to what extent it actually spread.

However, it is certain that when it was featured as the "Super Kickbase" segment on the show "Yume ga MORI MORI" and became a popular project, there was a brief kickbase boom throughout Japan.

In my area, it was even included as an event in junior high and high school sports festivals.

By the way, although it's not from "Yume ga MORI MORI," I found a video of an actual kickbase game, so I'm including it for reference.

Furthermore, the reason SMAP engaged in such a wide variety of activities, from singing and skits to sports, is because their group name

Sports
Music
Assemble
People

embodies Johnny Kitagawa's wish to "gather people to do sports and music" (*2) by taking the initials of those words.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Well, without any real punchline (lol), here is today's song.

Today, I want to thoroughly reminisce about "Yume ga MORI MORI."
The fourth song of the week, Hiroko Moriguchi with "The Time I Spent With You"

The final theme song for "Yume ga MORI MORI."
Because her image as a variety idol is so strong, it's easy to overlook, but you can somehow tell that Hiroko Moriguchi is actually a good singer.

Well, it wasn't an era where you could survive just by being a good singer, so shifting to variety was generally the right move, but I still have mixed feelings about it ^m^

Oops, it's already this late tonight.
I don't have any recordings of "Yume ga MORI MORI" left, so I guess I'll just listen to a Hiroko Moriguchi best-of album (￣∀￣) ← "I guess I'll just" is unnecessary

With that said,
I hope that tomorrow, for as many people as possible,
will be a day where they can occasionally reminisce about something good from the past.

■ Bonus

　This is the car before the current one in the image shiritori train (105th car). If you were curious about the title "Open Your Heart" and the joke image in the bottom right, please take a look when you have some time.