Tradition abounds in Japan and television is no different. The TV show Shinkonsan featuring newly married couples is now in its 45th year with the same compere Katsura Sanshi. Japanese comedy also has a long history full of bizarre comedy acts such Beat Takeshi, Tunnels and Downtown. Manzai Combi duo Ten Dollar are an act that have been around for twenty years and have recently enjoyed some success in the United States where they performed in a show in English in Los Angeles to celebrate their twentieth anniversary. On Japanese television to start the New Year in 2015, they enacted a skit which focussed on the handing over of the sash between runners in the annual ekiden marathon. Unusually for manzai there was more focus on physical comedy rather than spoken word. The runner alternately put the sash over both runners, took too many drinks and got drunk, went to the toilet and used the sash to wipe his bum etc... Both Hamamoto Hiroaki and Shirokawa Hitomi are from Osaka and the combi is part of the Yoshimoto Kogyo company.
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