Howdy, Chris here.

Last weekend we had a famous Japanese entertainer stop by the Numazu Fishmarket Taproom — Tamori. Most people living outside Japan have probably never heard of him, but to put it in American terms, he’s like Johnny Carson, the late-night TV talk show host. Except that Tamori works his ass off six days a week on several daily shows and never takes a vacation. His most famous show is Waratte Iitomo (“It’s OK to laugh!”) which has been running live every weekday at noon (with a weekly “best off” compilation on the weekends) since October 1982 — the only time Tamori missed the program since it started was when he was in the hospital after getting hit by a golf ball or some such silliness. In 2002, he set a Guinness world record when he hosted his 5000th show in a row. He also hosts a late-night program called Tamori Club and regularly hosts or appears on other programs throughout the year — a regular workaholic.

Anyway, Tamori loves beer, and makes regular appearances at the Nakameguro Taproom. In addition, he keeps a yacht in Numazu, so whenever he comes down to take his boat out, he stops by the Fishmarket Taproom with some friends and tries the seasonals and his favorites. Hopefully next time he comes down, I’ll actually be able to see him instead of just hearing about it. But, until that happens, I’ll have to make do with this picture, passed along by Lauren. That’s Tamori in the sunglasses, his famous trademark look.

Tamori with Taproom Friends

Cheers, everyone.

Chris