The comedy duo "Penalty" made their first appearance on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi) on March 13th. Together with his partner Hide, Wacky spoke about his diagnosis of oropharyngeal cancer in 2020, his treatment and his return to the show.
Wacky said he couldn't believe it when the doctor told him he had cancer. Hide, who was informed of the news over the phone, said, "We rarely talk on the phone as a comedy duo. We've been together for almost 30 years, so I had a bad feeling that a call from my partner wasn't good news. I was thinking of all the bad things that could happen, like him quitting being a comedian, so cancer was completely unexpected."
The two were silent for a while on the phone. Hide recalled, "It felt like a long time. I had no words to say back." He then said, "I'll wait for you." He thought that saying "I'll wait" might be a bit of pressure, but he said, "Take some time to rest, and get better. It's like going back to being a senior and junior. It was like saying, you'll be fine."
Wakki said, "I was very happy and encouraged when he said, 'I'll be waiting for you,' and I felt a strong desire to return." Wakki was left with two aftereffects from the radiation and chemotherapy treatments. The first is that he produces only about 30% of the saliva of a normal person. The second is that he can only taste about 60% of the taste of a normal person.
Without informing Hide of his discharge from the hospital, Wacky went to see him after not seeing him for about 10 months. When he entered the room where Hide was with the staff and said, "Sorry to keep you waiting," Hide let out a wordless "Haa!" and burst into tears. Seeing this, Wacky also started crying. Hide felt that he couldn't cry in front of his juniors, so he left the room. Looking back on that time, Wacky said, "I'm still a little sorry (for almost crying)."
