Takehiko Ono, 83, and Kunio Murai, 81, appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi), which aired on January 27th. The two, who met 63 years ago at Haiyuza training school in Roppongi, Tokyo, talked about an incident that prevented them from appearing together and memories of their fellow actors.
Taking up Ono's comment that "I don't think Murai is good enough, and he doesn't think I am good enough," Murai explained the reason why they were "NG" to work together. When they were around 50 years old, there was a scene in a musical they both appeared in where they hugged, and "we both ended up facing the same direction, so we ended up kissing."
"After the kiss, we both reflexively wiped our lips (with our sleeves), which caused the audience and the band to burst into laughter. Since then, we've been banned from performing together," Ono said. He was apparently scolded by the troupe's leader, Mao Daichi. Ono said, "I'll apologize now," and Murai apologized, saying, "I'm truly sorry."
"Not only on the stage, but he is also a regular on a TV show, and I visit him (in the studio) and say 'hello,' but he just says 'welcome in,' and never looks at me. I don't look at him either," said Ono. "And that's what's strange," said Murai with a laugh, and Ono added, "It's strange just to know that he's avoiding me."
Ono and his training school classmate, Chii Takeo, often fought. He said, "I don't really know the reason. It's because we're young," revealing, "I had too much energy. I was dissatisfied with something."
There was also a fight over fellow classmate Kurihara Komaki. Apparently, Murai was dancing with Kurihara at a party or something when a man who was a big fan of Kurihara got angry. Murai replied, "I don't know. She was just dancing," and Ono replied, "It's fine. She was just dancing," but the man got angry and tried to go after Murai. Ono said, "I tried to stop them. While I was trying to stop them (the fight started)," and "It was your fault for dancing with Kurihara Komaki in the first place," to which Murai replied, "That's true, but it's a Christmas party, so you have to dance."
Murai worked part-time as a waiter at a coffee shop. "When friends came over, I would give them a little extra cake," he revealed. Ono worked part-time as a "sandwich man" with Natsuyagi Isao and Maeda Gin. Murai would meet up with Ono and the others when they finished their part-time job. Ono and the others were paid a daily wage in cash, and they would use that money to take them to nearby bars. Ono and the others would come and extort the daily wage they earned after working about five hours, Ono recalled, "This is what Murai and (actor) Takahashi Choei would come and extort."
