Downtown (ダウンタウン, Dauntaun) is a Japanese comedy duo from Amagasaki, Hyōgo consisting of Hitoshi Matsumoto and Masatoshi Hamada.

[1] They are best known for their stand-up acts, hosting numerous Japanese variety shows (such as Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!

As a result of their massive popularity and the relative domination of their employer, Yoshimoto Kogyo, the Kansai dialect (in which both performers usually speak) has come to be associated with Japanese comedy (owarai) as a whole.

[2] In 2011, teachers at the NSC comedy school reportedly noted that 70 percent of students name Matsumoto and Hamada as being among their key inspirations.

[3] Matsumoto and Hamada attended and met at Ushio Elementary School in Amagasaki, Hyōgo of the Kansai region.

At the time, Matsumoto was part of a manzai trio called "Koma Daisanshibu" with two of his classmates, Itō and Morioka.

One day, Matsumoto's manzai partner, Itō, had an argument with Hamada which escalated into a street fight.

Hamada repeated the cycle of escaping, calling Matsumoto to borrow money to buy food, and being caught again, throughout his high school years.

At the time, Matsumoto had a job offer from local publishing company, but he decided to join Hamada.

In April 1987 (four years after their debut) they began hosting a local television show called Yoji Desu Yōda ("It's Four O'Clock"),[3] which immediately raised them to idol-like popularity in the region (music singles, videos and photo books in which they posed like fashion models were released), especially among high school girls.

With Hamada telling stories about how he survived several accidents which would have put any other in the hospital and with Matsumoto addressing the audience in a very dry tone "Aho ya."

(What an idiot) The early 1980s prominently featured quick, snappy styles of manzai, but Downtown took the opposite approach, using a slow, mumbling tone which baffled older comedians.

Matsumoto made a change from being a quieter character to his current, ill-tempered style, while Hamada had to repeatedly apologize for brash comments in variety shows.

Most of its comedians speak Kansai-ben, the strong, earthy dialect that developed among the merchant classes of Osaka, as opposed to the more elegant tones of Kyoto or the standard language of the Edo (now Tokyo) aristocracy.

On their many hosted shows and interviews, the two have made the following revelations: On Music Champ, Matsumoto stated they see each other so often at work, the thought of meeting in private never crosses their mind.

[17] Tanaka of Cocorico reports seeing Matsumoto become visibly concerned whenever Hamada is sick and unable to come to work.

Matsumoto has said that if the duo ever split up, they would like to perform their manzai one last time at Namba Grand Kagetsu, Yoshimoto Kogyo's theatre in Osaka and the very stage on which Downtown launched their career.