The Hidden Boss Trope Used for Laughs in Japan

I came across a funny video the other day. It’s a Japanese commercial that plays into and subverts a very common Japanese trope: the “hidden identity” reveal—a seemingly low-level person who, after receiving a small kindness, turns out to be someone powerful and rewards the one who helped him. While this trope exists in the West as well—and you can find many traditional tales using it—it is far more common in Japan and across Asia in general.

I thought I’d talk about this trope a bit because it’s interesting to me. But first I want to share the video I watched that set me off on this topic:

Just to state the obvious (assuming you watched): the commercial plays it for laughs, subverting expectations at least a few times as the lowly janitor seems to be a much higher-ranking member of the company—dangling the possibility, only to pull it away. The commercial is for a board game, of all things, saying that while miracles don’t happen in real life, they do in the board game (so you should buy it)!

Since this trope is super common, subverting it for comedy is equally common. This is one of my favorite comedy skits that plays on the idea:

I’m sure you can see the hidden twist there, as the lowly-seeming clumsy man turns out to be a yakuza boss. Ken Shimura, the legendary comedian who played the old man in that skit, was a fan of using this trope, returning to it again and again throughout his long career.

Well…I’ll get more into the bones of this idea in my next post on the subject. I wrote a lot more, but in the interest of not overwhelming you, I cut the bulk of what I wrote and moved it to another post draft. So for now, just enjoy these two videos.