sentences:  He presented three successful variety programmes in the 1970s and 1980s, and by the mid-1980s was one of the most popular comedians on Japanese television.Hagimoto aspired for a career as an entertainer as far back as junior high school times, when after graduation he approached the local Asakusa comedic legend Toshimitsu Ōmiya to ask for an apprenticeship, but was told to at least finish high school first.After high school he was at last slated to enter Ōmiya's Asakusa Shochiku Engeijō comedic troupe through an introduction by the Tōyō Gekijō (Tōyō Kōgyō Keiei) troupe of the Asakusa Kōen Rokku red-light entertainment district.