I haven’t updated my blog in a while, but I’ve been posting articles on Newgrounds from time to time where I introduce and translate YouTube videos—making use of the fact that I’m a native Japanese speaker.

This time, I’d like to share a selection of under-60-second short comedy sketches from one of my favorite channels, "Tenten Hanten."

This channel features two performers acting out short skits that resemble classic joke-style comedy. They're light, funny, and occasionally even a little thought-provoking.

The topics they tackle often reflect aspects of Japanese society, and many of the sketches are likely to make sense only to Japanese viewers.

However, among them, I’ve picked out a few that I believe either convey a universal sense of humor or are rooted in cultural elements that Americans might also find familiar. I’ve translated these into English and would like to introduce them here.

As always, while I’m fully capable of handling the Japanese listening and comprehension myself, I rely heavily on the help of ChatGPT for the English translation.

That said, if any part of the logic feels off or something doesn’t quite connect, it might be due to how I phrased my instructions—so please don’t hesitate to point it out in the comments!

Professor Snape, an expert in all kinds of defensive arts

"In my class, there's no need to wave your wands around or chant foolish spells. …Now then, let us begin with an explanation of taxes."

"Thank goodness!"

"First, we’ll start with filing your income tax return."

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Harry Potter is popular in Japan too, and especially Professor Snape is one of the most beloved characters after the main protagonists. There’s a topic that’s often discussed in Japan: “Why don’t Japanese schools teach about money and economics?” In that sense, this comedy sketch was born out of that kind of social background.

By the way, did you have a teacher at your school who had a terrible personality but still taught you valuable things? In my case, it was my English teacher. Eventually, I chose to stop taking that teacher’s class at a certain point, but the English knowledge I gained through those stressful lessons still comes in handy to this day.

Everyone’s Halloween

"Trick or treat!"

"Yeah."

"Thanks. How are the Tigers doing today?"

"Losing 4-0."

"Is it Ōyama’s fault again? LOL"

"LOL."

"Halloween’s fun, huh."

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They’re probably watching a baseball game at the stadium.

It’s still a long way from Halloween season, but for me personally, thanks to director Tim Burton and maestro Danny Elfman, it’s one of the events I look forward to most each year.

That said, in Japan, unlike in America, we don’t have a tradition of kids dressing up in flashy costumes and going around collecting candy. So how people enjoy the season really depends on the individual. As for me, I try to make the most of Halloween by creating fan art for it.

The unnamed emotion from Inside Out

"I'm Joy! And you are?"

"Ah, well… I’m that feeling you get when there’s a classmate with the same birthday as you, and when you go to school that day, everyone’s celebrating them and you’re like, ‘Ah…’ but then also feel kind of relieved like, ‘Oh good, I didn’t have to be the center of attention,’ and then at the same time, you start worrying like, ‘Wait, what if someone finds out and the whole class feels awkward like they have to celebrate me too, and it totally ruins the mood of celebrating that other kid…’ Yeah… that feeling."

"I think he’s… Complicated!"

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Inside Out is actually one of the very few movies I’ve seen in a theater. Or rather, I only really feel like going to the theater for Disney movies. I really love that film — I think it does a great job of capturing the psychological model proposed by a certain psychologist: “People are driven by various emotions unconsciously.”

If I remember right, even in that model, human emotions were simplified a lot. But honestly, I feel like there are so many emotions in this world that don’t neatly fit into categories like joy, anger, sadness, or fear — emotions just like the one that character described. And maybe that’s precisely why literature exists in the first place.

Not Sure What Level of Hacker I Need to Hire

"Wake up, Johnny."

"Detective…?"

"You’ve been assigned to this case."

"Why would you choose a criminal like me?"

"Because… you’re the only one in this department who knows how to use a word processor!"

"That thing’s just a toy…"

"How dependable!"

"…Uh, do you know what a QWERTY layout is?"

"Never heard of it."

"Seriously?"

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He’s probably a hacker who illegally accessed a national system or something like that.

The trope of a genius hacker getting arrested and then recruited by the police to help with an investigation is something you see in dramas from time to time, and this sketch plays off of that trend.

Well, I sometimes think that for a truly genius hacker, explaining what a QWERTY layout is to a complete tech-illiterate might feel just as tricky as breaking into some top-level system.

A School Trip With Limited Options

"Did you hear where our school trip’s gonna be?"

"No, not yet."

"Ugh, I totally forgot the name. You know — the place with Tokyo Skytree and stuff."

"Oh, seriously? That’s the worst."

"And it’s got pyramids too."

"That’s Earth, isn’t it?"

"Yeah, that’s the one!"

"We went there for our last school trip too!"

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LOL — I love this one, it’s got a nice sci-fi vibe to it.

By the way, in Japan we have this tradition called a school trip, and for someone socially awkward like me, it was this absolutely dreadful event where you had to stay overnight with your classmates somewhere.

I’ve always wondered — do other countries like the US or elsewhere have school trips too? Or maybe the word "school trip" exists, but it’s not such a common or significant event like it is in Japan?

Communication With the Outside World

"E.T., we’ll be friends forever!"

"Friend…"

"Friend… huh? Wait, what? Oh — you’re doing like a rapper-style greeting!"

"See ya."

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E.T. is one of my all-time favorite movies, and it used to be my favorite ride at Universal Studios Japan. Sadly, when I visited recently, it was already gone… such a shame.

Anyway — this is one of those skits where the performers’ movements really make it fun. Sure, E.T. is an American film, but if those characters suddenly started greeting each other like American rappers, it would probably surprise a lot of Japanese people!

Delivery Trouble in the Future

"Oh, it's already here!"

"Even for an android, unattended delivery is tough~"

"Clean my room for me."

"Coming in~!"

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This is a sketch that’s a bit tricky to interpret.

From the title, the audience is initially led to believe that “he” is a delivery person waiting in the cold for the homeowner to return. But as the sketch unfolds, it turns out that he himself is actually the delivery item.

I'm not too familiar with how deliveries work in the U.S., but in Japan we have Amazon, and this sketch seems to be referencing Amazon’s “unattended delivery” system. Still, it might be a hard-to-read kind of comedy for some. That said, I personally like this one too—there’s a nice sci-fi feel to it.

I Want to Surrender, But…

"NYPD! Freeze!"

"Damn it! That guy sold us out!"

"Turn to face the wall!"

"…"

"Now lace your hands behind your head in a mandala knot!"

"A what? Mandala knot?"

"I said mandala knot, now!"

"What the hell is a mandala knot?"

"Do it or I’ll shoot!"

"What's a mandala knot?!"

"Just do it!"

"At least tell me how! How do you do a mandala knot?!"

"I’m telling you one last time—lace your hands in a mandala knot!"

"I want to do a mandala knot too!"

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LOL. Honestly, this is probably my number one real-life fear if I ever travel to the U.S.

A situation where I genuinely want to follow a police officer’s instructions—but I have no idea what they’re saying. Just imagining it is terrifying.

Before I go on a trip to America, I seriously want to study some “survival English” that could save my life in these kinds of situations and make sure I can understand it instantly.

An Incident in the Demon Realm, 2020

"Take this! For my father!"

"…"

"A hologram?! …Where are you?! Say something!"

"Oops, I was on mute."

"Ugh…"

"Sorry, sorry!"

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Do monsters in the demon realm catch illnesses too????

Back then, the whole “telework” culture—working from home instead of going to the office—really took off!

Since then, I think some companies have gone back to the office, while others have kept teleworking.

Apparently, situations like this—where someone’s talking in an online meeting but no one can hear them—became super common.

A Person Who Jumps to Conclusions

"Oh, young man, may I trouble you for a moment?"

"What's the matter, ma’am?"

"I can’t figure out how to use this smartphone."

"What are you trying to do?"

"I want to SSH into my NAS at home and manage it remotely."

"…NAS?"

"It’s not like the port’s blocked, but port forwarding just isn’t going through."

"Maybe… try rebooting it?"

"Reboot? …Ah! It worked! Young people really are amazing."

"Y-yeah…"

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It’s a tech-savvy grandma!

You know, there’s this common image of older people struggling with smartphones. I wonder if that stereotype is universal across countries?

The other day, I borrowed my mom’s iPad, and she told me, “This iPad can view websites, but it can’t send anything, so I don’t think you can register an account with it.”

I had to reply, “It’s not a U.S. Navy submarine—if it can view websites, it already has two-way communication.”

To this day, I still wonder what exactly the iPad rep told her… and how she interpreted it.

That’s it for this article—thank you so much for reading all the way to the end.

For someone like me, who goes through pretty uneventful days, channels that post even short comedy sketches just a few dozen seconds long every day feel like a real blessing!

I really think these kinds of channels are perfectly tailored to the needs of people today.

In Japan, there are a number of comedy groups who make great use of YouTube Shorts to post quick, funny scenarios like these.

It makes me wonder—are there similar sketch comedy groups in the U.S. as well?

If you know of any channels you’d recommend, I’d love to hear about them!

Next time, I’d like to translate some of their work into Japanese and share it on Japanese platforms!