“One Point English” with Makiko Shinohara POPULAR 

Come on, Toshi!

The above entitled “One Point English” segment from the 2000 late-night Japanese comedy show, Vermilion Pleasure Night, has been floating the Internet for quite a few years now, along with a couple of the other One Point “lessons,” but with little, if any, backstory included from the uploaders. So, here we have some details to provide you with that should answer some of the burning questions you’ve had about these videos all these years.

Vermilion Pleasure Night ran for only 25 episodes (from July to December of 2000) on TV Tokyo, but since its US DVD releases in 2006, followed by a complete collection in 2009 (all available at Amazon), the show has picked up a sort of cult fan base in the United States. The best way yours truly would describe Vermilion Pleasure Night would be as a Japanese version of a combination of the US’ Saturday Night Live and Britain’s Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Another good description offered up by Todd Douglass at DVDTalk.com was; “a Japanese Mad TV with a touch of naughty.”

Come on Toshi
Miss Shinohara’s look and fairly good English pronunciation suggested she may have been of mixed ethnicity.

Touching on naughty was “One Point English,” one of the show’s recurring skits, which was a satire of English-learning TV shows that were increasing in popularity in northeast Asian countries during the late-90s to early-2000s, a fact yours truly can definitely attest to. VPN’s “One Point English” segments featured regular cast member Makiko Shinohara as an oiran (NOT to be confused with a geisha) teaching risqué phrases to Japanese ladies in the “hospitality” industry, who apparently catered mainly to Western men. Phrases taught included, “you’re so good,” “I give good head,” “first rate cunt-lapping,” “you make me wet,” and “I’m feeling hornier than a bitch on heat” (yes, it should be “in heat,” but the finer points of English grammar weren’t critical here). The identity of this “Toshi” (a common given name in Japan, written as “とし” or “トシ” in Japanese) the cute courtesan speaks to is unknown, but he’s definitely one to be envied. It also makes one wonder why she would be addressing a Japanese man, since these phrases are in English, therefore obviously intended for Western men. One theory that has been thrown out is that it’s actually Miss Shinohara’s mispronunciation of “c’mon, touch me!” or “c’mon, touch it!” (the latter being the show’s tagline). However, all the subtitles read “Toshi” and “Toshi” is sure what it sounds like she’s saying. Surprisingly, the show’s original website, or what’s left of it, is still up. Miss Shinohara, I’m afraid, currently resides in the “Whatever Happened to..?” file.

Lesson 3: “First rate cunt-lapping.”

Audio of “I’m feeling hornier than a bitch on [sic] heat,” taken from the 2001 released official soundtrack CD, RISE – Vermilion Pleasure Night, which contained full versions of the
show’s theme songs as well as audio versions of some of the recurring skits. The
limited edition first pressing CD came with a photo book.

One of the other recurring skits Miss Shinohara appeared in on the show was “Cathy’s House,” in which she played “Eliza,” who was one of four dolls that belonged to the sister of a little boy
playing with them. Watch this video and you’ll understand. Also, kudos to all four ladies for
remaining very doll-like throughout the entire sketch. This is from the very first episode.

Makiko Shinohara
Illustration of Makiko by an uncredited artist from the website MyInstantants.com, where you
can download the “Oooh, yes! You’re so good! Come on, Toshi ….” soundbite ……..or embed it ….


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2 Comments

  1. I have seen these videos from time to time for over a decade now. Finally I have the backstory! It’s been over 20 years, but I would love to see what Makiko is doing these days and how she looks now. Do any of the staff at this site have connections in Japan to try to locate her for an interview?

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