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JP version License (ダウンタウン) is a Japanese comedy duo consisting of Kazuhiro Fujiwara and Takafumi Inomoto, formed in 1996. They are signed under Yoshimoto Kogyo.

Members

 * Kazuhiro Fujiwara
 * Born September 20, 1977 in Ikoma, Nara.
 * Played the tsukkomi part in their Osaka years, now plays the boke.
 * Married, has two dogs named Jovi and Rin.
 * His hobbies include karate, training and fortune telling.


 * Takafumi Inomoto
 * Born January 27, 1978 in Oji, Kitakatsuragi District, Nara.
 * Played the boke part in their Osaka years, now plays the tsukkomi.
 * Known for a short temper.
 * Married, has two dogs Hijiki and Azuki.
 * Plays soccer.

History
Fujiwara and Inomoto met at the second year of high school, and formed the group in April 1996 after graduating. They were initially joined by their friend Harada, who later left the group. They applied and were accepted to the Yoshimoto's NSC academy, however decided not to enter, as they did not like joining in the middle of a season. Instead, they joined Yoshimoto Kogyo through an audition. When selecting a name for the duo, they opened a random page of an English-Japanese dictionary, and selected a word which they thought was most suited for a combi name. Another version for the origin of the name states that at the time Inomoto was getting a lot of qualifications, however he stated on Yoshimoto Gendai that he has never passed any qualification exams except for his driving license. They also passed the audition to another talent agency, Asai Kikaku, but declined since they did not want to live in Tokyo. Unlike now, roles in the duo were reversed, with Fujiwara playing the tsukkomi and Inomoto playing the boke. They first performed in March 1997.

In March 1999, they received an award at the 29th NHK Kamigata Manzai contest. Later in April, License replaced another duo Nakayoshi in Yoshimoto's four-group comedy unit news, which also included the groups Garage Sale (ガレッジセール), Shampoo Hat (シャンプーハット), and up down (アップダウン). In 2000, alongside Landys (ランディーズ) and Rozan (ロザン), they were chosen to be members of a new dance group West Side, consisting of young handsome comics from the Kansai region. They declined, as it would require them to move to Tokyo, and were replaced by the duo King Kong (キングコング).

In February 2001 they graduated base Yoshimoto and moved to Tokyo. They also swapped their roles in the combi, after being convinced by other Yoshimoto employees. A documentary about their move to Tokyo was broadcasted on a late-night Kansai program, showing their struggles: the duo was almost completely unknown, and they were still adjusting to their new roles. But around that time they won on the Yoshimoto Bakana show, and became the openers on Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!!.

In December 2006 after winning in the losers finals of the M-1 Grand Prix License has made it to the final. This was the last year when they could participate in the show, as it was their tenth year as a combi. At the time, the winner of the loser's final had to immediately get to another studio, where the grand final was held. There was a big traffic jam, as the show was held on the Christmas Eve, and the duo had to take the subway and then cycle to the studio. In the finals, they performed parodies on various Doraemon characters, and got the 6th place.

In February 2007, as their punishment game on Baribari Value, they had to change their name to The Charanporan (ザ・ちゃらんぽらん). There was already a veteran combi Charanporan under Yoshimoto, so they added the definitive article to avoid confusion. However, as it turned out, the veteran combi also originally had a name with the definitive article. When asked about it on Baribari Value, the original Charanporan said that they don't mind.

Their last, for the time being, appearance as License was on the 17th of February on their solo event LICENSE vol.ENJOY, and already on the next day on the Akko ni Omakase! programme they were preforming under the new alias. After a little more than 6 months, on the 27th September 2007 the duo changed their name back to License.