Here’s Why the Lovable Goofball Tokui Is Missing From the 'Terrace House' Panel

Now that new episodes of Terrace House: Tokyo 2019–2020 have finally arrived on Netflix, fans of the unscripted reality show can breathe a small sigh of relief. At least, they could until they actually started watching the show and noticed something very startling indeed: Tokui Yoshimi was nowhere to be found! Where is Tokui from Terrace House? Here’s what we know.

There are a lot of things that set Terrace House apart from other unscripted reality shows. One is the fact that while members are staying at the house, they are still expected to work at their day jobs. In fact, finding job satisfaction (or just finding a job in general) is often a big goal for each house member. 

Goals are another thing that sets Terrace House apart — each member typically comes into the house with a specific life goal in mind. Once they reach that goal (or make progress on it, anyway), they usually leave the house to make room for a new member.

But the thing that makes Terrace House truly unique, and which adds a whole new level of enjoyment, is the panel of commentators. The show splices in reactions from the panel throughout each episode of the show. The panel provides relief from super awkward moments, insights on what each member might be thinking, and — best of all — dramatic reenactments of particularly juicy moments.

Throughout Terrace House’s run, Tokui has been key in so many of those dramatic reenactments. It’s not uncommon to see him and fellow commentator You collapse into a pile of laughter after completing a hilarious scene together. Unfortunately, You’s scene partner is missing from Part 3 of Terrace House: Tokyo 2019–2020.

In October of 2019, Tokui publicly apologized for not reporting the equivalent of approximately $1 million on his tax returns between the years of 2016 and 2018. "I sincerely apologize for not being able to pay the appropriate tax due to my sloppiness and neglectfulness, causing great inconvenience to citizens who are properly paying tax. I'm truly sorry," he said in his apology.

He went on to say that his accountant had told him he needed to report that income, and he simply put it off until it was too late. “I said I would do it,” he said, “but I kept on putting it off, though I had the intention to pay the tax. Due to my unimaginable sloppiness, a day passed and then a week, then a month and now three years."

As a result of the scandal, Tokui was fired from appearing on the Part 3 episodes of Terrace House: Tokyo 2019–2020. In addition to his role as a commentator on the show, Tokui is also a professional comedian. He’s one half of the Japanese comedy act known as Tutorial. Although he has been (understandably) keeping a low profile since the tax scandal, his agency has reportedly approved him to go back to work as of February 24, 2020.

It remains to be seen whether that means he’ll be back on Terrace House (that decision is left to the showrunners). While we wait to see what happens with Tokui, we sure will miss him and his antics!