Yoshimoto (profile) comedienne Minowa Haruka (29, photo right) is getting back to work this weekend after her recent medical scare. One half of the manzai duo Harisenbon, she is never the most healthy looking person at the best of times and this is often used in her comedy. But things became more serious when she was hospitalized with tuberculosis in early April. As the disease is highly contagious, Yoshimoto and the TV networks went into a bit of a panic over whether she might have passed it on to her co-workers or TV studio audiences. As it turned out, the problem had been contained, but Minowa remained in hospital until May 29. She has since been resting at home and will return to work on Sunday, when she will rejoin the lineup of a TBS variety show.


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