, was an annual Manzai

Manzai

is a traditional style of stand-up comedy in Japanese culture, which usually involves two performers —a straight man and a funny man —trading jokes at great speed...

 competition planned by Shinsuke Shimada and run by Yoshimoto Kogyo

Yoshimoto Kogyo

is a major Japanese entertainment conglomerate, with its headquarters based in Osaka. It was founded in 1912 as a traditional theatre, and has since grown to be one of the most influential companies in Japan, employing most of Japan's popular owarai talent, producing and promoting the shows they...

. The supporter Asahi Broadcasting Corporation

Asahi Broadcasting Corporation

is a regional radio and television broadcaster headquartered in Osaka, Japan, serving in the Kansai region.-Offices:*Headquarters: 1-30, Fukushima Itchome, Fukushima-ku, Osaka-shi, Japan...

 broadcast the final live throughout Japan via All-Nippon News Network

All-Nippon News Network

, or ANN, is a commercial television news network in Japan run by TV Asahi Corporation.-All-Nippon News Network stations:-Remote Controller Buttons of Digital TV:*1: Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting*3: TV Miyazaki*5: 20 ANN stations...

 in December.

The way to be the Champion

• Preliminary (Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Quarterfinal, Semifinal)

from August or September until December

• Round 1 (2001): Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo, Hamamatsu, Nagoya, Osaka, Takamatsu, Hiroshima, Fukuoka
• Round 1 (2002): Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima, Fukuoka
• Round 1 (2003-2009): Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima, Fukuoka
• Round 1 (2010): Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo, Niigata, Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima, Matsuyama, Fukuoka
• Round 2, Round 3, Semifinal (-2009), Quarterfinal (2010): Tokyo, Osaka
• Semifinal (2010): Tokyo (Ryogoku Kokugikan
  Ryogoku Kokugikan
  , also known as Sumo Hall, is an indoor sporting arena located in the Ryōgoku neighborhood of Sumida, one of the 23 wards of Tokyo in Japan, next to the Edo-Tokyo Museum. It is the third building built in Tokyo associated with the name kokugikan. The current building was opened in 1985 and has a...
  
  )
• Consolation (2002-2010)

from noon until 5 p.m. on the day of the finals

aired on Sky A Sports Plus, a satellite

Satellite television

Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...

 broadcasting company owned by ABC (2004-2010)

• 2002-2004: special floor in front of Panasonic Center Tokyo
• 2005: Meiji Jingu Stadium
  Meiji Jingu Stadium
  is a baseball stadium in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. It opened in 1926 and holds 37,933 spectators. Property of the Meiji Shrine, it is the home field of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows professional baseball team...
  
  
• 2006: Ariake Coliseum
  Ariake Coliseum
  is an indoor sporting arena in located in Ariake, Kōtō, Tokyo, Japan. It has a capacity of 10,000. The arena is used as the center court for the Japan Open Tennis Championships and the Toray Pan Pacific Open held in Ariake Tennis Forest Park....
  
  
• 2007-2010: Ohi Racecource
• the Finals

live on TV (All-Nippon News Network, nationalcast)

• 2001: Lemon Studio
• 2002-2004: Panasonic Center Ariake Studio
• 2005-2010: TV Asahi
  TV Asahi
  , also known as EX and , is a Japanese television network headquartered in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The company writes its name in lower-case letters, tv asahi, in its logo and public-image materials. The company also owns All-Nippon News Network....
  
  Headquarters Studio 1

Winners

• 2001 - Nakagawa-ke
• 2002 - Masuda Okada
• 2003 - Football Hour
• 2004 - Untouchable
• 2005 - Black Mayonnaise
• 2006 - Tutorial
• 2007 - Sandwich Man
• 2008 - NON STYLE
• 2009 - Punk Boo Boo
• 2010 - Warai Meshi

Event ends

On December 12, 2010, Yoshimoto Kogyo and ABC announced that "M-1 Grand Prix" would end in the year and they will start the project to succeed the event (article from Nikkan Sports on December 12, 2010).