Yumi Nagashima Leaving Mezamashi After More Than 8 Years

On March 24, Fuji Television Network’s announcer Yumi Nagashima, 31, announced that she would be graduating from “Mezamashi 8” on the occasion of her 10th year with the company.

On March 24, Yumi Nagashima, 31, an announcer at Fuji Television Network, appeared live on the station’s “Mezamashi 8” and announced that she would be leaving the program at the end of March.

Nagashima, who joined the station in 2014, has been working as an information anchor for “Mezamashi TV” since September of the same year. Only two years later, she was promoted to the main MC position, and also served as MC for “Mezamashi 8,” which started on March 29, 2021, making her the “face of Fuji in the morning” for eight and a half years since she joined the company.

He has been the “face of Fuji mornings” for eight and a half years since he joined the company. “He has been known for his stable MC ability since he joined the company, and during his time as MC of “Mezamashi TV,” he maintained the top position in commercial TV ratings. Tokudane,” for which Tomoaki Ogura served as general host for many years. (NTV), which started as a follow-up program to “Mezamashi 8,” had strong rivals in “The Shinichi Hatori Morning Show” (TV Asahi) and “Surprise” (NTV), so even Nagashima was expected to have a tough time. Fuji’s upper management naturally thought it was a foregone conclusion that Nagashima would continue with the program from April, but she strongly wanted to graduate,” said a sports newspaper reporter.

(Sports newspaper reporter) Nagashima said, “I am looking forward to taking on a new challenge as an announcer.”

I would like to take on new challenges as an announcer. With the wonderful experiences I have had so far, I will continue to do my best to bring smiles to many people’s faces.

She promised to continue her career on a new stage. However, one wonders if there is a possibility that he will leave the company or become independent in the future.

This brings to mind the departure and independence of freelance announcer Ayako Kato (37), known as “Katopan. Kato became the main anchor of “Mezamashi TV” in April 2012, graduated from the program on April 1, 2016, and left Fuji Television at the end of April. Coincidentally, she was 31 years old, the same age as Nagashima.

She was 31 years old, the same age as Nagashima, and she said, “I guess the annual salary was not commensurate with the overwork I had done over the years. If you become as successful as Nagashima, you will be in great demand even if you go freelance, so at the very least, your salary will be more than double what you made when you were a station announcer. I think it was a natural step for her to take, considering her marriage and her life plan after that.

So, is there a possibility that Nagashima will follow in the footsteps of her great predecessors?

“I don’t think Nagashima will leave the company.”

A Fuji Television executive assures us that she will not leave the company. The reason for this is as follows.

In the first place, it was Nagashima’s strong wish to graduate from Mezamashi. For eight and a half years since she joined Fuji Television, she has been the face of the morning program, coming in at 2:00 a.m. and other times. The effort and pressure must have been considerable. On the other hand, Nagashima is the company’s “signature announcer,” and the company would really like to avoid a situation like Katopan’s, where Nagashima had to leave the company as a result of continued overwork. Therefore, the company decided to allow Nagashima to do what she wanted to do while allowing her to remain at the station, and this was the “drop-off point” for her graduation from Mezamashi. Nagashima also told people around her that she would be able to do what she wanted to do if she stayed at the station rather than going freelance, so it seems that their intentions matched. It was a mutual decision.

The name of the program Nagashima will be working on next has not yet been announced. However, Nagashima has been a steady MC for both singing and variety shows such as “FNS Song Festival” and “Junk Sports,” and we can’t help but look forward to seeing what kind of programs she will be in charge of from April onward.