Freelance Announcer Aika Kanda: “Where do you take the high road?

The word “royal road” originally meant “easy way,” “shortcut,” etc., but recently it is also used to mean “standard. In this article, I will use the latter.

Every industry has its own high road. Many people have a rough image of a person who walks the high road. In the case of politicians, they may think of prime ministers, cabinet ministers, and others whose names they often hear in party debates and other events. In reality, however, there are only a handful of people who take the high road.

Recently, I have been surprised by the number of people who say, “Oh, really? I was offered a full-time job as an announcer at Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), the “NHK for everyone. Many people think of announcers, especially when they think of NHK, and they probably think of them in their suits, running the news programs. But is that really the true image of an NHK announcer? When I was a member of NHK, there were about 650 NHK announcers in total, including local stations in every corner of the country. I wonder how many of them I can remember the faces of. There are really only a handful of people who take the high road. But that is why I long to be on the high road.

All my life, I have longed to take the high road. When I was in kindergarten, I wanted people around me to say, “You are a lady! I wanted people to say, “You are a lady!　I took the entrance exam to a private elementary school and failed. In elementary school, I wanted to be considered a “city girl! I wanted to be considered a “city girl”, so I went to Roppongi, the most prestigious street in the city!　I took the entrance exam to a private girls’ integrated junior and senior high school in Roppongi, and failed. When I was in high school, I decided to “master the sciences! I took the entrance exam to a university in Roppongi, but failed.　and failed. When I was in college, I said to myself, “I’m going to be a female announcer! and failed all the entrance exams to the most glamorous commercial key stations.　While at NHK, she was determined to become a general hostess of the Kohaku (red and white) TV show. She was a member of NHK and had ambitions to become a general host of the Kohaku (red and white) TV show, but failed to make it to the Kohaku Radio Live and the Kohaku Talk Channel. When I first became a freelancer, I thought I would take the high road of becoming a freelancer and become a news program MC, but even after 10 years, there was no such talk and I failed. And now, I have arrived at ……, where I have been writing a series of columns for FRIDAY. I clearly feel that I will never take the high road. I can’t take the high road for the rest of my life.

The columns of freelance announcers are usually in magazines that are admired by the same sex for their fashion, makeup, and so on. I won’t say who, but those who have taken the high road of announcing have their columns published in the most prestigious magazines. But the magazine that asked me to write for them was FRIDAY, and it was very me. It was very me.

What I realized after turning 40

To be honest, I thought I would finally be able to walk the high road that I had always longed for when I was asked to be the main MC of Fuji Television’s noon time slot program “Poka Poka” at the beginning of the new year.　I thought. But it was not to be. The person in charge told me, “We are not asking you to play the role of an announcer at all (laugh).

I wondered where I should look for the high road to find it. I wonder what I have to do to get permission to walk the high road. …… I don’t know anymore.

However, I am enjoying every day very much now. There is not a single second when I have to make myself look bigger than life-size. It is easy to live. This feeling of comfort comes from the fact that I have always longed to take the high road, to be the ideal me! I feel this good feeling like the clear sky that spreads out beyond the refraction that one person, who has always longed to take the high road, and who has been holding on, saying, “I’m going to be my ideal self! And I finally realized that it is because of the existence of my family, friends, and business associates who support me even in such a situation, after I turned 40 years old. It took a long time, but now I am very grateful for a life that did not allow me to take the high road.

For me, it has given me another opportunity to express myself without having to be self-conscious. I don’t have to be bound by fashion or makeup. I can criticize them if I want. As this is my first attempt at serialization, there is no other magazine that I am so grateful to be a part of. I will do my best to deliver a series of articles every week that is worthy of it.

Born in 1980 in Kanagawa Prefecture. After graduating from Gakushuin University with a degree in mathematics, she joined NHK as an announcer in 2003, and left in 2012 to become a freelance announcer. Since then, she has been active mainly in variety shows, and currently makes regular appearances as the main MC of the daytime TV program “Poka Poka” (Fuji Television Network).

From the February 17, 2023 issue of FRIDAY