Former TV Asahi Announcer Yuki Ohki “made a big change to become an executive officer of a travel agency” for a surprising reason: “My salary went down after I changed jobs.

Nice to meet you. I’m Ohki.

I visited an office building in the center of Shibuya, and after completing the reception on the touch panel, the door opened and Yuki Ohki (42) appeared. The business card she presented to me read, “Executive Officer of Reiwa Travel Co.

Ohki graduated from Keio University and joined TV Asahi in 2003. He has been a signature announcer in charge of popular variety programs such as “Kurimum Nantoka” and “Yajima Plus. He was also a well-known relative of Bibiru Ohki (48), but left the company in December 2009. She left the company in December 2009 and has been in charge of PR at her current company since January 2010.

There are only a handful of station announcers who are still active on the front lines in their 40s and beyond. In most cases, they either go freelance, become managers like her senior analyst Sayaka Shimohira (50), or transfer to other sections such as public relations.

It was not originally my intention to change jobs,” he said. Rather, I decided to change jobs at a time when I was finding it challenging to work as an announcer. I was allowed to do news commentary on the evening news program “Super J Channel” in my own words, without a script.

What triggered his career change was the restriction on overseas travel due to the COVID-19 crisis.

I was crazy about traveling overseas, and if I had three days off, I would fly to New York (laughs). If I had three days off, I would fly to New York [laughs]. I was going abroad three or four times a year. Traveling abroad was an irreplaceable hobby for me, and it was also the source of motivation for me to work hard. But the COVID-19 crisis made it impossible for me to go. …… I think that kind of exasperation was one of the motivating factors for me to change jobs.

Reiwa Travel, the company where he changed jobs, dared to launch a travel business in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.

I thought it was interesting that they saw the situation where the travel market was reset to zero as an opportunity. On the other hand, I thought, ‘How can he quit his job as an announcer after 18 years of service so easily? Maybe I’m just passionate about it,'” he said.

I decided, ‘If I still feel the same way after a week, I’ll contact them,’ and a week later I applied for the job with an entry sheet and my profile page on the TV Asahi website. It may sound a bit lame to say I was “spooked” (laughs), but I could picture myself working for this company, and more importantly, I wanted to rekindle the value of overseas travel here at COVID-19 crisis.

Surprisingly, the reaction of those around him was positive.

I was surprised, but my seniors, classmates, and juniors all know that I love to travel, so they said, ‘I’ll miss you, but it’s just like Oki to pop out here. My husband also gave me a push, saying, ‘I think it’s a good fit.

My salary has gone down since I changed jobs, but I’ve been able to buy things in the price range that I used to buy on a whim, and now I’m thinking, ‘Hmmm?　I’m not sure what I can do. (Laughs.) More than that, I was most worried about not knowing what I could do. In a job interview, it is normal to promote yourself by saying, “I have done this up to now, and I can demonstrate my abilities in this way at your company,” but in my case, I was asked the opposite question, “Is there anything you can do? (laugh).

I was amused by the side letters and went to ……

After joining the company, he made a 180-degree turn from being the one doing the reporting to being the one being interviewed. There were many things he was not accustomed to.

As is typical for a start-up company, I was at a loss for industry terminology and side letters,” he said. Until then, my job was to communicate in the easiest way so that everyone could understand, so I was puzzled as to why they used side letters. I was puzzled, but now I am completely absorbed (laughs).

(Laughs.) People often say that announcing is a job that is “hard to get rid of. At first, I too thought it was an unbalanced career. But then I saw a colleague who joined the company as a secretary doing accounting work as well, or a customer service representative doing human resources work. Rather, I think, ‘I have no choice but to go around crushing people.

In April of this year, a little more than a year after changing jobs, he was promoted to executive officer. His duties have broadened.

I am also involved in the overall operation of SNS and the adjustment of the company’s culture. I still worry about what only I can do. Today, I am here to do this kind of interview, but this may not be possible for PR people at other companies. If that is the case, I feel grateful that it is one of the values I can create for the company.”

As a former popular TV announcer, did you have any doubts about being interviewed by a weekly magazine? When I asked her this, she smiled.

I had a lot of bad experiences, including having things written that were not true and being ambushed in front of my house, but I don’t think that was the case with FRIDAY (laughs). To be in the media with your face and name out there is not something that can be done with extraordinary resolve.

In that sense, I felt lighter after quitting TV Asahi. But now, as Yuki Ohki of Reiwa Travel, I have the opportunity to put my name and face out in the media, and I feel that I must do so with determination. I am sure I know the weight of this more than most people. I live with the magnitude of the effect and the risk of being pushed aside if something goes wrong.”

The weight of preparedness is the flip side of fulfillment. That is what Ohki-chan’s smile seemed to say.

From the June 30, 2023 issue of FRIDAY