Freelance Announcer Aika Kanda confides, “I can’t forget that time…” “Regret of the First Kiss”

The ″first kiss″ comes only once in life, and after the second time it becomes a normal kiss. The first kiss is just a passing phase. I used to think so when I was young.

I attended an all-girls junior and senior high school. When I was in the third year of junior high school, something shocking happened. Someone brought to school a monthly magazine for women that introduced male-female relationships and graphic sexual matters. A large group of us gathered around the book, nervous with curiosity and anxiety about the adult world, and turned the pages with trembling hands. The headline, “I want him to say, ‘That feels good! The headline, “I want him to say ‘it feels good’! . From then on, our interest in the opposite sex became more and more intense, and we frantically passed the book around every month.

By the time we entered high school, we were super head-over-heels. Several of us had boyfriends, and finally a girl came up to me and said, ” I kissed him yesterday. Ew!” . Everyone panicked. Where?　Which way?　Did you close your eyes?　Did you hold your breath?　I wanted to hear a firsthand account from someone who had experienced it, but the girl suddenly stopped talking, saying she didn’t want to tell me because she was embarrassed. (I want to know!!!). (I want to know!!!)). (I want to know!) After that, it was too soon. Like dominoes falling, within a few months, everyone around me had already had their first kiss. And then, the conversation of the season turned to sex for the first time, and I completely missed the boat. （I had to at least get my first kiss out of the way. Who am I going to have sex with?) ).

All around me were girls who had done it with people beyond my imagination. My friend, who was by far the most mature and looked like a college girl, was with a trading company man who approached her on the train. My friend, who is sexy and looks far from Japanese, is with an American guy she met at a club. I’m behind the curve, so I have to be with someone who is more nice! I was in a hurry to meet someone who would say, “I like you! And then I found Keio Boy. If he was from Keio, a popular school for boyfriends, I was sure I would be envied to some extent.”

The time came to execute the plan!

Autumn of my second year in high school. I took advantage of my position as student council president to go to the Keio High School Festival. Several people asked me for my phone number and asked me out on dates. (Yo, just like I planned.) One of them was a boy in the rugby club. One of them was a boy who was a member of the rugby club. I was informed that many members of the Keio rugby club would be employed by a very famous trading company in the future. If I really fell for him after kissing him, it wouldn’t be a problem. (I decided on this guy!). The first time we met, two-on-two at McDonald’s; the second time, we decided to meet alone together in Minato Mirai. It was hard to go on multiple dates with someone I didn’t like, so I put everything into this date.

After having lunch together with extraordinary determination, we walked outside for a bit and sat on a bench in the harbor where no one was around. （Everything was going well!) We were so close, and the distance between us was so close. We were so close, it was exactly the kind of situation where a man would kiss you!　I gathered my courage, turned my head toward him, and made eye contact. For a few seconds, it felt as if time silently stood still. He closed his eyes and brought his face closer to mine. (Yay!) . I decided to keep my eyes open to witness the moment for the first time. Then our noses collided and shifted a little and  finally our lips made firm contact.

I still remember it well. I was neither thrilled nor embarrassed. Of course I wasn’t excited!　I didn’t get excited, and I didn’t think more! I immediately got up and went to the bathroom, frantically rinsing my mouth and scrubbing my lips. (I don’t feel so good!) . Why did I do this? Regret came over me, and I thought over and over (rewind time, rewind time). In the end, I returned to the bench that day and went home without talking or making eye contact.

The next day, I reported it to my friends, and they all said, “Keio boy!　Introduce me! but I didn’t even want to have that conversation anymore.”

Even now, almost 30 years later, I can’t forget that moment. It’s important to know how proud you are of your first kiss with someone you can be proud of is definitely not the same thing. It is an important part of a lifetime of memories. I hope those who are about to experience this will know my thoughts. When you grow up, it doesn’t matter how old your first kiss was!　Don’t be swayed by the pace of those around you, but definitely, as someone who loves you!

And then I realized, after writing all this, that FRIDAY readers are all old men!　All of them already had distant memories of their first kiss, I guess (laughs).

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 NHK 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 September 29, 2023 issue of FRIDAY