<figure id="attachment_412578" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2500px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-412578"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="3585d8c3"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/02/f5360bdddc6efbad25a0e1a81ba44752.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-412578" class="wp-caption-text">Illustration drawn by Kanda-san</figcaption></figure>
<h2>&#8220;You&#8217;re just like a variety talent!&#8221;</h2>
Thankfully, as entertainers, we are provided with lunch boxes in the dressing rooms wherever we go. On morning shoots, it&#8217;s a light meal with two rice balls and one piece of fried chicken. For day or night shoots, there are several options to choose from, such as a main dish of fish or hamburg steak, so you can pick the flavor you want.
Generally, meals during work are, of course, paid for out of our own pockets. When I was an NHK announcer, I was still a salaried employee, so meals were at my own expense. When I became a freelancer and saw lunch boxes prepared in the dressing rooms, I realized, &#8220;I’ve entered the entertainment industry now. I’m no longer a salaried worker.&#8221; By the way, lunch boxes for programs featuring well-known celebrities are always lavish. It&#8217;s a sign of a healthy budget, and it motivates me, thinking, &#8220;I’ll work hard and get into a program like this!&#8221; For me, the dressing room lunch box became something more than just food.
During the pandemic, the variety of lunch boxes increased. This was likely because many restaurants that could no longer operate normally started selling lunch boxes. During this time, a new and worthy contender emerged: a tempura-don lunch box. The tempura, with large shrimp and conger eel, was visually stunning and delicious. Before long, it appeared in dressing rooms across various programs, and I had it multiple times.
One very hot summer day, a program had that lunch box prepared. &#8220;Oh! It’s this lunch box again today. It’s really popular lately,&#8221; I said to the manager and makeup artist. But then a co-star who had eaten it reported, &#8220;The rice was sticky and gooey.&#8221; Immediately, unopened lunch boxes were gathered, and we were told not to eat them.
Fortunately, no one who had eaten it, including the person who reported it, complained of stomach aches. However, it wasn’t like it had natto or yam in it. It had never been sticky or gooey before. It was clear that it had gone bad.
That same day, the lunch box provider apologized, and it was speculated that the new staff member, still inexperienced, had served the rice too quickly before it had cooled, causing the issue.
After that, the lunch box was no longer served on that program, but for several months, it was still being served on other sets. However, now, I never see it anymore. It’s hard to imagine the same thing happening on other sets. The lunch box, which quickly became popular in dressing rooms, has disappeared and I suddenly realized, &#8220;It’s just like a variety talent!&#8221;
A variety talent is primarily a TV personality who appears on variety shows. I’ve been a freelancer for 13 years, and I’ve had more work as a variety talent than as an announcer. So, I’ve analyzed the structure of variety talents in my own way.
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="How to become a &quot;standard&quot;..."></div>
<h2>How a rising star becomes a regular</h2>
Here’s how it goes: Every year, a new rising star appears. They’re fresh and intriguing, and are invited to appear on numerous variety shows all at once. However, about 80% of them make some sort of mistake along the way and disappear within two years. The remaining 20% continue to fight for their spot. But their competitors are the regular talents who have been indispensable on variety shows for years. These individuals are incredibly quick-witted, versatile, and talented. Competing against such people to secure a spot is a difficult task, and five years later, only about 1% of them remain. The few who remain continue on for another five years, roughly a decade in total, before finally becoming part of the regular talents. Then, the competition with the established regular talents begins for the title of the true regular. This is the structure I perceive in the world of variety talents.
The same can be said about backstage meals. The regular backstage meals, like those from Asakusa Imahan, Toriku, Kiyoken, and Tsutaya, continued to be served to us, unnoticed, while the popular tempura rice bowls were in high demand. After the tempura rice bowl meals, which had been overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle, disappeared, the regular meals continued to exist as if nothing had happened. And in the end, we kept saying, &#8220;These regular meals are great, they never disappoint!&#8221; and enjoyed them over and over again.
While I feel concerned about the severity of the bento industry, I also can’t help but wonder, &#8220;Which bento do I resemble now?&#8221; I can no longer enjoy the daily backstage meals in the same straightforward way.
<figure id="attachment_412579" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 3004px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-412579"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-412579 size-full" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/02/695002d97b11ca3cd791054813aeec37.jpg" alt="" width="3004" height="3734"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-412579" class="wp-caption-text">©Kazuki Shimomura</figcaption></figure>
Aika Kanda was 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 appears regularly as the main MC of the daytime TV program &#8220;Poka Poka&#8221; (Fuji Television Network).
 ★This series has been compiled into the author’s first book, <a href="https://amzn.to/4dbWKKN">Where Does the Path of the Royal Road Lead?</a>, which is currently receiving great reviews and is available for purchase!
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From &#8220;FRIDAY&#8221; February 21/28, 2025 issue

 Aika Kanda

 Aika Kanda says she can no longer honestly enjoy her daily backstage bento. The reason for this is the "tendon bento" that quickly became popular after the COVID-19 crisis, but has since disappeared, and the "standard backstage bento" that has always existed. This is the composition of a "talent...

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