Free Announcer Aika Kanda “Foods I Hate and Why I Hate Them

Even as an adult, my mother’s influence was enormous.

I immediately called my mother and asked, “I have a fish called mackerel right in front of me, can I eat it?” I asked. The answer was no. It’s a fast fish. I’ve never eaten it before. In retrospect, it was fine, but at the time I declined and ate only white rice.

But one of Fukuoka’s specialties is sesame mackerel. A few days later, I faced it for the first time at an izakaya (Japanese-style bar) I went to with a senior colleague. I couldn’t say to him, “My parents told me not to eat it ……,” and I was prepared to die trying it. I was surprised at how delicious it was, and I have been eating only sesame mackerel ever since.

Lastly, conger eel. The first time I ate conger eel was in my early 30s. It was served at a sushi restaurant with only a counter. I thought, “Eel?” but the chef said, “Anago. The eels I had eaten were always grilled and brown in a stacked box. Yet the eel in front of me was white and sushi-like. （When I tasted it, I found it cold, soggy, and the sauce was too deliberate for my palate.

A few days later, I asked my mother, “Do you know what anago is?” She replied, “Of course. But they are similar to eel, so you can eat eel instead. It was true, if they are similar, one is better than the other. Since then, I have tried to say in advance, “I don’t want sea eel.

There are many foods that I have encountered as an adult that I like. Such is the case with kimchi and garlic, which my mother dislikes. But the foods I don’t like are also all things I never ate as a child. If I had been forced to eat them, I would not have disliked them. When I think about it, I wonder if my parents’ strategy to eliminate my likes and dislikes was right ……, but I am grateful anyway.

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 NHK 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 “Poka Poka” (Fuji Television Network).

Her first book, ” Where are you going on the road called Royal Road? is now on sale by popular demand!

From “FRIDAY” March 14/21, 2025 issue