Special Talk Part 1] Aika Kanda and Kayoko Okubo: “Inappropriate” Early Years and How to Deal with Today’s Youth

This is not the pitiful generation, but the gutsy generation!

Freelance announcer Aika Kanda (44) and TV personality Kayoko Okubo (53) have often worked together in variety shows and on the radio. They have also deepened their relationship in private, as Okubo has been invited to the Kanda family’s home parties. To commemorate the second anniversary of their serial “Me, Pink, and Sometimes New York,” the two close friends had a special talk this time. We asked them to candidly discuss their changing values and views on life as they age, as well as their concerns and way of life unique to the “Los Generation Generation.

Kanda We, the “Lost Generation,” who entered society right after the collapse of the bubble economy, are sometimes seen as a “pitiful generation” that experienced the “ice age” of employment, but I think we are a generation with guts. Don’t you feel the same way, Mr. Okubo?

Okubo: I understand. It was the generation that said, “If you work hard, you can do it,” or “If you don’t sleep, you don’t sleep, and that’s cool. In 2000, when I was 29 years old, I was a regular on “Mecha x 2 Iketeru! (Fuji Television Network) on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Even though we finished filming on Tuesdays at 3:00 a.m., we would sometimes meet at 8:00 a.m. the next day. I would go home, take a shower, sleep for just two hours, and go back to recording. …… I don’t think I slept more on “Ninety-Nine,” which was my main show. I think we were recording with really bleary eyes. Those were the days.

Kanda The waiting time was also unusually long, wasn’t it?

Okubo Yes, it was quite long. Sometimes we had to wait eight hours in the dressing room. We were not allowed to leave even though we did not know if we would be called or not. I thought to myself, “What is this role?” But I convinced myself that I was getting paid for it.

Kanda Creating something enjoyable must be such a hardship.

Okubo I thought so too. I used to think that I had to spend money, time, and effort in order to make it resonate with the audience. But now I am not so sure. You know, something that was shot in a flash can get millions of views on YouTube and become a buzz. I suddenly wonder how much of our hard work was necessary.

Kanda When I think about that, it makes me sad.

Okubo But I still get people in their late 30s telling me, “I’m from the ‘Mecha-ike’ generation, so I’m glad to see you,” and “I really loved it. I try to think, “I must have been involved in a great show.

Kanda I also watched “OL Okubo-san” on “Mecha-ike. It was so intense that I still remember it.

Okubo It’s amazing that it left an impression on me. Aika, your imitation of Antonio Inoki in skin-colored full-body tights also left an impression on me.

Kanda Thank you (laughs). When did you do it in front of Mr. Okubo?

Okubo I did not see it live. I saw it in a special program “Matchannel” (Fuji TV) in 2009, called “Joshi Mental”. I thought it was amazing.

Kanda How do you see women who are not comedians going for laughs like that?

Okubo I watch them from an angle, wondering to what extent they can expose themselves. Aika-san’s inoki is like, “Oh, she’s pretty good. I don’t laugh at all, though.

Kanda Haha. I am sure that is true. Because they are on a different level.

Okubo No, that’s not true. It’s just that I can’t look at them in a flat way, and I can tell that they must have been under tremendous pressure. But there are times when the actors are just being natural and a miraculous turn of events makes you laugh, right?　It’s the things like that that I can’t make that make me laugh the most.