Hitomi Nakamura × Noriko Baba × Hiroko Ogura, Female Announcers Are Busy, Tough, but Fun

Frank Roundtable Discussion with Popular Freelance Female Announcers

Nakamura: After quitting the TV station, didn’t you want to wear flashy clothes or something?

Baba: I totally get that! The restrictions of “how female announcers should be” were lifted, and it felt liberating.

Ogura: I even dyed my hair a lighter color.

The talk among the three popular freelance female announcers—Hitomi Nakamura (45, former Fuji TV), Noriko Baba (51, former Nippon TV), and Hiroko Ogura (50, former TBS)—got lively after they became freelancers. Having worked at the forefront in variety shows and news programs, they spoke candidly about their reasons for wanting to join major TV networks, embarrassing mistakes on-air, harsh opinions about weekly magazines, and their future goals. Here’s a two-hour roundtable with these popular former announcers from major private TV networks.

Nakamura: I never had a strong attachment to becoming an announcer. Back in college (Ochanomizu University), I was inspired by a friend aiming to be an announcer, so I joined a free course at Fuji TV. I got excited about entering the glamorous TV world, but everyone else in the class was serious… I was in a tennis club, tanned, and had blonde hair, but the others wore pastel-colored, sharp suits and perfect makeup! I clearly felt out of place.

Ogura: But you turned it around completely from there.

Nakamura: No, my practical skills were terrible. For a speech on “My trump card,” I had nothing to say. The instructor told me, “I can’t rate this,” and I was so upset I cried right there. It was a shock, but instead, it lit a fire in me to master this profession. From then on, I tried to speak with my own words and polished my announcing skills, and I was able to join Fuji TV.

Female announcers are so sneaky!

Baba: I was in the Commerce Department at Waseda University, so at first, I aimed to work for consulting firms or advertising agencies. The announcer exams were held quite early in the job-hunting process, so I took them to get some experience. Since reading scripts and oral reading tests were things I hadn’t done since elementary school language classes, I was embarrassingly bad—so bad that I laughed at myself. But the instructor, who was an announcer, seriously advised me, saying, “First, try speaking out loud clearly.” I learned that announcers are craftsmen of words, and that sparked my interest in this job.

Nakamura: Ogura, you have admired announcers since you were little, right?

Ogura: I was always a bit attention-seeking. Watching shows like “Ore-tachi Hyokin-zoku” (Fuji TV), I envied the female announcers who wore glamorous costumes and bantered with the talents—I thought they were “so sneaky!” When I was a student at Toyo Eiwa Jogakuin University, I appeared on “Koi no Karasawagi” (NTV). Being teased by Sanma Akashiya, I really felt the fun of TV.

Baba: Right after joining, I had no mental room to breathe and couldn’t see what was around me at all. I got up at 2 a.m. to appear on an early morning show, and after “24-Hour Television,” I only slept for about an hour and a half before heading out for a morning live broadcast. I had pimples all over my head but kept my spirits high.

Nakamura: Any memorable programs?

Baba: There are many, but thanks to hosting “Kewpie 3-Minute Cooking” for a long time, I was chosen as the number one female announcer people would want as their wife. Whether or not that’s true, I was genuinely happy.

Nakamura & Ogura: You were number one?!

Baba: In a show where the focus is on the cooking, the recipe, and the teacher, as an announcer, it’s important to do more than just talk. Naotaro Moriyama, a singer and a viewer of “3-Minute Cooking,” noticed my behavior (I recall offering the hand towel with both hands) and praised me when we co-starred on another program. I was deeply moved.

Ogura: I did a lot of sports programs. On “Sakuretsu! Sports Power,” I handled a segment where I rode in the passenger seat of pro baseball players’ cars and talked with them from the stadium to their home. There was no script. I casually commented, “Athletes eat sweet bread too, huh?” when I saw a loaf of Anpan (sweet bean paste bread) lying around. I asked, “Were you nervous during the game?” and got scolded with, “Of course I was!” Looking back, it was a nerve-wracking segment.

Nakamura: My main work was variety shows like “Quiz! Hexagon II.” The ratings were quite good. But when good things happen, bad things follow, so we decided to ward off bad luck by holding the wrap-up party at a cheap izakaya with about 50 staff members attending.

In the second part, they honestly talk about weddings covered by FRIDAY? Being lonely and traveling alone and the reasons why they became freelance announcers.
“Nakamura Hitomi × Baba Noriko × Ogura Hiroko: ‘As speakers, we want to keep fulfilling life.’”

The three fresh-faced announcers from their student and network announcer days

◆Ogura Hiroko: Born September 1974 in Tokyo. Graduated from Toyo Eiwa Jogakuin University and joined TBS. Hosted programs such as Rank Kingdom and Ohayou Kujira. She left TBS at the end of 2024 and is now active as a freelance announcer.
◆Baba Noriko: Born April 1974 in Tokyo. Graduated from Waseda University and joined Nippon TV. Hosted shows like The! Sekai Gyoten News. Currently appears on programs such as Asaichi (NHK). Her hobbies include blowing the horagai (conch shell), watching plays, and golf.
◆Nakamura Hitomi: Born June 1979 in Kanagawa Prefecture. Graduated from Ochanomizu University and joined Fuji TV. Hosted Spo-ru-to! and Waratte Iitomo!. Currently appears on shows like Hiruobi and Gogosuma (TBS networks).

 

(Source: FRIDAY Combined issue May 9, 16, 23, 2025)