The future of commercial key stations is lined up! Find the “New Heroines of the Female Announcer World” in their third year or less with the company!
Part 1: TV people and experts select the best eleven!
New Heroines of the Next Generation
Mami Mizuto (38) of NTV, Ayaka Hironaka (34) of TV Asahi, and Ai Eto (39) of TBS? In fact, the lineup of “signature female announcers” at key stations has not changed for nearly a decade. In the world of female announcers, where there is a shortage of young talent, the training of newcomers is a pressing issue. Is there a new heroine of the next generation who can overcome this predicament? For this issue, FRIDAY conducted emergency interviews with TV station staff, female TV announcer watchers, and intellectuals. Here are some of the emerging talents in their third year or less with the company.
The most frequently mentioned promising young talent was Fuji Television’s Aoi Harada (25).
Last month, when Mezamashi TV’s main anchor, Seika Inoue (30), was absent for a week, Harada filled in perfectly. She made no mistakes in reading the manuscript, and her time allocation was perfect. Her calm and composed work style is such that it is no longer necessary for Harada to be the main announcer, and I believe that she is establishing herself as the “post-Inoue Seika.
She has also appeared on the variety show “Poka Poka” since October 2011, and her growth has come from her experience in live broadcasting, where mistakes are not tolerated. She is steadily improving her ability without taking advantage of the title of being from “Sakurazaka 46,”” said Tamami Hiyama, a TV columnist.
TV Tokyo’s Maimi Nakane (25), who is the same age as Harada, is also attracting the keen attention of watchers.
She attended an announcement school run by Fuji Television when she was a student, and was a finalist in the “First Student Announcement Awards. When she joined the company with a bang, she was quickly appointed as a reporter for the “TV TOKYO Music Festival,” a gateway to success for TV TOKYO announcers, and for the Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival. At the fireworks display, she was able to make the audience laugh with her co-star Toshiaki Kasuga (46) of “Audrey” fame. Since last October, he has also been facilitating “Ijuin Hikaru & Sakuma Nobuyuki’s ‘TV TOKYO Critique’ without permission,” and is dexterously handling news, sports, and variety. The fact that she is getting such wide exposure is proof that TV TOKYO has high expectations for Nakane,” said entertainment critic Takeshi Misugi.
Along with Nakane, Yui Watanabe, 25, an announcer at Nippon Television Network Corporation, was a finalist in the “First Student Announcing Awards.
Although she did not win the Grand Prix at the Student Announcing Awards, she did win a special award. The upper management must have highly evaluated her as an immediate asset, and she was quickly assigned to signature programs such as “ZIP! and “Hirunandesu! From April 2012, she has been in charge of facilitating “Daigo’s Geisha Receipt. By sending them to the program of Daigo (45) of Chidori, a super-successful comedian, the station is probably aiming to help them develop their ability to make impromptu gestures and deal with program proceedings, which tend to be disorganized. In fact, she has been showing an imposing attitude that is not typical of young TV announcers, such as when she takes a dig at the talk of a co-starring comedian, and Daigo, the MC, is said to have a high opinion of her.
Fuji’s “Face of Sports
While the number of all-rounders is increasing, Risaki Yamamoto, 25, who joined NTV in 2011, has been highly praised by the director of a variety program at a key station, who said, “She has specialized in her field of expertise and is making a name for herself.
She was a member of the handball club at junior high and high school. She was ranked third in the nation when she was in junior high school, and is an immediate asset on the sports program “Going! She is very athletic and lively, and is popular with athletes.
Yamamoto is a sportsperson who researches all the information about the athletes she covers, and even checks the footage of their games in detail. A certain athlete who is known for his dislike of the media is willing to be interviewed by Yamamoto. In recognition of her achievements, she was dispatched to cover the Paris Olympics last year. Speaking of young sportscasters, Fuji’s Minami Sakuma, 27, is also popular, but some consider her “closeness to the athletes” to be a problem. The day may soon come when Yamamoto, who is aware of her own position, will establish a steadfast position as a sportscaster.
Fuji has many outstanding sports announcers. Maaya Miyamoto, 23, was a beer vendor at Mizuho PayPay Dome Fukuoka when she was a student, and legend has it that she sold 240 pints of beer a day and took the top spot.
She is also a great interviewer for big-name athletes, using the communication skills she developed while working as a beer vendor. In May of this year, she triumphantly threw out the first pitch at the PayPay Dome game between SoftBank and Nippon Ham, wowing the stadium. The following month, she was also assigned to anchor the Japan Women’s Basketball team’s training games. If she continues to gain experience in sports programs, we can see the back of Anna Sakuma,” said Mr. Misugi.
Mr. Hiyama, who joined TBS in 1949, says that Meira Urano, 23, who joined TBS in 1949, “has guts that you would not expect from a rookie.
On “Sunday Japon,” where she appears as a reporter, she interviewed in English the chief investment officer of Dalton Investments, a major shareholder of Fuji Media Holdings, Inc. Dalton’s ultimate goal is to take control of Fuji? I couldn’t believe that he was a newcomer to the company. He also talked about his question to Yuichiro Tamaki, 56, the representative of the Democratic Party of Japan, “Do you have any dislike for the Restoration Association of Japan? It also became a topic of conversation when he asked Yuichiro Tamaki, 56, the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan. He has the guts to ask a question that is difficult to ask a big-name opponent. The station must have bought into his talent and entrusted him with signature programs such as “THE TIME.
If it is her fearless nature that makes her stand out, then second-year TV Asahi announcer Shuri Matsuoka, 23, is no slouch either.
She has been an assistant on the “Shinichi Hatori Morning Show” since April 1, her first day at the company. She is the second newcomer to take charge of this program from day one, following Chiharu Saito (28). This unusual selection is a sign of the station’s high expectations for her. She has hardly ever been seen chewing while reading a manuscript, and when asked by her co-star Toru Tamagawa (61) to “teach me how to dance,” she did it on the spot, showing that she has both the ability and the nerve. Hatori, 54, is said to have praised Matsuoka, saying, “Matsuoka is going to be a big star. With Hatori’s endorsement, TV Asahi’s upper management will probably increase her exposure even more. Matsuoka’s classmate, Gako Miyama (23), is another promising young woman. On the day of her initiation ceremony, she appeared on “Good! Morning” on the day of her initiation ceremony. She is a graduate of Keio University and speaks French fluently.
From the June 27/July 4, 2025 issue of “FRIDAY
