<figure id="attachment_451353" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1023px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-451353"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="e8dd5362"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/d31fe3e618ec21a3be92a1f435c2ce79.png" alt=""></a>Risa Unai, a current talent and game streamer who left TBS this March (photo from January 2017)<figcaption id="caption-attachment-451353" class="wp-caption-text">
<h3 data-start="101" data-end="173"><strong data-start="101" data-end="173">Is the female announcers retire at 30 theory still deeply rooted!?</strong></h3>
<p data-start="175" data-end="337"><strong>“I decided to leave the company after stepping down from all of my programs, including this one, Mimikin, once the remaining broadcasts this year are finished.”</strong></p>
<p data-start="339" data-end="585">On December 5, TBS announcer Ami Yohara (30) appeared live on the station’s radio program Imada Koji no Omimi Haishaku! Friday, where she serves as an assistant, and announced that she would be leaving the network. As for her reasons, she said:</p>
<p data-start="587" data-end="692"><strong>“I turned 30 this year, and it felt like a turning point,”</strong><br data-start="645" data-end="648"><strong>“I wanted to take a hard look at my career,”</strong></p>
<p data-start="694" data-end="744">and regarding her future plans, she added vaguely,</p>
<p data-start="746" data-end="835"><strong>“I’d like to take on a different challenge, and I’ll announce the details in due course.”</strong></p>
<p data-start="837" data-end="1110">On December 1, Fuji TV announcer Marino Fujimoto (30) updated her social media, announcing that she would step down from her regular appearances on Mezamashi TV and Sanma no Owarai Kōjō Iinkai by the end of the year, and that she would leave the network on December 31.</p>
<p data-start="1112" data-end="1616"><strong>“At Fuji TV alone, this year has already seen the departures of announcers Yumi Nagashima (34), Keiko Tsubakihara (40), and Risa Kishimoto (26). Including Fujimoto, that makes six announcers in total. In the wake of a series of issues at Fuji TV sparked by Masahiro Nakai’s (53) troubles involving women, some media outlets have reported speculation such as, ‘Did this accelerate the decisions of female announcers who were already considering leaving?’”</strong> said a source at a commercial television network.</p>
<p data-start="1618" data-end="1914">NHK announcer Anna Nakagawa (32) went freelance this April, while TBS announcer Risa Unai (34) also left the company in March. In an exclusive interview with FRIDAY magazine in May (May 30, 2025 issue), Unai revealed, “I started thinking about leaving around the age of 30,” and went on to say:</p>
<p data-start="1916" data-end="2233"><strong>“I devoted 99 percent of my life to work. It was rewarding, but I was struggling with whether it was okay to continue living a life centered entirely around work. The one who pushed me forward was my husband (whom I married in 2023). He knew I was pushing myself too hard and told me, ‘You should just quit already.’”</strong></p>
<p data-start="2235" data-end="2450">Currently, Unai is said to be streaming game commentary and other content almost daily on the streaming service Twitch, which she started after leaving the company, fitting it in between work and household chores.</p>
<p data-start="2452" data-end="2881" data-is-last-node="" data-is-only-node="">Considering that most of these women have left their positions around the age of 30, the oft-cited female announcers retire at 30 theory may indeed still be deeply rooted. While it is truly regrettable that we will no longer be able to casually see them on terrestrial television as we once did, we wish them success in their future endeavors—and would like to take another look back at their days as announcers through photos.</p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="Announcers who left the company in 2012"></div>
<figure id="attachment_451313" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 668px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-451313"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="4583ebf2"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/0f32c8d42fdcb0a201b5a825ca2f71f2.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-451313" class="wp-caption-text">September ’25: Ami Yohara conducting street interviews on Sunday Japon</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_451315" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1088px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-451315"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="562cf2d7"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/6e4c34cf4ced68fe1b28b1ecdf29930c.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-451315" class="wp-caption-text">Ami Yohara was well known for her steady, reliable announcing (from her own Instagram @yoshiharaami)</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_451330" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1090px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-451330"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="d4cc13f5"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/3754655f4e64825d4f0af28d405a87c2.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-451330" class="wp-caption-text">Ami Yohara was well known for her steady, reliable announcing (from her own Instagram @yoshiharaami)</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_451317" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1172px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-451317"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="98bd8e56"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/8207682049256e1a498405cfceff6662.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-451317" class="wp-caption-text">Former Fuji TV announcer Marino Fujimoto, who became a topic of conversation for graduating from the University of Tokyo Faculty of Medicine (from her own Instagram @marino.fujimoto1030)</figcaption></figure>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="Fuji Television's signature announcer has also left the company."></div>
<figure id="attachment_451318" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 858px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-451318"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="a07a636a"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/05241204ce9079376a87db59e2343559.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-451318" class="wp-caption-text">Yumi Nagashima making the rounds to greet people with her parents after joining Fuji TV (April 25, ’14 issue)</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_451319" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 654px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-451319"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="5f408c45"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/955b3b4a2da08b9e811a1e2857152d13.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-451319" class="wp-caption-text">Yumi Nagashima, who had been one of Fuji TV’s flagship announcers, also left the network at the end of March (December 15, ’17 issue)</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_451320" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 620px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-451320"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="81405434"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/814d69340f2e7fbf3fb3c87afeda5f10.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-451320" class="wp-caption-text">In May, Yumi Nagashima established her own personal agency and is currently active as a freelance announcer (March 26 / April 2, ’21 issue)</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_451321" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 860px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-451321"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="ea31142d"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/52e7a2170ee591a67f0a5cabc2f615f9.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-451321" class="wp-caption-text">Fuji TV announcer Keiko Tsubakihara left the network on the same day as Yumi Nagashima (November 18, ’16 issue)</figcaption></figure>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="Anna Nakagawa Anna is active as a freelance announcer and TV personality"></div>
<figure id="attachment_451323" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 754px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-451323"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="ba1c1dc8"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/5219fc5c478c4820d7c91265b2d09099.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-451323" class="wp-caption-text">NHK announcer Anna Nakagawa, who became a finalist in the 31st Miss Keio Contest (upper row, left). At the time, she was a 21-year-old fourth-year student in the Faculty of Law (July 24, ’15 issue)</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_451324" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1164px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-451324"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="6502abed"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/fd3746ac2813cffb6009db49c21be720.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-451324" class="wp-caption-text">Anna Nakagawa during her NHK days, showing off her outstanding figure. (from her own Instagram @nakagawa.anna1022)</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_451325" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1162px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-451325"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="53c8ec34"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/9f74b4e14c806e0fce27089062226581.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-451325" class="wp-caption-text">Anna Nakagawa during her NHK days, who frequently became a topic of conversation for her great figure. (from her own Instagram @nakagawa.anna1022)</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_451326" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 750px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-451326"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="89496584"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/050d4f2b549bc3d0280afa66eb0a0c19.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-451326" class="wp-caption-text">Risa Unai, formerly of TBS, who was the Grand Prix winner of “Miss Keio 2013” (from the April 17, ’15 issue)</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_451327" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1668px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-451327"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="c1fb3643"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/9a556be77604e9fc988d20a8c6530451.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-451327" class="wp-caption-text">Risa Unai appearing in an exclusive interview in FRIDAY magazine after going freelance (May 30, ’25 issue)</figcaption></figure>


 Takehiko Kohiyama (1st, 9th, 14th), Akira Kido (6th, 13th), Junsei Todoroki (7th), Yuri Adachi (8th), Kazuhiko Nakamura (10th)

 In '25, many female announcers retired from TV stations: Risa Unai and Yasumi Yoshihara from TBS, Yumi Nagahara from Fuji TV, and Yumi Nagashima from NHK. NHK's Anna Nakagawa, etc. Here is a look back at their days as station announcers.

A Look Back at Prominent Female Broadcasters Who Left Their Stations in 2025

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