<figure id="attachment_459273" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-459273" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="b4cd3a1a"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/9ada254cc82f8a487e0766c0641fc058.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-459273" class="wp-caption-text">Kazuo Tokumitsu / Joined Nippon Television in 1963 and worked on &#8220;Zoom in! Morning! In 1989, he went freelance and continued to work on numerous TV and radio shows. He has continued to hold the microphone for more than 60 years, and is a &#8220;legend in the announcer world.</figcaption></figure>
<h2> He will soon be 85 years old!</h2>
 Soo~&#8230;&#8230; Soo~&#8230;&#8230;
 A few minutes after placing a pillow between his head and the window of the bus, the sun shining through the trees, Kazuo Tokumitsu (84), who is known for his &#8220;dozing off&#8221; appearance, woke up with his head still out of breath.
 I&#8217;m sorry to keep you waiting. For some reason I seem to get sleepy when I sit in this seat. &#8230;&#8230;
 Tokumitsu smiled a little awkwardly and bitterly as he said this.&#8217; He joined Nippon Television in 1963 and worked on &#8220;Zoom in! Morning! for nine years, and became a freelance announcer in 1989. After becoming a freelance announcer in 1989, she has continued to hold the microphone on the front lines for more than 60 years with numerous TV and radio shows.
 On this day, she was on location for &#8220;A Side Trip on a Route Bus&#8221; (TV Asahi), which will mark its 15th year next year and for which she is the MC. Before the recording, Tokumitsu sat in his favorite seat on the left end of the bus, the very back, and spoke with deep emotion.
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
 I&#8217;m surprised to hear that it&#8217;s been 15 years,&#8221; he said. Tetsuko Kuroyanagi (92) said to me, &#8216;Only you and pandas earn money by falling asleep. I am wondering to myself if I am really doing the right thing (laughs).
 In &#8220;Route Bus Journey,&#8221; Tokumitsu and celebrity Ritsuko Tanaka (54) are joined by a guest each time they take a bus to see the sights and enjoy local delicacies on a freewheeling journey. It is customary for Tokumitsu to doze off while the guests are on the bus. However, one wonders if the &#8220;dozing off&#8221; in the car is not staged. &#8230;&#8230;
 I&#8217;m really sleeping,&#8221; he said. I&#8217;m an announcer, so I can&#8217;t act. Buses are all about the &#8220;back seat&#8221; and the &#8220;shaking. I usually take the bus home from the nearest station, and when I was sitting in the front, I never got sleepy at all. One day, I happened to sit in the back seat because it was the only seat available, and before I knew it, I fell asleep and missed the bus. It really makes me sleepy. I thought, &#8220;Oh, it&#8217;s true that I get sleepy in the back seat, not only on &#8220;Bus Route Journey.
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
 When I asked him how many times he had fallen asleep since the program began airing, he twisted his head and said, &#8220;Uh-huh.
 I don&#8217;t know. I think I fell asleep 60% of the time we recorded the show (laughs). Sometimes I fall asleep as soon as I get on the bus, and no matter how interesting the guest is, I always have a &#8216;hiccup&#8217; moment. I can&#8217;t give commentary, but I find myself falling asleep. When I wake up from dozing off, Rikchan tells me, &#8220;You were asleep for five minutes. I feel like I&#8217;ve been asleep for quite a long time. Sometimes I have dreams.
 Tokumitsu&#8217;s unpretentious personality and the congeniality of his scenes were well received, and the show became popular among people of all ages. Last year, however, the show faced a major crisis, he recalls.
 At one point, I was having trouble getting on and off the bus because of back pain, and I thought I was done for. I thought I couldn&#8217;t continue the program. But last August, I underwent a rather major back surgery. The doctor was a wonderful doctor, and I am now able to walk again (laughs). (Laughs.) My life has been full of good fortune, such as meeting a good doctor and having a successful surgery.
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" My life was guided by Mr. Nagashima."></div>
<h3>In Pursuit of &#8220;Mr. Nagashima</h3>
 After graduating from the sociology department of Rikkyo University, Tokumitsu joined NTV at the age of 22, where he established himself as a nationally popular announcer with his friendly smile and light-hearted talk. He will turn 85 this March, and is expanding his activities from hosting to variety shows, YouTube channel, and more.
 He is now active in a variety of fields, from hosting TV shows to variety shows to a YouTube channel, etc. &#8220;My life, I think, was guided by Nagashima-san. He was the greatest of all.
 Tokumitsu opened up about his life as an announcer. He was the 89-year-old Shigeo Nagashima, honorary manager for life of the Yomiuri Giants, nicknamed &#8220;Mr. Professional Baseball,&#8221; who passed away in June of last year.
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
 Mr. Nagashima, Mr. Nagashima,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I&#8217;ve been saying &#8216;Mr. Nagashima, Mr. Nagashima&#8217; to this day. Looking back on my life after his passing, I can&#8217;t help but think that in a sense I was guided by my devotion to Mr. Nagashima.
 As he began to talk about his feelings toward Mr. Nagashima, his eyes were slightly teary.
 In the fall of my second year of high school, I saw Mr. Nagashima hit a home run that set a new college baseball record, and I was so impressed with how cool he looked that I thought, &#8216;I want to be his junior.
 When he resigned as manager of the Giants in 1980, I was in charge of &#8220;Zoom In! Morning! morning!&#8221; program I was in charge of, I said, &#8220;That was not a resignation, but a dismissal. I will not read the Yomiuri Shimbun or pick up the Hochi Shimbun from now on! I will not read the Yomiuri Shimbun or pick up the Hochi Shimbun from now on! Then, Mr. Nagashima, who had watched the program, contacted me and said, &#8220;Let&#8217;s meet once. It was the first time I had the opportunity to talk to him in front of him and in private, so I was completely excited.
 He even said to me, &#8220;If you have to leave NTV, I will take care of you. &#8230;&#8230; I still remember the image of Mr. Nagashima with a halo shining on him that day.
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
 Although his field of work was different, Tokumitsu continued to devote himself to his work with the great presence of Mr. Nagashima at the center of his heart. Then one day, he received a sudden news of his death.
 On the morning of the day he passed away, I was stunned by the shock. I was asked to appear on a memorial program, but at first I declined, saying I was not in the mood for such a program.
 However, when I watched various VTRs of Mr. Nagashima at home, I saw that he had a great smile on his face in all of them. I rather felt that I had to share this with as many people as possible, so I called the program manager again and was invited to appear on the program that night. As a communicator, I must continue to tell the story of how Mr. Nagashima has conveyed the fun of baseball.&#8221;
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Giant Baba&#39;s words that still remain in my heart"></div>
<h3>Golden Words of the Greatest Stars of the Showa Era</h3>
 It is no exaggeration to say that Shigeo Nagashima was a dedicated baseball broadcaster, but he also had a number of other major encounters along the way that shook his life.
 When he was a rookie, he was assigned to a pro-wrestling broadcast instead of a baseball broadcast, which he had hoped to do, and there he met Giant Baba (61 years old), the ace of All Japan Pro-Wrestling. He recalls that he learned the &#8220;coordinates of the mind&#8221; as an announcer.
 After a match was over, wrestlers would go out in the red-light district to drink and eat raw liver! There were a lot of passionate people who were like, &#8220;Okay, now we can have another bloody fight tomorrow! But Baba-san was too big to stand out, so he couldn&#8217;t go out much, so he often stayed in the room where we were touring, playing mahjong together and talking about all kinds of things.
 He said that there was one phrase from their time together that has stayed with him to this day.
 Baba told me, &#8216;Even close friends have courtesy, and I think this phrase is very important. Toku-san, in his work as a speaker, must have times when he meets various people and draws out stories from them. He often said to me, &#8220;It is important to be polite even when you are close to people.
 I know the saying itself, but when I really think about it, I realize that I should observe and consider the other person first, and not suddenly step into the room with my feet on the ground. When interviewing someone, I try to find something I can like about them even if I am meeting them for the first time and talk to them about it. I have made this my life since then. I learned this line from Baba-san, and it has been engraved in my heart like a motto.
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
 She was also influenced by Hibari Misora (52 years old), a great star of the Showa era singing world. He says that he still remembers the smile of Misora-san, who showed her ″face as a mother,″ &#8230;&#8230;.
 She had an adopted son, but she seemed really happy that she had become a &#8220;mother. When I met her at one of the sites, she said happily, &#8216;I became a mother and participated in a parent-teacher visitation day. It was the first time I had ever seen Hibari looking so happy. The greatest joy I have experienced in this job is that I have been able to catch a glimpse of the real faces of the great stars of the Showa era,&#8221; said Hibari.
 Another major turning point in his life was his encounter with former TBS announcer Hiroshi Kume (81 years old), who paved the way for the era as a pioneer in the announcer world. He was behind Tokumitsu&#8217;s decision to leave the company at the age of 48.
 Kume became a freelancer in 1979, and the following year he was selected as the fourth host of a talk show called &#8220;Fashionable&#8221; (Nippon Television). For some reason, he invited me, a local announcer, to be his guest, and I was impressed when he said, &#8216;It&#8217;s never easy being a freelancer, but I&#8217;d like to do my own news program.
 About 10 years have passed since then. About 10 years later, he reached a turning point in his career.
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
 At that time, &#8216;Zoom In&#8217; was in its 10th year, and I was transferred to the evening news program &#8216;News Plus 1&#8217; by order of the station&#8217;s management. But to tell the truth, I had never wanted to be in charge of a news program.
 In &#8217;89, about a year after I started the program, Mr. Kume, who was active in &#8220;News Station,&#8221; said, &#8220;If the Hiroshima Carp does not win this year, I will become a monk!　If the Giants win the championship, I will appear on Mr. Tokumitsu&#8217;s news program. If the Giants win the championship this year, I will appear on Mr. Tokumitsu&#8217;s news program.&#8221; The Giants really did win the championship, and Mr. Kume appeared on my program with a shaved head (laughs).
 (Laughs.) Thanks to that, the ratings got better, and I couldn&#8217;t quit the news program. As someone who wanted to do a singing show, I was in trouble. When you do a news program, you have to be at the news station all day long. I couldn&#8217;t do anything else, so I decided to go freelance with &#8230;&#8230;. Mr. Kume became a freelancer because he wanted to do news, but I became a freelancer because I wanted to quit news. In a sense, Mr. Kume was the reason I became a freelancer (laughs).
 Tokumitsu, who has held the microphone until today, says humorously, &#8220;I have been talking all my life.
 As I approach my 85th birthday, I am thinking that I would like to continue working until my great-grandchildren, who were born the year before last, know that &#8220;Daijii-san&#8221; is doing this kind of work. That is a small but very great hope for me right now.
 He has kept his entire announcing career in his heart as a source of pride.
<figure id="attachment_459272" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-459272" style="width: 2134px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="992d3c7f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/23b92e31e718a34420ccb09ff5a7ad7d.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-459272" class="wp-caption-text"> He looked happy when the words &#8220;A side trip on a local bus&#8221; appeared on the destination display.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_460677" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-460677" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="d7b07df4"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/add0dd5d6049797cc533f02cee22792c.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-460677" class="wp-caption-text"> My life has been full of good fortune.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_460679" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-460679" style="width: 1667px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="142a334f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/a81f948cbd97f8dbad316c759a94da39.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-460679" class="wp-caption-text"> Kazuo Tokumitsu, soon to be 85 years old, will soon be 85 years old! Special interview</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_460680" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-460680" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="463019dd"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/d52864c8d03e4d0f0b4ffec6c20c40bd.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-460680" class="wp-caption-text"> Kazuo Tokumitsu: Words from the great stars that have always stayed in his heart! Special Interview</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_460681" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-460681" style="width: 1667px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="e307e4e9"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/80d4423b4e7d4f66e44ffca8f230d07f.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-460681" class="wp-caption-text"> Kazuo Tokumitsu: Words from the Greatest Stars&#8221; that will remain in his heart forever, soon to be 85 years old! Special Interview</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_460682" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-460682" style="width: 1667px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="97a7309c"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/742d98a41f1aa1803c49f0bfb2526b0f.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-460682" class="wp-caption-text"> Kazuo Tokumitsu: Words from the Greatest Stars&#8221; that will remain in his heart for a long time, soon to be 85 years old! Special Interview</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_459274" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-459274" style="width: 1663px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="140daed4"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/0ba3af7faf68e3894f26c9adf7ec07ab.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-459274" class="wp-caption-text"> Unpublished cuts from the magazine Kazuo Tokumitsu will soon be 85 years old! Special interview</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_460683" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-460683" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="0a85c9fb"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/8eebed1c79d158d48b1a77221fcf2db5.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-460683" class="wp-caption-text"> Unpublished cuts from the magazine Kazuo Tokumitsu: Words of the great stars that have stayed with him throughout his life! Special interview</figcaption></figure>
 From &#8220;FRIDAY&#8221; March 13 and 20, 2026

 Yasuko Funamoto

 Kazuo Tokumitsu, soon to turn 85, has been a frontline announcer for more than 60 years. The announcing legend shares his secret stories of working with Shigeo Nagashima, Giant Baba, Hibari Misora, Hiroshi Kume, and others.

Kazuo Tokumitsu talks about his 63 years as an announcer: “Words from the ‘Great Stars’ that will always remain in my heart”.

Access Ranking