FRIDAYReport by Anna Nakagawa] We are both from NHK! Learning from Aika Kanda, a former NHK employee whom I admire

Anna Nakagawa (32), a first-year freelance announcer
Anna Nakagawa, 32, a first-year freelance announcer, will be asking celebrities from various fields to teach her a thing or two.
The first guest is Aika Kanda, who is entering her fourth year as a regular contributor to this magazine.
What is there to learn from a former NHK employee with so much in common?

I haven’t even told my parents.

Nakagawa：When I joined NHK in 2004, Kanda-san had already become a freelancer. Even so, I often heard my seniors at the station say, “Kanda-san was amazing. I had always admired his cheerful character and presence since I was a newcomer.

Kanda: I guess the point is that you are a rare “outlier” at the station. I haven’t been on a big stage like Anna did as a local anchor for the Olympics. I have always been a variety type of person, even though I wanted to be a news reporter. It was 10 years after I went freelance that I started writing a series for Friday. It’s been less than a year since I started freelancing for Friday. What’s the difference? (Laughs)

Nakagawa: It is wonderful that you have been writing for a weekly magazine for three years!

Kanda: “Odoru, Sanma Goten! Sanma Goten! (Nippon Television Network Corporation) was also amazing, wasn’t it?　(Nippon Television Network). I was there with you, and there were about five bigwigs from your office in the studio. It was like, “Here comes the black ship! It was like, “Here comes the black ship!

Nakagawa：We are very fortunate in terms of people and environment. Kanda-san and I left NHK at the same age of 31.

Kanda: That means you were there for 9 full years, right?

Nakagawa: That’s right. In my case, the major turning point was when I had to graduate from “Sunday Sports,” which I had been in charge of, before my 10th year at the station. What was the timing of your decision to go freelance?

Kanda: It was when I experienced the Great East Japan Earthquake at the broadcasting station in Shibuya. When I went to the news center, there was footage that had not yet been edited, but I saw things that were too stimulating to be broadcast. Even if you live your daily life diligently, a sudden natural disaster can end your life. I strongly felt that life from tomorrow could disappear in a flash.

Nakagawa: So that’s how it was. That was 11 years ago, 15 years ago now.

Kanda: I always wanted to be a newscaster, but because of my aptitude, I was often assigned to variety shows. Looking at the careers of my predecessors, even if I were able to work in news reporting, I would probably start at around 40 years old. When I realized that I would not be able to work in news until 10 years from now, I wondered what I would do if the earthquake struck tomorrow and changed my life. Then I thought it would be better to quit my job and put myself in an environment where I might be able to be involved in news reporting, even if only a little. I spent nearly a year thinking about it alone. I decided alone. I didn’t even tell my parents.

I wanted to be chairman of NHK.”

Nakagawa：That was a big decision for Kanda-san, who even wrote in the series, “I wanted to be the chairman of NHK.

Kanda: I had a great spirit of loyalty to the company. When I was in Fukuoka, my first post, for four years after joining the NHK, I did not watch any commercial broadcasters. I didn’t know any celebrities who weren’t on NHK at that time. Anyway, I thought I had to get used to the company and my seniors. How was Anna as a newcomer?

Nakagawa: I stopped wearing nail polish and perfume right away.

Kanda: You received guidance from your seniors, didn’t you?

Nakagawa: Yes, I did. But deep down inside, I had a feeling that it wasn’t quite right. The station had a policy in our era of “valuing the individuality of announcers as well. So I don’t feel that I’m contradicting myself, but it’s not so much that I’m contradicting myself. ……

Kanda: There was such a time.

Nakagawa: There was!　And I had also lived abroad, so I had a mindset of “express yourself.

Kanda: What is that?

Nakagawa: Value your own expression!　Nakagawa: You are expressing yourself!

Kanda: Because you suddenly become fluent. （It was like watching Genta Matsuda (of Travis Japan).

Nakagawa: Sorry (laughs). I grew up in that kind of environment, so I felt uncomfortable with detailed instructions on everything from hairstyles to clothes. That’s why I felt like I was pushing the envelope in my mind. ……

Kanda: Well, maybe it was good. If I had met Anna-chan at NHK, I would have scolded her. I would have scolded her, saying, “Don’t show your individuality through your nails or appearance, but through your work presence.

Nakagawa: Wow! (laughs) But as you say, maybe I was wearing the wrong clothes.

Anna Nakagawa’s FRIDAYReport Vol. 1, Part 2: Talking with Aika Kanda, a senior colleague whom she admires, about “announcers of the future.

Aika Kanda was born in Kanagawa Prefecture. After graduating from Gakushuin University with a degree in mathematics, she joined NHK as an announcer in 2003. After working at the Fukuoka Broadcasting Station, she moved to the Tokyo Announcing Office in 2007. She left NHK in 2012 and joined the entertainment agency St. Force. Currently, she appears regularly as the main MC of the daytime TV program “Poka Poka” (Fuji Television Network).

Born in Tokyo. Spent her childhood in Finland and Puerto Rico. She joined NHK as an announcer in 2004 and worked on “Sunday Sports” and as a local anchor for the Paris Olympics. After leaving NHK in the spring of 2013, she joined the entertainment agency HORIPRO and has been active as a freelance announcer and TV personality.

From the March 27/April 3, 2026 issue of “FRIDAY