NTV’s Erina Iwata, on the verge of becoming a freelance announcer! A Gorgeous Night at an Upscale Yakiniku Restaurant

From April, she will be working for an entertainment company that includes Seiji Miyane and Shinichi Hatori…

A weekend in late February. A crowd had gathered in front of a yakiniku restaurant in Tokyo known for its difficulty in making reservations. At the center of the crowd, with a big smile on her face, was Erina Iwata, 30, an announcer at Nippon Television Network Corporation. She was smiling broadly with her hands on her stomach, looking extremely happy.

She joined NTV in 2006, and since then has worked on “Sekai Maruhei Television Special Searches” and “Boiling! TV Special Investigation Department” and “Boiling Word 10”. She was called the “next ace” following Mami Mizuto (38). However, it was reported last December that she was leaving the program, and on the March 8 broadcast of “Shuichi,” for which she serves as MC, she announced her departure and graduation from the program.

According to the schedule at the end of last year, Iwata was scheduled to continue to work on “Shuichi” during the next season. Hideyuki Nakayama (58), the show’s facilitator, is usually very respectful of the performers and the show’s crew, and it would be more natural to assume that Iwata had asked to leave the show rather than for the show’s own reasons.

After 7:30 p.m., Iwata left the restaurant and boarded a shuttle with a good-looking man and went to a bar about 15 minutes away. About two hours later, after enjoying the after-party to the fullest, she was on her way home in the same car.

She is scheduled to transfer to her new agency in April, but even before she joins the agency, she is being welcomed with open arms, being picked up and dropped off in the agency’s car. I heard that she has already been offered MC programs at other stations. Since she does not have the image of a news reporter, it seems that she will expand her activities to variety shows.

Even if she goes freelance, her work will be safe and sound, which explains her exuberant smile.

From the March 27 and April 3, 2026 issue of FRIDAY