<figure id="attachment_463242" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-463242" style="width: 2000px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="238af308"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/14f488d6ba77019ac7fab2e8846375fa.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-463242" class="wp-caption-text">Ushikubo is a big fan of the Hanshin Tigers and attends around 40 games every year at the stadium. The photo shows him at Koshien Stadium in September 2025. He is cheering for Shota Morishita, then in his third year with the team.</figcaption></figure>
 From idols and actors to anime characters and sports teams, the &#8220;guessing game&#8221; has now spread to all genres. However, it is also true that there is a cold eye toward those who are enthusiastic about &#8220;guessing games. Some people may think that it is meaningless to be happy or sad about other people&#8217;s victory or defeat, or that they are wasting their time and money to pay tribute to others.
 However, marketer Megumi Ushikubo asserts in her book, &#8220;If You Want to Be Fulfilled by a Sense of Happiness, Get to Know Hanshin Fans,&#8221; that highly enthusiastic fan activities greatly increase people&#8217;s sense of happiness. Moreover, it also contributes in no small measure to physical health.
 How much of a positive impact can &#8220;guess activity&#8221; have on our physical and mental health? We interviewed Mr. Ushikubo, an MBA holder who has popularized a number of buzzwords such as &#8220;hitorisama&#8221; and &#8220;soshoku-kei,&#8221; to find out.
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<h2> Watching TV is enough to turn the numbers around!</h2>
 &#8211;In his book, &#8220;If You Want to Be Filled with a Sense of Happiness, Get to Know Hanshin Fans,&#8221; he analyzed the relationship between happiness and Hanshin fans based on numerous research papers and a survey of approximately 3,000 female Hanshin fans. I was surprised by the results of the study that showed an improvement in symptoms among mild dementia patients who were Hanshin fans during the period after the Hanshin National Baseball Team won the championship.
 Hi. On the other hand, the figures did not change or worsened among those who did not watch sports or did not have a favorite team.
 &#8211;(All parentheses in the following are from Ushikubo.) &#8211; It is also interesting to note that Hanshin fans showed a decrease in stress hormone levels just by watching a game on TV. What made you become a Hanshin fan in the first place?
 Originally, I was a big Giants fan. However, I had various problems, and there was a time when I &#8220;drifted&#8221; to Seibu, Yakult, and the Daiei Hawks (then manager Sadaharu Oh, 85). Then, on the day the Hanshin Tigers, led by late manager Senichi Hoshino, won the championship in 2003, I became a Hanshin fan as if I had been struck by lightning.
 To be more precise, I became a Hanshin fan because I was moved by &#8220;the cool smile of Manager Hoshino who hugged and patted Norihiro Akahoshi (49) on the head after he gave up a dramatic hit in the game that decided the championship.
 &#8211;I was so moved by the coolness of Hoshino&#8217;s smile that I became a Hanshin fan.
 Generally speaking, it&#8217;s a &#8220;guessing game,&#8221; but for me it&#8217;s &#8220;participating (fighting together)&#8221; (laughs). When the annual schedule for the season is released, I try to avoid working in Tokyo during the Japan Series and Climax Series. This is because the championship may be decided in Koshien (Hyogo Prefecture).
 Even so, I can only watch about 40 games a year. I watch the actual games at the stadium from start to finish, and after returning home, I review everything from the top of the first inning on video.
 &#8211;And he does this even though he knows who wins and who loses, and even where the score will be decided?
 I also want to review other details, such as how the players looked at bat or on the bench, or how much pain they were in when a ball was hit by a dead ball and whether they seemed to be okay. I want to review the details.
<figure id="attachment_463249" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-463249" style="width: 1533px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="2cbd5957"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/3021547c0a4db39c7fd04e30861249b9.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-463249" class="wp-caption-text"> Ushikubo is a generation and trend critic and marketing writer. He has appeared in &#8220;Tokoro-san! Case!&#8221; (NHK Sogo), &#8220;Honma dekka! TV&#8221; (Fuji TV), &#8220;N-Sta&#8221; (TBS), &#8220;Yonchan TV&#8221; (Mainichi Broadcasting System), and other TV programs as a regular commentator.</figcaption></figure>
 &#8211;He is in a state of &#8220;swamp,&#8221; but he is recharging his body and mind with energy by promoting the Hanshin project, isn&#8217;t that right?
 Dopamine (neurotransmitter) in the brain is released as a rewarding hormone that gives a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment when one&#8217;s intentions are fulfilled. However, it seems that dopamine is most likely to be released while you are excitedly anticipating that you are going to achieve your wish, rather than at the moment it comes true.
 In this light, it is actually more exciting to imagine &#8220;I&#8217;m going to enter the Koshien! and preparing for the event with excitement is the most pleasant time. In other words, the &#8220;guessing game&#8221; gives us a sense of happiness not only during the game, but also in our daily lives before the game.
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Research on Increasing Happiness"></div>
<figure id="attachment_463243" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-463243" style="width: 1332px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="35af346f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/935cc39ac772a1a911475edae765efa7.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-463243" class="wp-caption-text">The words &#8220;Otorisama (market)&#8221; (2005) and &#8220;Soshokukei (men)&#8221; (2009), which he popularized through his books, were ultimately nominated for the New Words and Words of the Year Award.</figcaption></figure>
<h2> Serendipity&#8221; is important in the guessing game!</h2>
 &#8211;What is the difference between &#8220;guesswork&#8221; and mere fan activities?
 Until around 2010, &#8220;moe&#8221; was the trendy word. Until around 2010, &#8220;moe&#8221; was the trendy word. It was a two-party relationship, so to speak, between the subject and myself. The fans around you were your rivals, and were more like an obstacle.
 Since 2012, however, social networking services have become widespread, and people are now able to communicate with like-minded people on a regular basis. However, since 2012, social networking has become widespread, and people are now able to connect with like-minded people through their &#8220;guesses&#8221; and enjoy the company of them. In Japan, it is expected that about half of the population will be &#8220;single&#8221; by 2035, and more and more people will be living in isolation.
 Even in such a society, &#8220;Shikkatsu&#8221; is a way to support each other as &#8220;social capital. In fact, research has shown that people&#8217;s happiness level increases when they engage in activities with multiple people.
 &#8211;It is true that cheering together, watching artworks and live performances, and collecting goods are more enjoyable when you have a group of friends.
 The sense of togetherness among Hanshin fans at Koshien is truly that of a family. Even if the people seated near each other have never met before, as the game progresses, they get excited as if they are old acquaintances. When the Hanshin team scores a goal or hits a home run, everyone high-fives each other and gives each other gifts of goods, food, and alcohol. This is a scene unique to Hanshin fans, or rather to Koshien. It is a feeling I could not experience when I was cheering for other teams.
 So when I go to Koshien, along with the anticipation of the game, my heart is filled with excitement, wondering what kind of people I will meet today. When I sit down at the stadium, I almost always greet the Hanshin fans in front of, behind, and to the left and right of me, saying, &#8216;I look forward to meeting you today.
 -There are many people who have not yet started the guessing game. How can people of a certain age find something to get into so that they can make their debut in the guessing game?
 &#8216;Actually, it turns out that the release of dopamine from guesswork is similar to that of romance. If you have a crush on someone, you get a crush on them when you think your eyes might have met, and sometimes you have a &#8220;chance encounter&#8221; (serendipity). Recent studies have shown that serendipity is less likely to occur in people who only follow a set routine.
 So, please dare to incorporate actions that break the routine of your daily routine. For example, you may take a walk along a street you would not normally take, watch a movie you would not normally see, or buy a new product at a convenience store where you normally only buy what you have decided to buy. By acting differently from your normal routine, you increase the likelihood that serendipity will attract new targets for your thrusting activities.&#8221;
 &#8211;An acquaintance of mine is a man in his 50s who started a guessing game for &#8217;80s idols after hearing a song playing at a tavern he was traveling in and remembering how much he used to love them.
 He said, &#8220;I think there are probably a few things that middle and senior citizens have done that they wanted to do when they were younger but never got around to doing or gave up on. The same is true of the idol guessing activities of people I know. The subject can be 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional.
 Today, the environment is more conducive to easy and casual guesswork. In the past, it took a lot of money and time to pursue a target, but now there are free SNS and video sites. You can easily access them in your spare time.
 However, do not overdo it. Take care of yourself first by getting a good night&#8217;s sleep on a regular basis and living a life that regulates your autonomic nervous system as much as possible. I say this with some self-recommendation (laughs). The important point is to then find your guess and enjoy it.
<figure id="attachment_463250" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-463250" style="width: 3024px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="a15eed56"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/4e46ad0f635b7abc5da8b66143f5cba3-rotated.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-463250" class="wp-caption-text"> Ushikubo is also a visiting professor at Rikkyo University&#8217;s graduate school. He is also the author of many books, the latest of which is &#8220;If You Want to Be Filled with a Sense of Happiness, Get to Know Hanshin Fans: The Effects and Laws Marketers Have Realized&#8221; (Shueisha).</figcaption></figure>
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 &#8211;It&#8217;s a fun way to promote your work, but it can also have a downside if you do it too much. Please tell us what we should pay attention to.
 First of all, don&#8217;t spend too much money. It is a good idea to create a separate account for your guesswork. Enjoy guess-utilization on a limited budget. However, I am not too patient when I say so (laughs). Even when I run out of money in my dedicated account, I sometimes break my own rule by saying, &#8220;I&#8217;ll pay with PayPay just this once. Of course, I have to be disciplined.
 Of course, it is best if you can control yourself, but it is better to have friends around you who can stop you from running amok. In my case, I have to say, &#8216;I&#8217;ve had enough of this. &#8216; and my husband, who gives me a hard time, is that person (laughs).
 Also, I also recommend that you have more than one object for your thrusting activities. If you are too much into one object, it is easy to become overly dependent on it. If my &#8220;infatuation&#8221; was only with the Hanshin Tigers, I might only pursue the victory in front of me or the championship of the current season.
 If that is the case, when the team loses, I may become aggressive and say, &#8220;Why did the manager take such an unfortunate turn? or &#8220;I cheered for them so hard, but they didn&#8217;t win,&#8221; when they lose.
 That is why I spread the risk by being aware of multiple guess activities. For example, I try to enjoy traveling, eating out, and other sports, so even if the Hanshin team loses, I can be satisfied with the mid- to long-term return by saying, &#8216;Well, but I&#8217;m glad that the new player, ●●, played well today.
 &#8211;If the feeling of &#8220;I&#8217;m rooting for you single-mindedly&#8221; is too strong, it doesn&#8217;t look like they are very happy. I have an idea of that kind of fan (laughs).
 Having multiple hobbies and activities that you like to pursue can have a &#8220;synergy effect&#8221; as well. For example, in my case, I enjoy traveling and visiting hotels when I go to Hanshin games, and I get excited when I can go to a restaurant that serves delicious specialties. Well-being studies also show that people who have two or three guesses are happier than those who have zero or one.
 I would like to make my life longer and happier by starting to enjoy many guesses.
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 Interview and text by Yutaka Sano 
Yutaka Sano is a freelance writer. His main areas of expertise are business and the humanities, and he is active in reporting and writing articles for magazines, the Internet, and other media. He is the author of numerous books.
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 Courtesy of the artist, Yutaka Sano (4th photo)

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