<figure id="attachment_468830" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-468830" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="210844ab"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/05/d58514216b4915384531567100959cea.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-468830" class="wp-caption-text">Illustration by Kanda-san</figcaption></figure>
<h2> Zero appearance fees and zero ties!</h2>
<p> Wanting to start something new, I decided to distribute my own show via podcast starting Saturday, May 23. The title is &#8220;Aihana to Hitomi. I put each other&#8217;s names on it because it is a show where I chat with my friend and cellist Hitomi Niikura.</p>
<p> I paid for the production out of my own pocket. I paid for the costumes used for the thumbnail shots, the studio, the cameraman, and the personnel expenses for the recording. The appearance fee was, of course, zero yen.</p>
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<p> When I watch TV, I see celebrities happily playing games, touring tourist spots, and eating delicious food. Everyone has probably thought at one time or another, &#8220;It&#8217;s nice that celebrities get paid for playing. They eat and enter places where you have to wait in line to eat or that are normally off-limits, all with the ease of a job. For me, too, these are unique experiences that I am very thankful to have accumulated inside me.</p>
<p> But the truth is that all of that freedom and joy are presented in a trial-and-error manner under many restrictions.</p>
<p> In the limited space where we were allowed to take pictures, we were not allowed to mention competing stores or products, and we were required to make sure to comment on these things, etc. In order for the guests to enjoy the event, we had to take a step back while at the same time raising our voices and assisting them, and even if we knew what was going to happen, we would wait for them without saying a word. Even if they know what is going to happen, they wait patiently without saying a word. &#8230;&#8230;</p>
<p> There is no such thing as a &#8220;free&#8221; performance, and our important job as entertainers is to show how much &#8220;free style&#8221; we have amidst the many restrictions and direction.</p>
<p> And after we are able to do that, we can finally have a moment that we (truly enjoy!). ) for even one second longer. The success or failure of this process is the key to whether or not you will be able to think, &#8220;Ah, today&#8217;s work was fun,&#8221; when you get home.</p>
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<p> I am not acting as I please. I know that there are quite a few people who have seen me on programs and feel that I don&#8217;t like to speak freely, or that I am too air-headed and unpleasant to watch. If you egosay, you will always see those words.</p>
<p> In a sense, this is proof that we are being shown to be completely &#8220;freewheeling,&#8221; which is a great success for our work. But after more than a decade of being told this, I gradually began to wonder, &#8220;What would happen if I really worked in a free place? I began to think, &#8220;What would happen if I really worked in a free place?</p>
<p> And when that became a reality, I became interested in the possibility of meeting a part of myself that I didn&#8217;t even know existed yet. ), and I thought, &#8220;Okay, I&#8217;ll work in an environment with zero ties!　I&#8217;ll start a self-financed program to work in an environment with zero strings attached! I came up with the idea to start a self-financed program in order to work in an environment with zero ties.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" To be truly free."></div>
<h2>A partner who can bring out the true Aika</h2>
<p> I have been friends with my partner, Hitomi Niikura, for 10 years after meeting her through work. She has spent half of her life overseas. We both share the same thing in that we both have a foreign mindset and grew up as young ladies. We have similar values and financial sense, and before getting to the main topic of what we want to talk about, we often ask each other, &#8220;What do you mean by that?　What do you mean by that? before getting to the main topic of conversation.</p>
<p> They also respect each other&#8217;s way of life and work, and have similar ideas about married life and the role of women in society.</p>
<p> And above all, when we went to an Okinawan restaurant together, she said to me, &#8220;If we share the mozuku we love so much, it won&#8217;t be enough, so let&#8217;s order a plate for each of us! He immediately agreed with my opinion, saying, &#8220;That&#8217;s a good idea! She immediately agreed with me. This was the moment when I felt I could be myself in front of her! This was the moment I realized that I could be myself in front of her, and it was the deciding factor for me to want to work together with her.</p>
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<p> We have already recorded up to #3 and are just waiting for the first delivery. We both usually wear glamorous clothes and smile in most of the photos, so for the thumbnail photo, we decided to overturn the image we had so far, and put on a menswear-like outfit with a bow tie to create a crisp look.</p>
<p> I&#8217;m still somewhat out of the habit of speaking as if I&#8217;m doing it in a staged situation, but I&#8217;m sincerely enjoying doing it. By the way, the title of #1 is &#8220;How are you, Sean K.?&#8221; The title of #1, by the way, is &#8220;How are you, Sean K.? I feel that if I keep going with this, in a few more sessions I will get used to the &#8220;freedom,&#8221; and I will be able to speak honestly about what I really think and think.</p>
<p> What happens when people who are usually considered free get real freedom!　I would like you to find out with your own ears.</p>
<figure id="attachment_468829" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-468829" style="width: 3004px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-468829 size-full" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/05/83614dfb64f7defb962a677fca6ada4d-1.jpg" alt="" width="3004" height="3734"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-468829" class="wp-caption-text"> © Kazuki Shimomura</figcaption></figure>
<p> Aika Kanda was born in 1980 in Kanagawa Prefecture. After graduating from Gakushuin University with a degree in mathematics, she joined NHK as an announcer in 2003, and left in 2012 to become a freelance announcer. Since then, she has been active mainly in variety shows, and currently appears regularly as the main MC of the daytime TV program &#8220;Poka Poka&#8221; (Fuji Television Network).</p>
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<p> Her first book, &#8221; <a href="https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E7%8E%8B%E9%81%93%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6%E3%81%84%E3%81%86%E9%81%93%E3%80%81%E3%81%A9%E3%81%93%E3%81%AB%E9%80%9A%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6%E3%81%BE%E3%81%99%E3%81%8B-%E7%A5%9E%E7%94%B0-%E6%84%9B%E8%8A%B1/dp/4065361834?&amp;linkCode=sl1&amp;tag=fridaymag-22&amp;linkId=7b143dc06b0a909efda233f6deb7d36a&amp;language=ja_JP&amp;ref_=as_li_ss_tl">Where are you going on the road called Royal Road?</a> is now on sale by popular demand!</p>
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<p> From &#8220;FRIDAY&#8221; June 5 and 12, 2026 issue</p>
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 Aika Kanda

 I wanted to start something new, so I decided to distribute my own show. It is a program in which I chat with cellist Hitomi Niikura, whom I have known for 10 years since we met through work. Unlike ″free wind″ TV...what happens when you get real freedom!

Freelance Announcer Aika Kanda “I’m Starting a Podcast at My Own Expense

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