<figure id="attachment_470079" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-470079" style="width: 1280px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="889cebe1"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/06/8e0ce3c181def2bbbfc6972b892193f3.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-470079" class="wp-caption-text">The venue for the first meeting was a restaurant frequented by celebrities, where this magazine had previously witnessed Masato Sakai &amp; Miho Kanno on a date. They left the restaurant together with Daijiro Enoki (then 30) and Tsubakihara (from the May 27, 2004 issue).</figcaption></figure>
<h3><span class="strongInContent"> Synchronizers gather to celebrate a new beginning</span></h3>
<p> What did &#8220;FRIDAY&#8221; report 10, 20, or 30 years ago? In this issue of &#8220;Playback Friday,&#8221; we revisit the topics that were hot at the time. This time, we take a look at the May 27, 2004 issue, which was published 10 years ago, and the <span class="strongInContent">entirety of the &#8220;Katopan Farewell Party,&#8221; where 32 of her classmates gathered, including the scene where she successfully rescued Keiko Tsubakihara, a drunken TV announcer</span>.</p>
<p> Ayako Kato, then 31, left Fuji Television at the end of April 2004. On the night of her last weekend, a farewell party was held at a creative restaurant in Shirokane (Minato Ward), Tokyo. Surrounding her that day were her 32 colleagues who had joined Fuji Television together in 2008, and who had been the face of Fuji Television for so long. The following is a report of the entire event (descriptions in parentheses are quotes from past articles, and titles are those of the time).</p>
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<p> Since announcing her departure in January of that year, several farewell parties have been held for Katopan, including those of big-name celebrities and Fuji Television executives. The last of these was held by her fellow classmates. Except for a few who could not attend due to work, everyone gathered to congratulate her on her departure.</p>
<p> The party was held in a partitioned space in the back of the restaurant. The inside of the room was hidden from the other customers, but their happy voices could be heard. The article at the time reported the scene as follows.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> 《&#8221;Everyone, are you ready for the camera?　It&#8217;s a &#8230;&#8230; &#8216;good night&#8217; cake for Aya~!&#8221;</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Just after 8 p.m., when all the participants had arrived, a cake was brought to the venue, and the beautiful voice of Keiko Tsubakihara, then 30, who was apparently the hostess, echoed out. Yay! and the attendees were in high spirits.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Tsubakihara: Who wants to take a two-shot photo with Aya?　What? All of you, then!</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Male employee: Let&#8217;s all say &#8220;Otsukare-sama&#8221; in Se-ne. Se-no &#8230;&#8230;</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Good-bye, everyone!</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Male employee Let&#8217;s take a picture together. Let&#8217;s take a picture together!</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Amidst the cheers, Katopan said in a high-pitched voice, &#8220;Thank you very much!</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Thank you very much!</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> and a round of applause erupted.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Male employee: I don&#8217;t think this short time will fill the gap of eight years (laughs), but let&#8217;s have fun!</span></p>
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<p> The party proceeded with an air of openness that could only come from being in the same class, and the group left the restaurant after 9:00 p.m., but went straight to the after-party. It was nearly 1:00 a.m. when Katopan and the others reappeared from the Azabu Juban bar where the party was held.</p>
<p> Next to Katopan was Keiko Tsubakihara, who was completely tongue-tied. The next moment, her staggered legs became tangled and she almost fell. Katopan grabbed her hand and saved her from a near-fall. He then pulled Tsubakihara&#8217;s hand, <span class="strongInContent">saying, &#8220;Here we go,&#8221;</span> and headed for the after-party.</p>
<p> By the time the after-party ended at 3:30 a.m., Katopan was enjoying the company of her peers, looking nonchalant, showing no signs of fatigue or tears. Even though it was her own farewell party, Katopan was still a dignified Fuji Television ace to the very end.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The Harsh Days of an Ace TV Announcer"></div>
<h3><span class="strongInContent">The &#8220;face&#8221; of Fuji even after going freelance</span></h3>
<p> Katopan was the main anchor of &#8220;Mezamashi TV&#8221; and host of numerous variety shows, and was the ace of Fuji Television in the early &#8217;10s. Her schedule was hard, arriving at the office at 3:00 a.m. every morning, appearing on &#8220;Mezamashi&#8221; and then staying late into the night to record variety shows. Now that she has gone freelance, she is free of this schedule and earns many times more than she did during her time as a station announcer.</p>
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<p> FRIDAY&#8221; (February 12, 2004 issue) interviewed Katopan the day after she announced her departure. <span class="strongInContent">The magazine asked, &#8220;Will Fuji Television be all right now that its ace announcer has quit?&#8221;</span> Katopan <span class="strongInContent">answered</span> cheerfully <span class="strongInContent">, &#8220;It&#8217;s totally fine!</span> Katopan answered cheerfully.</p>
<p> However, in 2007, Katopan returned to the &#8220;face of Fuji&#8221; as the main anchor of the evening news program &#8220;Live News It! an evening news program that started in April. Even after going freelance, she was still an indispensable presence at Fuji Television.</p>
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<p> In June 2009, she announced her marriage to the second president (now retired) of a major supermarket, Ropia, and in September 2010, she graduated from &#8220;It! and took a break from her activities, saying that she wanted to spend more time with her family. She then gave birth to her first daughter. After taking maternity leave, in April 2013, she became the MC of the variety show &#8220;Naze There? (TV Tokyo) in April 2013 after two and a half years of maternity leave. Recently, she has been uploading photos of her two-year-old daughter on Instagram.</p>
<p> It seems that she is still as energetic as before in both child-rearing and work.</p>

<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The moment of impact: Ah, Tsubakihara Announcer!"></div>
<figure id="attachment_470085" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-470085" style="width: 1280px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="7f05239f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/06/ccd5fc7c10af5cbb5713ef033c7e3390.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-470085" class="wp-caption-text">Katopan and the others were heading to the after-party venue. At this time, Tsubakihara&#8217;s steps were already unsteady (from the May 27, 2004 issue).</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_470083" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-470083" style="width: 1280px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="4312b789"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/06/faea6a98c36b228440453d43d8ed20eb.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-470083" class="wp-caption-text"> An accident occurred when they left the after-party venue. Tsubakihara-san, are you all right?　I was so worried that my legs were bent and I almost fell over. &#8230;&#8230; (from the May 27, &#8217;16 issue)</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_470086" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-470086" style="width: 2039px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="84fc20e9"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/06/a726ce99f3f3c81658c57a6d9d2dfe69.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-470086" class="wp-caption-text"> Tsubakihara Anna completely lost her position. Note the overly calm expression on Katopan&#8217;s face (from May 27, &#8217;16 issue).</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_470082" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-470082" style="width: 2039px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="13cad256"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/06/534bd44fad6dc0409bec08f4a4551333.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-470082" class="wp-caption-text"> He grabbed her arm and caused her to completely recover (from the May 27, &#8217;16 issue).</figcaption></figure>



 Takero Yui (1st and 2nd), Junsei Todoroki (3rd to 5th)

 In this issue of Playback, we take a look back at what we reported 10, 20, and 30 years ago. Katopan left Fuji Television at the end of April 2004. We will introduce her farewell party held by her colleagues who joined the company at the end of April '16.

Playback ’16] Rescuing a Drunken Classmate…Katopan, Who Left Fuji, Shows Her “Dignity as an Ace” at the Farewell Party.

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