Freelance Announcer Aika Kanda: “A Cuckoo That Won’t Sing—What Would You Do?”

A Fearsome Warlord

I went to Nikko Toshogu Shrine in Tochigi Prefecture with my mother. It had been about 35 years since I last visited—back on a school trip when I was in elementary school. This was my first visit since it was designated a World Cultural Heritage Site.

My mom, who loves to travel, is always asking me, “When’s our next trip?” so we end up traveling together—both domestically and abroad—about four times a year.We’ve always chosen destinations that were new to both of us, but we’re starting to run out of ideas for tourist spots we can pop over to from Tokyo on the weekend. So, we decided to visit Nikko Toshogu Shrine—a place I’d been to before, but so long ago that I had almost no memory of it.

As it turned out, thanks to having completely forgotten the details, we experienced discoveries and emotions as if it were our very first visit—exclamations like, “So the Three Monkeys were actually along the approach path, right where the Yomeimon Gate comes into view, and I just couldn’t help but stare at it!” or “The Sleeping Cat was right above that spot where there’s a step at your feet, causing your gaze to drop downward!” We were thrilled.

After huffing and puffing my way up the 207 steps, I reached the tomb of Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu. There, for the first time in a long while, I had this conversation with my mother. Between Oda Nobunaga’s “If it won’t sing, kill it—the cuckoo,” Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s“If it won’t sing, let’s make it sing, cuckoo,” and Tokugawa Ieyasu’s “If it won’t sing, let’s wait until it does, cuckoo”—which type of warlord do you like best?

I’m sure this is a conversation many of you readers have had countless times as well. These verses clearly capture the personalities of these three superstars of Japanese history. It’s a three-way choice where you compare them to analyze your own aspirations and way of thinking.

Ever since I was a child, my answer to this question has been “Oda Nobunaga!” His overwhelming charisma and intimidating presence made a powerful impression on me as a young child who had just begun studying Nobunaga. Since then, I’ve come to see Nobunaga as the most fearsome of the three—and as someone to look up to.

On the other hand, while Toyotomi Hideyoshi comes across as honest and wise in that verse, he lacks charisma, momentum, and glamour. Tokugawa Ieyasu is described as “calm”—but why wait? Won’t you get anxious if you just wait?—and to an impatient person like me, he was seen as a harmless, laid-back type I simply couldn’t understand.

But on this day, when I talked with my mother about this verse for the first time in a long while, it suddenly occurred to me: “Wait a minute… maybe it’s actually the other way around. Could Ieyasu be the most terrifying figure of all!?”

Nobunaga, who clashed relentlessly with his generals with his strong will and ultimately brought about his own downfall.The Toyotomi clan, who seized control of the realm through painstaking, steady effort, only to fall before their rule could endure. Ieyasu, meanwhile, watched them all intently, waiting for the time to be ripe… and when the moment came—“Now!”—he moved in smoothly, ultimately ruling longer than anyone else. I was right all along: (Ieyasu is the most terrifying of them all!!).

I never imagined I’d find a connection to Ieyasu.

I didn’t realize that—not only during my student days, but even in my 20s and 30s. But now that I’ve been in the workforce for nearly a quarter-century, having met so many people and gone through so many experiences, I’ve finally come to appreciate the strength and intimidating presence of Tokugawa Ieyasu—the man who could say, “If it won’t sing, I’ll wait until it does.”“Aika, you did a great job,” I found myself wanting to praise myself.

But at the same time, I realized something else. When my fellow NHK announcers from the same intake started making a name for themselves much sooner than I did, I felt incredibly anxious. When the freelance announcers around me were appearing on more glamorous shows than I was and seemed to be having a great time, I felt incredibly jealous.

But I didn’t throw down the gauntlet to them, nor did I make any overt moves; I just kept bottling up that frustration. And while thinking, “Just you wait—I’ll definitely surpass you someday!” I was biding my time, waiting for an opening to break in…

And now, thankfully, I’m receiving work opportunities. Could this mean I’m actually like Ieyasu!? (No way—am I really the Ieyasu type?!) The realization came as a shock, and I started to get scared of myself.

I haven’t conquered the realm myself, but if I’m similar to him, I feel I’d better know what happened to Ieyasu after he became the ruler of Japan. If Ieyasu made mistakes, shouldn’t I avoid making them too!? I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I’ve never been good at studying Japanese history, and I know almost nothing about what happened to him after he took power.I think I’ll go back and reread that section of the educational manga *Japanese History* that I read a long time ago.

Aika Kanda / Born in 1980 in Kanagawa Prefecture.After graduating from the Department of Mathematics in the Faculty of Science at Gakushuin University, she joined NHK as an announcer in 2003. She left NHK in 2012 to become a freelance announcer. Since then, she has been active primarily in variety shows and currently appears regularly as the main MC on the daytime series “Pokapoka” (Fuji TV network).

★Her first book , *Where Does the ‘Royal Road’ Lead? * , a compilation of this series , is now on sale to great acclaim!

From the August 7 & 14, 2026, combined issue of *FRIDAY*