[Anna Nakagawa’s FRIDAY Report] Naomi Trauden Reveals “How to Come to Terms with the ‘Self That Others Expect’”

[Anna Nakagawa’s FRIDAY Report / Issue 4, Part 1] Naomi Trauden, Whose Acting Career Is Booming: “It’s the Days When I Hit a Wall That Are the Most Fun”

Even if it means cutting back on sleep

Anna Nakagawa: I imagine your daily schedule was already quite busy to begin with—did you have any secrets for taking on new challenges amidst all that?

Naomi Trauden: In my case, I believe life is all about luck, fate, and timing, so I’m always thinking about not letting those opportunities slip away. To do that, I think it’s important to leave some breathing room in my daily routine.

Nakagawa: You mean making sure to set aside proper days off as much as possible?

Naomi: That’s right, but there are times when I’m so busy I can’t carve out any time at all. In those cases, I force myself to make time to recharge. For me, that means spending time with horses.

Nakagawa: I see! You’re skilled enough to have competed in the national equestrian championships last year, after all. I hear you even hold a coaching certification.

Tora: That’s right. It’s intense aerobic exercise, so it clears my head, and just being in contact with an animal’s body is therapeutic in itself. It helps me regain my mental balance and broadens my narrowed perspective. So, to give an example from a really tough period, there were times when I’d wake up at 4:30 in the morning, go ride a horse for three hours, and then appear on a live broadcast just before noon.

Nakagawa: That’s amazing. Are you one of those people who can get by without sleep?

Tora: Actually, I’m the type who wants to sleep eight hours (laughs). But I figured it’s worse to be so swamped that I feel suffocated. If I don’t do that, I might miss an opportunity when it actually comes along. Speaking of taking on new challenges, you were in the same boat, Nakagawa-san, right? You went freelance last year. Weren’t you afraid to make that decision?

Nakagawa: I did feel it, but I think my sense that I had to change my environment was even stronger. Maybe what scared me more was getting too comfortable or too settled. I want to work in a way that always leaves room for growth.

Tora: I totally get that. Like you said, I think maintaining the status quo is stagnation. It might even be a step backward. Everyone around you is growing, and you’re the only one standing still.

Nakagawa: Exactly! But to be honest, even at Trauden-san’s age, I hadn’t quite reached that level of thinking yet (laughs).

Caught Between Public Perception and Reality

Tora: It’s great to see you appearing on so many variety shows these days.

Nakagawa: I do tend to talk about my own failures all the time, though…

Tora: I think that’s amazing. I couldn’t do that myself.

Nakagawa: It’s really hard. Since I’ve been cast, I try my hardest to figure out what’s expected of me, but when I try to make variety-show-style comments—just to be polite, I guess—only those parts end up in online news articles and go viral. To people who only see that, I’m probably just a flashy, attention-seeking girl.

Tora: When people expect something from you, you naturally want to deliver, don’t you? I totally get that feeling. I guess we’re both serious at heart (laughs).

Nakagawa: I think the public probably sees Ms. Trauden as intellectual or cool, but in reality, you’re very down-to-earth—there’s a bit of a contrast there.

Tora: That’s the greatest compliment. That said, I don’t want to completely dismiss my public image, because I think it’s also the result of me constantly trying my best to live up to what’s expected of me. But there was a time when I felt I had to shoulder that image too heavily, and it was pretty tough back then.For example, on variety shows, I wanted to be more relaxed and natural, but I’d worry that viewers might find the contrast with my public image off-putting, so I’d end up deciding to just play it safe.

Nakagawa: But you’re actually such a playful person.

Tora: But now I think that all the effort I put into meeting those expectations has definitely helped build my skills. Life is long, so I’d be happy if word naturally spreads through projects like today’s or from people who’ve actually met me in person—so that people say, “Torauden is actually a pretty funny person.”

[Anna Nakagawa’s Post-Interview Notes]

Looking back, when I was a child, the careers many girls aspired to were model, actress, and TV anchor… Ms. Trauden holds all of these titles.

But she’s not intimidating at all—during breaks, she’d chat and laugh heartily with the staff, or crack jokes to make everyone laugh. That’s why, when she instantly switched into model mode the moment the shoot started, I was completely captivated by that contrast.

How on earth does one become such a superhuman?

I thought I might find a clue in her comment that she “listened closely to what adults had to say from a young age.” She suggested that this might be how she learned to naturally sense the atmosphere of a situation and adapt flexibly to know when and in what tone to speak. I was deeply moved by this insight, which is unique to Ms. Trauden, who entered the modeling world at age 13 and has spent her life interacting with people older than herself.

Although Ms. Trauden is six years younger than me, it was a rich and enjoyable conversation full of insights I want to emulate and lessons I can learn from.

[Anna Nakagawa’s FRIDAY Report / Part 4, Part 1] Actress Naomi Trauden, Whose Career Is Booming: “It’s the Days When I Hit a Wall That Are the Most Fun”

《Naomi Trauden: Born in Kyoto Prefecture to a German father and a Japanese mother, she won the Grand Prix at “Miss Teen Japan” in 2012 and made her debut at age 13 as the youngest exclusive model for the fashion magazine *CanCam*.A graduate of Keio University’s Faculty of Law, Department of Political Science, she appears on news and economic programs and is currently active as an actress. In the currently airing drama *Crossroad: The Promise of Emergency Medicine* (TV Asahi, every Tuesday at 9:00 p.m.), she plays Akari Aoyama, a new nurse.For the latest updates, follow her on Instagram (@naomi_trauden_)》

《Anna Nakagawa: Born in Tokyo.She spent her childhood in Finland and Puerto Rico. She joined NHK as an announcer in 2016 and was active on “Sunday Sports” and as an on-site announcer for the Paris Olympics. After leaving the network in the spring of 2025, she joined the talent agency Horipro and is now active in a wide range of roles as a freelance announcer and entertainer》

From the August 21 & 28, 2026, combined issue of *FRIDAY*