Freelance Announcer Aika Kanda: “My Deep Connection to Nagoya”

The Beginning of a Rivalry

Starting in October, I’ve been cast as a regular on Chukyo TV’s show “Gu~ Takusan.” It’s a program that features gourmet spots and outing ideas in the Tokai region, airing live every Sunday morning at 9:55 a.m. I appear in the studio once a month and also get to go on location shoots, which I absolutely love.Having another regular show is the ultimate reward for a TV personality, and I’m so happy because the show’s cheerful atmosphere suits my personality perfectly.

Actually, for me, this regular spot means more than just adding another show to my schedule. Looking back, when I was 17… nearly 30 years have passed since then, and Nagoya and I have had a complicated history.

In the spring of my 17th year, I got my first boyfriend. He was from Nagoya. Our relationship went smoothly, and I went on to enter college. Then, during the winter of my junior year, while I was job hunting, something happened that made me realize I just didn’t click with Nagoya.

I had advanced to the final round of an announcer recruitment exam at a major network, and I received invitations from several of its affiliate stations in regional areas asking, “Please come take our exam as well.” One of them was a station based in Nagoya.

Grateful for the opportunity, I went for the interview—only to find myself immediately in the final round. The only two candidates left were me and a local girl who had made it through the first round. It was a 50-50 chance of getting the job offer. (I’m here because they asked me to be—it’s a given that I’ll pass!) I went into the interview feeling completely confident.

“We’ll call you in a few hours to let you know the results,” they told me, so I waited at a McDonald’s near Nagoya Station—and then the call came. I didn’t get the job. (Why on earth?) “Please tell me why!” I insisted, but they said, “That’s internal company information, so we can’t disclose it,” and hung up.

On the Shinkansen ride home, I was so frustrated I burst into tears. What made that girl different from me? I was still young back then, and no matter how many times I thought about it, I just couldn’t figure it out.

Later, I received a job offer from NHK and was assigned to the Fukuoka bureau. At the same time, I began a long-distance relationship with that guy I’d been dating since I was 17. Due to work stress and the recklessness of youth, I cheated on him repeatedly. But as the saying goes, what goes around comes around. Gradually, I began to sense that he was seeing other women as well.

Four years passed. When it was decided that I would be transferred to the Tokyo bureau, I called his home, feeling excited and thinking, “Maybe we can finally live together ♡”—only to have a woman answer the phone.

Me: “Huh? Um… are you his older sister, by any chance?”

Woman: “…No… that’s not me.”

Me: “Huh… Then who are you?”

Woman: “I’m the person dating Mr. ◯◯. …And who are you, exactly?”

A bolt from the blue

Time stood still. I was speechless, and my heart began to race at a pace I’d never felt before.For a moment, I was completely bewildered, but a few seconds later, intense anger welled up inside me, and I immediately called his cell phone. But he didn’t answer. (“Just pick up already!”) I must have called at least 30 times. Then he answered in a calm tone, as if he already knew what this was about, saying, “Don’t call me so much.”

Unable to contain my anger, I shouted, “Some woman I don’t know answered the home phone claiming to be his girlfriend!” After a brief silence, he said, “I told you not to answer the home phone…” and began to confess.

Apparently, they’d been living together for quite some time and were even thinking about marriage. Just when I thought our relationship was fizzling out, he decided to move back to Tokyo, and it seemed he wasn’t sure what to do. Then, when he said, “With her, I can have the kind of calm, steady relationship that I couldn’t have with Aika,” my resolve completely vanished, and we broke up.

That was the moment it became clear to me: “I just don’t click with Nagoya!” After becoming a freelancer, I was invited to appear on Nagoya TV shows a few times, but each was a one-time appearance, and I never received another offer. Of course, part of it was my own lack of skill. But since I was repeatedly invited to other regions, my feeling that I just didn’t click with Nagoya had become a given for me.

The decision to make me a regular on this show is an event that allows me to conclude that the bad blood between me and Nagoya has been completely resolved. As long as this connection lasts, I hope to fully enjoy the sights and cuisine of the Tokai region—places I haven’t yet discovered—whilst getting on and off trains at Nagoya Station.

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 November 13 & 20, 2026, combined issue of *FRIDAY*