エンディング「阿部寛に遭遇＆新クイズ提案」
A listener from Saitama shared an encounter with Abe Hiroshi (阿部寛) in Omotesando roughly twenty years ago — one she only learned about after the fact, because he was too tall for her to see his face. A separate listener then proposed a new quiz segment called 'Who Were Those Siblings?', using the Pocky Four Sisters CM as the test case, and the three hosts struggled to name all four actresses from memory.
Listen to this episode Go to the show page
What this episode answers
Why was the listener unable to see Abe Hiroshi's face during their encounter in Omotesando?
Abe Hiroshi was standing next to Umemiya Tatsuo, and the listener was so fixated on Umemiya that she never turned to look — and even if she had, Abe was so tall that only below his neck would have been in her field of vision. She only found out who he was when her mother told her after they walked away; the listener later reflected, 'What I was looking at was not Abe Hiroshi — it was Abe Hiroshi's lower half.'
How did the hosts speculate about Abe Hiroshi's daily life, such as going to public baths?
The hosts reasoned that walking into a public bath would instantly cause a commotion, making a privately chartered bath his only realistic option, and they also worried about him accidentally hitting his head somewhere. They concluded that being that famous means inevitably surrendering parts of ordinary daily life.
What is the 'Who Were Those Siblings Quiz' that the listener proposed?
The format gives contestants one cast member as a hint and challenges them to name all the others who played siblings alongside that person in a CM, drama, or film. The listener proposed using the youngest sister, Imamura Masami — who has since retired from the entertainment industry — as the starting hint to identify the other three, and also suggested the film Umimachi Diary as a future example.
Who are the four actresses in the Pocky Four Sisters CM, and which sister did each play?
The eldest sister was Shimizu Misa, the second was Makise Riho, the third was Nakama Yukie, and the youngest was Imamura Masami; the CM was for Glico's Pocky brand and was later adapted into a film. The hosts also noted that the name Misa — written with the characters for 'beautiful sand' — became enormously popular because of Shimizu Misa.
What is '3M,' and how did it come up during the discussion of Makise Riho?
'3M' was a collective nickname for three popular actresses and idols of the era that included Makise Riho and Miyazawa Rie. The hosts laughed that this kind of 'X-M' or 'XX Show' naming convention carried the same distinctly Showa-era flavor as factional groupings in Nagatacho politics.
Abe Hiroshi, Hidden in Umemiya Tatsuo's Shadow
A listener from Saitama Prefecture (a "Radio wa Tomodachi" station member) submitted a story from roughly twenty years ago. She was walking through Omotesando when she spotted actor Umemiya Tatsuo (梅宮辰夫) standing outside a shop and became completely captivated. While she was entirely absorbed watching Umemiya, an extraordinarily tall man appeared and came over to greet him. The listener never once glanced at the man's face — he was simply too tall, with only the portion below his neck entering her field of vision. It was only after she walked away that her mother said, "That person who came to greet Umemiya-san was Abe Hiroshi." At the time, the association of "Abe Hiroshi = incredibly tall" had not yet firmly taken hold the way it has today. The listener reflected: "What I was looking at was not Abe Hiroshi — it was Abe Hiroshi's lower half."
Imagining Abe Hiroshi's Daily Life
Prompted by the story, the hosts wondered where Abe Hiroshi could possibly exist in daily life without causing a scene. Public baths were quickly ruled out — the moment he walked in, everyone would be in an uproar — making a private chartered bath his only realistic option. There were also concerns about him accidentally hitting his head somewhere. The hosts concluded that being recognized by so many people means inevitably surrendering parts of ordinary daily life, which is precisely what makes his existence feel so extraordinary.
A New Quiz Proposal: "Who Were Those Siblings?"
A listener from Tokyo (a "Midnight Shyamalan" station member) praised a previous episode on *Kishibe no Album* (岸辺のアルバム) as a standout, then proposed a new recurring segment: the "Who Were Those Siblings Quiz" (あの兄弟姉妹誰だったかクイズ). The format is simple — given one cast member as a hint, contestants must name all the others who played their siblings in a CM, drama, or film.
The listener's test case was the "Pocky Four Sisters" — a Glico Pocky CM featuring four actresses playing sisters, which was later adapted into a film. The three hosts gave it a try, finding themselves in the universal experience of "I can picture their faces but the names won't come" as they traded hints back and forth.
The Pocky Four Sisters: The Answers
After deliberating in the studio, the correct lineup was revealed:
- **Eldest sister**: Shimizu Misa (清水美沙) - **Second sister**: Makise Riho (牧瀬里穂) - **Third sister**: Nakama Yukie (仲間由紀恵) - **Youngest sister**: Imamura Masami (今村雅美)
Nakae Yuri (中江有里) also came up as someone who appeared in Pocky CMs around the same period. On the subject of Shimizu Misa, the hosts noted that "the name Misa — written with the characters for 'beautiful sand' — became enormously popular because of her." The listener had originally proposed starting with the youngest sister, Imamura Masami — who has since retired from the entertainment industry — as the hint, with the challenge being to identify the remaining three.
Makise Riho, "3M," and the Bubble Era
Makise Riho's name sparked talk of her iconic bullet train CM and the label "3M" — a collective nickname for three popular actresses and idols of the era, which included Miyazawa Rie (宮沢りえ). The hosts laughed that this kind of "X-M" or "XX Show" style of naming carried the same distinctly Showa-era flavor as the factional groupings in Nagatacho (永田町) politics.
The listener also suggested *Umimachi Diary* (海街diary) as another potential quiz example, hinting that the format could easily extend to movies and dramas with plenty more material to work with. The hosts agreed there was real potential and invited listeners to send in their own examples, wrapping up the ending segment on that note.
Takeaways
- A Saitama listener's encounter with Abe Hiroshi in Omotesando ended without ever seeing his face — he had been standing beside Umemiya Tatsuo and was simply too tall to look at, so she only learned who he was when her mother told her afterward.
- The four Pocky Four Sisters CM actresses were Shimizu Misa (eldest), Makise Riho (second), Nakama Yukie (third), and Imamura Masami (youngest), with even the hosts struggling to recall all four names in the studio.
- A listener proposed a new 'Who Were Those Siblings?' quiz segment starting from one cast member hint, and the hosts welcomed further submissions, citing Umimachi Diary as one of many possible future examples.
This article is edited from a machine transcript of the first 30 minutes of the episode. It is not an official summary — please listen to the episode itself.