私はとにかく運がない
Okubo Kayoko (大久保佳代子) opens this episode of Okubo Kayoko to Rabu Bura LOVE (大久保佳代子とらぶぶらLOVE) with the tale of ending up with dog poop in one hand and maitake tempura in the other — a chain reaction set off by her dieting dog Pokomi-chan. She and co-host Takemura then work through three listener letters: a boyfriend who deflects every crisis with a single "don't worry about it," a woman plagued by spectacularly bad luck on a first date, and a husband who caught his wife's affair through an undercover stakeout and now faces a new dilemma. Across all three, a common thread emerges: the cost of a narrow field of vision and the importance of the right words.
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What this episode answers
What was the incident that made Okubo Kayoko think 'can something like this really happen in a person's life'?
While dieting dog Pokomi-chan was pooping on the balcony, Okubo scrambled back and forth grabbing tissues and shielding the food, only to find herself standing in the living room with dog poop wrapped in tissue in her left hand and maitake tempura in her right — and she finished the tempura without losing her appetite.
Should the listener break up with the boyfriend who responded to her failing a job-change exam — and calling him in tears — with just a single 'don't worry about it'?
Okubo stopped short of advising a breakup, but urged the listener to assess whether this is someone she would be glad to have by her side through harder times ahead, and said the first step is to tell him what she needs.
What happened on the first date with the man from the dating app who handed her a single rose and rode off on an electric scooter in tears when she turned him down?
He opened by handing her a single rose at the meeting spot, confessed his love and asked her out after two hours at a café, burst into tears when she declined, and rode off on a nearby electric scooter — revealing the thinning patch of hair he normally hides with styling as it billowed in the wind.
What is the current dilemma facing the husband who exposed his wife's affair through an undercover stakeout?
His wife is asking to keep attending the gym where she originally met the affair partner, claiming it is 'a meaningful place' and that being barred from it would hurt the reconciliation, even though friends of the affair partner also go there.
Why does Okubo say that people who feel unlucky are partly responsible for their own misfortune?
Okubo cited comedian Emiko-san, whose string of on-set accidents — dead phone batteries, heavy pots falling on her feet — stems from a 'fundamentally narrow field of vision,' arguing the listener may share the same tendency to unconsciously put herself in harm's way.
Pokomi-chan Chaos: Dog Poop in One Hand, Tempura in the Other
What started as seasonal-food small talk quickly became a showcase for what Okubo called "something that couldn't happen in real life." Her dog Pokomi-chan is 10–11 years old — roughly 60 in human years — and has a heart condition that requires a strict diet. Perpetually hungry, Pokomi-chan had developed a habit of jumping at food left on the low table. She had previously injured herself by jumping on bare floorboards after the rug was sent to the cleaners, landing badly and tearing the cruciate ligament in her back leg.
One evening, Okubo was enjoying a seasonal limited-edition beer and maitake tempura at the low table when Pokomi-chan went out to the balcony and didn't return. Peeking out, Okubo found her mid-poop — which presented an urgent problem: the dieting dog had a habit of eating her own feces. Okubo dashed to grab tissues, but that meant leaving the living room unguarded, giving Pokomi-chan a window to circle back and jump at the tempura. After scrambling between both crises, she found herself standing in the living room with dog poop wrapped in tissue in her left hand and maitake tempura firmly gripped in her right. "Isn't this combination a miracle?" she said — and went on to finish every last bite of the tempura.
Concern #1: Should She Break Up with Her 'Don't Worry About It' Boyfriend? (Listener: Uni Ikura Shirako-san)
The listener's late-twenties boyfriend is efficiency-minded and sports-driven. His response to any low point in her life is a single don'mai — "don't worry about it" — and nothing more. After two months of preparation for a job-change exam with 20-to-1 odds, she failed and called him in tears. He responded with "yeah, yeah, don't worry about it" while running his laundry and never called back. Confronted, he said: "Did you only just now realize I'm bad at comforting people? Feeling down won't change the result anyway."
Takemura explained that don'mai is a phrase picked up in childhood sports clubs and that some adults simply never update it. Okubo identified a contradiction — the listener had been drawn to this man precisely because he made no demands of her, yet she was now demanding comfort from him — but she didn't stop there. "If he'd been watching her push through two months of hard work, words should come naturally without her having to ask. If they don't, that's alarming." Her verdict: she wouldn't go so far as to say break up, but the listener should watch whether this is someone she'd be grateful to have beside her when things get truly hard. First, though, she should tell him what she actually needs.
Concern #2: Chronically Unlucky (Listener: Kurikuri Mitsue-san)
This listener's personal disaster résumé runs long: a blackout, a broken heater on a night bus in midwinter, a long flight delay, and a stranger's chocolate frappuccino landing directly on her head. Her crowning misfortune: a first date arranged through a dating app. The man arrived and, before a word of greeting, handed her a single rose. After two hours at a café, he declared his love and asked her out. She declined. He burst into tears, climbed onto a nearby electric scooter, and rode off — and as he accelerated, the thinning patch of hair he normally keeps hidden with careful styling rose and fluttered visibly in the breeze.
Okubo and Takemura theorized that the single-rose move was lifted from either the trendy TV dramas of the 1980s or the TV show The Bachelor. But Okubo also pushed back on the idea of pure bad luck: she pointed to comedian Emiko-san, who suffers a reliable chain of on-set mishaps — dead batteries, heavy pots falling on her feet — because her "field of vision is fundamentally narrow." "If the frappuccino was coming from the front," Okubo said, "she might have dodged it. The real question is why she was standing in that spot to begin with."
Concern #3: Wife's Affair Exposed — Should He Let Her Rejoin the Gym? (Listener: Kekke-san)
After his wife showered meticulously, used whitening toothpaste, dressed up carefully, and announced she was "going out for drinks at a café till late," something felt off. The husband checked the PC's recycle bin and found a two-person reservation email for a Roppongi venue and a search for directions from a nearby gym to that restaurant. That gym was run by a male trainer his wife had been close with. He disguised himself and staked out the location, confirming the two entered a love hotel. He waited — crying inside his mask — then called a friend, followed the couple as they left in the early hours, obtained a confession, and filmed it. After consulting a lawyer and opening compensation negotiations, and with his wife showing genuine remorse, he chose not to divorce and is rebuilding the marriage.
The new problem: his wife wants to keep attending a separate gym — the one where she originally met the affair partner — calling it "a meaningful place" and warning that being barred would hurt the reconciliation. That gym also has friends of the affair partner among its members. Okubo's answer was blunt: "Just tell her not to go." Any gym would work for stress relief; the fact that she is specifically insisting on that one, knowing who is there, is itself suspicious. Okubo closed with a word of warning for all listeners: "Whitening toothpaste and the phrase 'drinks at a café' are things to keep your eyes on."
Takeaways
- The 'poop in one hand, tempura in the other' scenario was a chain reaction triggered by a dieting dog simultaneously threatening to eat her own feces and steal the food on the table.
- Frustration with a partner's lack of empathy is valid, but the priority is first communicating what you need and then watching whether they can be there for you when things get genuinely hard.
- People who feel chronically unlucky may be unconsciously inviting misfortune by keeping their field of vision too narrow to spot and sidestep trouble before it lands.
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.