「打ち合わせジャン」
Iwai (岩井) looks back on the opening night of Haライチのターン! (ハライチのターン！)'s 10th anniversary national tour at Zepp Fukuoka, where can badges nearly sold out and listeners in matching "Kojitsu Video T" shirts shared spontaneous laughs in the merch line. Meanwhile, the long-promised BEAMS collaboration jacket — a Vietnam-style blouson nicknamed the "Beto-jan" — remains in limbo after weeks of meetings, prompting Iwai to rename it the "Uchiawase Jan" (Meeting Jacket).
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What this episode answers
What was the atmosphere like at the Zepp Fukuoka show?
The show was a success overall, though Iwai admits he felt a little embarrassed at the start before fully warming up midway through. He leaned into the live-music-venue acoustics — which diffuse laughter differently from a theater — by insisting on blasting the music at maximum volume, even louder than he figured Hillclimb (ヒルクライム) had ever played their own songs.
How were listeners enjoying the merchandise?
Can badges nearly sold out on the day, and listeners wearing the same "Kojitsu Video T" caught each other's eye in the queue and broke into laughter; strangers also huddled together to watch each other's random can-badge unboxings, creating spontaneous connections among first-time meetups.
When will the BEAMS collaboration "Beto-jan" go on sale?
No release date has been set. Iwai revealed that weekly meetings with BEAMS continue to go nowhere — he runs into the BEAMS rep in the TBS building so often that some sessions end with only snacks consumed — and he has sarcastically renamed it the "Uchiawase Jan-paa" (Meeting Jumper), with a design idea floated to embroider a map of the Akasaka area and the TBS Radio location on the back.
What is Fukuoka's famous "Mutchan Manju" sweet?
Mutchan Manju's "Gorogoro-chan" is a fluffy pancake-style baked sweet molded in the shape of a mutsugorou (a mudskipper fish from the Ariake Sea), filled with takoyaki-inspired ingredients — octopus, mayo, and sauce — in an okonomiyaki-style mix.
What makes James Bond's martini order unusual?
A standard martini uses a gin base stirred with a mixing spoon, but Bond orders his with a vodka base, shaken; he also famously has a bartender create an original half-gin, half-vodka cocktail and names it "Vesper" after a female character, which Iwai declared the behavior of an "annoying customer" and outright "customer harassment."
Zepp Fukuoka Opening Night Impressions
The 10th anniversary national tour of Haraichi no Turn! (ハライチのターン！) kicked off at Zepp Fukuoka without a hitch. Iwai is candid that the early part of the show left him a little embarrassed, but he hit his stride before long and ended up having a great time. He noticed right away that the laughter reverb in a live-music venue feels different from a conventional theater hall, but rather than fighting it, he leaned in: at rehearsal he stood in the audience himself and demanded that the staff crank the music louder. The result was that the Hillclimb (ヒルクライム) track sponsored by Fujifilm — a song tied to a long-running radio segment — was played at a volume Iwai joked even Hillclimb had probably never experienced themselves.
Listener Letters from the Show
Three listener emails were read on air. Radio name "Itazura Manju Risu" reported wearing the show's "Kojitsu Video T" (individual-booth video-store T-shirt) to the venue, only to lock eyes in the merch line with another listener in the exact same shirt — both immediately burst out laughing. Later in the merchandise queue, strangers gathered around each other to watch random can-badge unboxings together. The badges proved so popular they nearly sold out on the day.
Radio name "Suzunari no Kudamono" attended with her mother and reported non-stop laughter and excitement. On the way back, she followed Iwai's in-show recommendation to visit the Hakata Bus Terminal branch of Mutchan Manju (むっちゃんまんじゅう) for their "Gorogoro-chan" — only to join what turned out to be the queue for the Dazaifu bus rather than the shop line. She eventually got her hands on the Gorogoro-chan, a fluffy mutsugorou-shaped baked sweet filled with octopus, mayo, and sauce in an okonomiyaki style, and called it a wonderful travel memory.
Radio name "Susan," who identified herself as an RKB Radio employee, wrote that she tensed up every time RKB was mentioned during the show — and nearly braced for impact when Iwai jokingly suggested the whole audience storm RKB headquarters. She reported, with good humor, that thanks to the common sense of the crowd she was able to return to work safely on Monday. Iwai used the moment to once again lobby for RKB to carry the show: "If you'd just give us a slot, we'd take it," he said, drawing laughs.
The "Uchiawase Jan" Problem
Iwai revealed that the Vietnam-style blouson being co-produced with BEAMS — the "Beto-jan" — still has no confirmed release date despite weekly meetings that have been dragging on indefinitely. He says he crosses paths with the BEAMS representative in the TBS building so regularly that some meetings end with everyone just eating snacks and going home. "At this point you might as well stop calling it the Beto-jan and just call it the Uchiawase Jan — the Meeting Jumper," he complained. A design concept was even floated: the back panel would feature an embroidered map of the Akasaka neighborhood with the TBS Radio building marked on it. That self-deprecating nickname, "Uchiawase Jan" (打ち合わせジャン), is where this episode gets its title.
Fukuoka Ramen, a Chance Encounter, and James Bond the Bad Customer
After the show, the entire staff went out for ramen together. One crew member was eating ramen for the first time in two years, and Iwai described watching him enjoy it with a warm smile. Iwai himself is a frequent visitor to Fukuoka for Puzzle & Dragons (パズドラ) events and claims to have worked his way through every ramen stall at the airport. At the restaurant they ran into Murakami-san of the comedy duo Shizuru (しずる).
With an hour to spare before the flight home, Iwai stopped by a bar recommended by a friend, which led to a discussion about James Bond's martini. A standard martini is gin-based and stirred; Bond famously orders his vodka-based and shaken. On top of that, in one film Bond has a bartender concoct an original half-gin, half-vodka cocktail and names it "Vesper" after a female character — entirely of his own invention. Iwai didn't mince words: Bond is "an annoying customer," full-on "customer harassment," a spy who somehow manages to be completely insufferable even while ordering drinks.
Takeaways
- Zepp Fukuoka's opening night was a hit — merch nearly sold out and the live-venue acoustics inspired Iwai to blast music at record volume.
- The BEAMS collaboration "Beto-jan" remains unscheduled after endless weekly meetings, earning the self-deprecating rename "Uchiawase Jan-paa" (Meeting Jumper).
- Iwai declared James Bond a textbook bad customer — and customer harasser — for ordering a non-standard vodka martini shaken, and then naming an invented cocktail after a woman without permission.
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.