# #77 「プレミアムなタクシー」

- Show: こたけ正義感の聞けば無罪
- Published: 2026-10-18
- Canonical: https://podc.club/en/episode/1754897606_71615c651110.html
- Audio: https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/7e360234-755c-43f9-8509-ae92005f0b89/0ea59c78-4209-4037-98bb-b1a000417b1b/c2ac7160-cb6e-4910-a6af-b4e5008b3e31/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=95511e3f-5948-42af-885a-b1a000434501
- Source: Edited from a machine transcript of the first 30 minutes of the episode. Not an official summary.

On this week's Kotake Seigikan no Kikeba Muzai (こたけ正義感の聞けば無罪), Kotake boards a premium-grade taxi during the autumn gigging season only for the driver to open with the baffling line, "Would a saury set meal be okay?" The man turns out to be a mountain-dwelling deer hunter moonlighting as a cabbie to cover his daughter's medical-school tuition. Also in the episode: Pink's (ピンク) "udon feels good" gag goes viral as a Korean internet meme, Laland's Nishida (西田) is caught breaking his smoking ban again, and the next poison topic — Tokyo comedians gaming regional M-1 preliminary rounds — is announced.

## What this episode answers

### Why did the premium taxi driver suddenly say "Would a saury set meal be okay?"

As soon as Kotake gave the destination, the driver said out of nowhere, "Then would a saury set meal be okay? Saury is hard to come by this year — might run you about 5,000 yen." Whether it was some kind of route question or a joke remained unclear, and Kotake spent over 20 minutes inwardly panicking that he had "drawn a losing ticket."

### What was the taxi driver's real occupation, and what surprising stories did he share?

The driver normally lived in the mountains culling deer with a rifle, and switched to taxi driving when his daughter was accepted into medical school to help cover her tuition. He explained the government wildlife-bounty system (6,000 yen per deer, 15,000 yen per monkey), described how bears have learned that gunfire signals nearby prey, and said he will not shoot at a bear unless he is confident he can finish it within the two bullets the law permits.

### What kind of initiation did Kotake receive from Einstein's Yamazoe (山添) at the university festival?

Kotake arrived five minutes before call time only to be immediately scolded by Yamazoe, who was already in the green room — "How many years have you been doing this? You're too late" — while 9-bangai Retro piled on, saying it was wrong for the most junior act to arrive last. Yamazoe ordered Kotake to always get there before him and to instruct his manager accordingly.

### What topics came up in the tip-off corner about the comedy world?

Pink's "udon kimochi ii" (udon feels good) gag is circulating as an internet meme in South Korea, where a listener's Korean friend had saved a clip of it believing Pink to be "a Japanese actor." Separately, Laland's Nishida was reportedly spotted three times this year smoking an e-cigarette at a smoking area near the office despite being under a ban imposed by his partner Sarya (サーヤ).

### What is the issue with regional entries in comedy competitions?

It is the practice of professional comedians based in Tokyo traveling to regional M-1 Grand Prix preliminary venues — where amateurs far outnumber professionals — to pass the first round more easily, because they lack the confidence to advance in Tokyo.

## Article

## Boarding a Premium Taxi to the Question: "Would a Saury Set Meal Be Okay?"

Deep into the autumn gigging season, Kotake Seigikan (こたけ正義感) had a day that meant dashing from a midday outdoor event straight to an evening university festival. His manager booked transport through a ride-hailing app, and there was an unexpected bonus: a premium-grade vehicle with high-end seats arrived at the standard fare. Spirits were high.

Then Kotake gave the driver the destination. The man — a soft-spoken fellow in his fifties — immediately responded: "Then would a saury set meal be okay? Saury is hard to come by this year, might run you about 5,000 yen — could be rough." Kotake and his manager both froze. With more than twenty minutes still to ride and no desire to let things get awkward, Kotake decided to play along: "A saury set meal sounds great, please." The driver kept coming. At one point he announced that if the car plunged into water he could save only one of them, so they should decide right now who it would be. Kotake and his manager stared at their phones and held their smiles by the thinnest of threads.

## His Real Job: Hunter — Bears and Two Bullets

Mid-ride, the driver dropped the act and spoke plainly. He had spent most of his life living in the mountains and shooting deer. His daughter's acceptance into medical school had forced the change: he needed tuition money, so he became a cabbie.

He explained how the system works. The government's nuisance-wildlife culling program pays roughly 6,000 yen per deer and 15,000 yen per monkey; hunters must submit a body part as proof of the kill. Fraud once ran rampant when photo submissions were accepted — hunters would photograph the same carcass from multiple angles to claim multiple bounties — so physical evidence became mandatory. Hauling a deer carcass down a mountain on your back is punishing work, and he admitted he was close to giving it up.

The real danger, though, is bears. They used to flee at the sound of a gunshot; now they have learned that gunfire means a fresh kill is nearby, making the instant after a shot the most perilous moment in the field. Japanese law limits a rifle to two rounds. He will not fire at a bear, he said flatly, unless he is certain those two bullets will finish it. By the time the car pulled up to the destination, Kotake and his manager had long since stopped staring at their phones — they were leaning forward in their seats, wishing the ride would go on.

## Getting an Earful from Einstein's Yamazoe at a University Festival

The university festival was a three-act joint booking: Kotake alongside 9-bangai Retro (9番街レトロ) and Einstein (アインシュタイン). Kotake arrived at the green room five minutes before the stated call time. Einstein's Yamazoe (山添), already seated, did not regard this as early. "You're late," he said the moment Kotake walked in. "How many years have you been doing this?" 9-bangai Retro backed him up: it was especially bad form, they noted, for the most junior act on the bill to be the last one in the door.

Yamazoe issued a standing rule: any time Kotake and Einstein appear together going forward, Kotake must arrive before Yamazoe — and Kotake is to make that clear to his manager. On stage, Kotake framed himself as the polar opposite of 9-bangai Retro: "Junior-high dropout versus grad-school graduate; the one who gets arrested versus the one who defends them." It landed well, and the gig turned out to be a good one.

## Tip-Off Corner: Pink's Korean Fame and Nishida's Smoking Slip

The tip-off segment delivered three dispatches from the comedy world. First: the "udon kimochi ii" (udon feels good) gag by Pink (ピンク) — a long-time favourite of Zakoshow (ザコシショウ) — has been spreading as an internet meme in South Korea. A listener's Korean friend had saved a clip and sent it along as a pick-me-up, apparently convinced that Pink was "a Japanese actor."

Second: Laland's (ラランド) Nishida (西田) has been spotted three times this year smoking an e-cigarette at an area near the office, despite being under a smoking ban enforced by his partner Sarya (サーヤ). "Nishida's been in a loop of getting banned, breaking the ban, and getting yelled at for as long as anyone can remember," Kotake said with a tired laugh.

Third: Yoshimoto duo Ichigo (いちご) performed at a 24-hour TV event in Niigata, where one member kissed an elderly man in the front row to the crowd's delight. The other member, Kihara (木原), is originally from Niigata, and apparently leaned hard into the homecoming atmosphere — carrying on as though they were the headline act.

## The Poison Corner and Next Episode: Regional Comedy Competition Entries

This episode's poison theme was opportunistic pile-ons during controversies. Submissions targeted people who hedge with "I don't really know the details, but..." before sharing hot takes; comedians who slap a scandal-hit colleague's photo on a thumbnail to harvest views; and verified-account holders who wade into controversies purely to rack up impressions. One listener submitted that the trend showed progress — "more people in the entertainment world are expressing themselves." Kotake was unmoved: "What progress? Everyone's just weighing in on stupid controversies."

Next episode's poison theme is regional entries in comedy competitions. The practice: Tokyo-based professional comedians travel to regional M-1 Grand Prix preliminary venues where amateur entrants far outnumber professionals, giving them a better shot at clearing the first round than they would have in Tokyo. Listener tips and grievances on the subject are now open.

## Takeaways

- The premium taxi driver, a former mountain hunter, completely won over Kotake and his manager with frank accounts of the government wildlife-culling bounty system and the mounting danger of bears that have learned to associate gunfire with easy prey.
- Einstein's Yamazoe enforces strict backstage arrival etiquette, and joint bookings in the Japanese comedy circuit come with unwritten senior–junior rules that are enforced immediately.
- Regional entries in comedy competitions — Tokyo professionals traveling to regional M-1 Grand Prix preliminaries where the field is thinner — will be the subject of next episode's poison corner.