# なぜサウジの空港は爆撃されたのか 知ってくださいイエメン情勢 #192 - Show: ニュースを深く面白く　報談 【HOU-DAN】　ホウダン - Published: 2026-10-15 - Canonical: https://podc.club/en/episode/1822960480_e6a4eeb517ef.html - Audio: https://pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/TASC4477967796.mp3 - Source: Edited from a machine transcript of the first 30 minutes of the episode. Not an official summary. Recorded on October 15, the episode opens with the hosts comparing their three-day holiday (October 10–12) before pivoting to a string of customs and border stories from around the world. One host discovered his wife had quietly made a solo trip to Sendai only when zunda mochi appeared on the kitchen table four days after she left; the other ran 20 km and spent the time watching a saved Bura Tamori. The episode title's Yemen topic does not arrive within this thirty-minute segment. ## What this episode answers ### What was the 'surprise' one host experienced during the three-day holiday? Host A was on Saturday desk duty while his middle-school daughter was away at forest-school camp; he offered to go out for a meal and was told by his partner, 'I won't be around either,' with no further explanation — leaving him effectively alone for the holiday. ### How did his wife's solo trip to Sendai come to light? After roughly four days of near silence, he found zunda mochi (ずんだ餅) on the table when they finally spoke on Tuesday morning; that was how he learned she had been to Sendai on a discounted JR package she paid for out of her own savings. Her words to him: 'Thanks for not getting in the way.' ### How did the other host spend the three-day holiday? He ran double his usual distance — 20 km instead of 10 km — ate pre-made food and takeout left at home, and watched a saved episode of Bura Tamori (ブラタモリ, NHK) about why the Tokachi region of Hokkaido became a hub for potatoes and grains. ### What customs and border experiences have the two hosts had around the world? Returning from a year of company-sponsored French language study, A was flagged at Narita by a drug-detection dog, taken to a separate room, and had the contents of his underwear inspected; B, returning from a three-month Southeast Asia trip, was likewise pulled aside and charged ¥500 for ten souvenir cans of beer and a carton of cigarettes. In Iran, B tried to evade luggage X-ray checks by playing a first-time tourist or seating a small child on top of his suitcase to project a family-trip image. ### How is the NHK International News Desk organized? The desk runs with seven or eight staff combining domestic and overseas members, with four people on rotation each day; Yusuke Takano (高野雄介), based in Washington, covers the Americas and Europe across the time difference, a pre-dawn edition handles digital breaking news from midnight to 6 a.m., and someone is always on duty even during public holidays. ## Article ## Suit and tie, and the International News Desk Thursday, October 15. One host arrives in a suit, prompting an immediate "What's gotten into you?" The banter drifts through the changing season and summer jackets before turning to work. NHK's International News Desk runs a team of seven or eight, combining domestic and overseas staff, with four people on rotation each day. Yusuke Takano (高野雄介), based in Washington, covers the Americas and Europe across the time difference, while a "pre-dawn edition" handles digital breaking news from midnight to 6 a.m. Even during the three-day holiday, someone is always on call — prompting one host to suggest that moving to a three-shift system would reduce how often each person gets stuck with duty. ## The three-day holiday — how each spent it Host A drew Saturday desk duty. His middle-school daughter was away at a forest-school camp, so he offered to go out for a meal with his partner, only to be told: "I won't be around either." He asked where she was going; she wouldn't say. About four days passed with almost no conversation between them. Tuesday morning they finally talked — and on the table sat a piece of zunda mochi (ずんだ餅). That was how he found out she had made a solo trip to Sendai, using a discounted JR package she paid for out of her own savings. Her parting sentiment: "Thanks for not getting in the way." A capped the story with a pun — "It wasn't a pear of silence, it was a zunda of silence" — which landed with the audience. Host B made the most of his unscheduled solo time. He ran his usual 10 km and kept going to 20 km, ate pre-made food and takeout left at home, and watched a saved episode of Bura Tamori (ブラタモリ, NHK) — the Hokkaido/Tokachi installment, which explored why the Tokachi region became such a hub for potatoes and grains. That sparked talk of this year's excellent Hokkaido potato harvest and a pointed remark about U.S. pressure on Japan to import more agricultural products. ## Customs and border stories from around the world The thread begins with a Jakarta story: B's son had tucked an unfinished Garuda Indonesia in-flight bread roll into his backpack, a quarantine dog picked it up at the border, and they were told to throw it away. From there the anecdotes multiply. A, returning to Narita after a year of company-sponsored French language study, was flagged by a drug-detection dog and taken to a separate room. Agents opened every bag and checked inside his underwear. When he mentioned stopping over in the Netherlands, the officers' attention sharpened; a prolonged back-and-forth followed before he was released. B returned from a three-month journey through Southeast Asia and was also taken aside. Nothing turned up, yet agents charged him ¥500 for ten souvenir cans of beer and a carton of cigarettes classified as declarable items. "They looked inside my pants and then hit me for ¥500," he said. In Iran, every entry means an X-ray check on luggage — primarily to screen for alcohol. B described playing the role of a first-time tourist, or seating a small child on top of his suitcase to project a wholesome family-trip image, as strategies to slip through. Crossing from Vietnam into Yunnan Province, China by train, all his luggage was inspected; when he protested to an abrupt officer in Japanese, the man waved him through with a brusque "Go, go." Similar stops occurred in New York and Bahrain. The hosts mentioned the TV show Toppa File (突破ファイル), which features Ucchan and dramatizes customs incidents. "Every time I watch it, the memories come flooding back," they said — adding, "and honestly, past-me was far more suspicious-looking than any of those re-enactments." ## Commute habits and the neighborhood stray cat B's office is near Tsukiji, but when time allows he walks the roughly 7 km to Shibuya or Shinjuku, listening to other podcasts along the way as field research. The episode closes with a neighborhood cat story: a black cat whose silhouette reminded him of the Yamato Transport (ヤマト運輸) logo, so he started calling it Yamato. About a month ago it seemed to shrink a size, and now it keeps a constant five-meter distance, always watching. That image wraps up thirty minutes of pre-topic talk. ## Takeaways - During the three-day holiday, one host's wife quietly made a solo trip to Sendai and revealed it only by leaving zunda mochi on the kitchen table. - The two hosts share a string of customs stories — from Narita drug-dog searches to Iran X-ray checks and a ¥500 charge on Southeast Asia souvenirs — that draw laughs throughout. - The NHK International News Desk operates with seven or eight staff on a rotating daily schedule, including a Washington correspondent, maintaining 24-hour coverage even on public holidays.