「仲代達矢さんと親友になった！？/南部広美さん最強説」ゲスト：春日太一 (時代劇・映画史研究家)【2026.10.17 OA】

A "Rocky Ultra Quiz" in Philadelphia, Courtesy of the Otani Award

In 2024, Kasuga Taichi won the 55th Otani Award for Nonfiction with *Oni no Fude — Sengo Saidai no Kyakuhonka, Hashimoto Shinobu no Eikou to Zasetsu* (*Demon's Brush: The Glory and Downfall of Hashimoto Shinobu, the Greatest Postwar Screenwriter*). The prize included a voucher for JAL business class to anywhere in the world. Reasoning that Philadelphia was "the farthest away," Kasuga routed himself via New York and made a solo tour of the filming locations from *Rocky* — a self-styled "Rocky Ultra Quiz." Along the way he discovered a service matching travelers with Japanese-speaking local guides, decided he could "go anywhere in the world with this," and has since been draining his savings to travel around North America despite the weak yen.

"Shina Takeshi Is the Strongest," and the Common Thread of Personnel Decisions

At the long-running talk live events Kasuga shares with host Kashima, the two have noticed that politics, pro wrestling, and professional baseball all converge on a single theme: personnel decisions. Three or four years ago Kasuga began paying close attention to Democratic Party-aligned politician Shina Takeshi, invoking the same framing as his "Borghan (ボルグハン) is the strongest" theory. Borghan was a Russian combat sambo practitioner who rose to prominence in the Rings Network — unassuming and nerdy-looking yet overwhelmingly dominant in actual competition. Shina Takeshi similarly belies his quiet appearance with a string of consecutive electoral wins, drawing sudden nationwide attention at last year's party leadership race. "It turned out exactly as Kasuga-san said," Kashima recalled.

Pro Baseball OBs on YouTube: Emo-yan's Disappointment and Takahashi's Apology Corner

Since the earliest days of retired pro baseball players launching YouTube channels, Kashima and Kasuga have shared a running complaint: "Emo-yan's (江本孟紀, Emoto Muneki) channel is terrible." They had expected great things from a man who knows baseball, show business, society, and politics alike, but his actual content turned out to be soba restaurant tours, fishing trips, and visits to tonkatsu shops. Their current pick for undisputed ace is unambiguous: Takahashi Yoshihiko (高橋慶彦), the leadoff hitter for the Hiroshima Carp in the 1980s. For roughly five years Takahashi has been inviting former teammates he mistreated in the team dormitory and apologizing to them on camera. The lineup — Shoda, Yamazaki Ryuzo, Nagatomi, and others — is irresistible for any fan of that 1980s Hiroshima era, and recently even players who barely appeared in the first-string roster, such as Sakakibara and Nagata, have made appearances. The recurring punchline, Kasuga explained with evident enthusiasm, is Takahashi invariably forcing a positive ending with "Those were good days, weren't they?"

Being Called "Best Friend" by Nakadai Tatsuya — New Expanded Edition of *Nakadai Tatsuya Kataru*

Kasuga's 43rd book is the new expanded edition of *Nakadai Tatsuya Kataru* (*Nakadai Tatsuya Speaks*), published by Mishima-sha. Each time the book has been reprinted — as a paperback, a pocket edition, and now this hardcover — Kasuga has revisited the interviews, identified what he could have done better, and incorporated those reflections into a revised text. As for why Nakadai (仲代達矢) came to call Kasuga his "best friend," Kasuga offers this analysis: "Nakadai-san dislikes people who ingratiate themselves with him, so I kept my distance throughout. I think that slight aloofness was something he found comfortable." When Kasuga first interviewed Nakadai at age 33, leading with detailed questions about Nakadai's time at the Kyoto studio — the product of thorough preparation — proved decisive. The portrait of Nakadai that emerges from the book is of an actor who, during the era when Mifune Toshiro and Katsu Shintaro were commanding enormous fees, turned down every lucrative contract and chose only the projects he genuinely found interesting. He accepted anonymous walk-on roles in theater, and even past the age of 90, immediately after curtain calls he would turn to anxiety and self-criticism about the next performance.

"Nanbu Hiromi Is the Strongest," and Why You Don't Have to Put Feelings into Words

Kasuga has long championed what he calls the "Nanbu Hiromi (南部広美) is the strongest" theory. His evidence: the intensely rich reactions she delivers during recording that never actually reach the microphone — eyes half-closed, a silent "mmm," an emphatic nod — that powerfully encourage whoever is speaking. Kasuga says he has been rescued by that quality every single time he has appeared on the show. Kashima revealed that since April he has been consciously emulating the Nanbu style when hosting. The episode also addressed a listener's message about the film *Hindraja-bu no Koe* (*The Voice of Hindrajab*): unable to organize their feelings after watching it, the listener wrote that they could not put their impressions into words. Kasuga's response was direct: "Not being able to put it into words is the best possible reaction." Drawing on his own experience of developing what he called "the yips" — finding himself thinking about what to post on social media while still watching a film — he said: "Thinking about your impressions while you're watching is the worst thing you can do. Letting the murkiness accumulate matters too. Even just talking ramblingly in no particular direction is fine."