#22 香港ディズニーランドのトイレでえっ

Last Episode's Afterglow and Checking In on Ojissan

Coming off the show's longest episode ever — running more than 50 minutes — this week opens with a wellness check on staff member Ojissan (おじっさん), who had seemed absent from the scene for about two weeks (though it turned out he had actually been there the whole time). His distinctive laugh had gone viral on TikTok clips, earning it the nickname "Ukokkei" (烏骨鶏, a silkie chicken). Ojissan also noted that the previous week's guest episode featuring a cabin-crew talk had resonated with him, particularly the dynamic between senior and junior colleagues.

Marugame Udon in Hawaii: A Craving for Japanese Food

A message from listener "Kikkabu Ace" (帰宅部エース, 16, Saitama) set the tone. On a 4-night, 6-day family trip to Hawaii, the first two days were great — sightseeing, the beach, all of it. But on day three, her stomach staged a full strike against non-Japanese food, and she found herself walking into Marugame Seimen (丸亀製麺), paying more than Japan prices for udon while asking herself, "Wait, isn't this Hawaii?" Her number-one takeaway after returning home wasn't "Hawaii was so fun" but "that udon was so good."

Mizunochi (水のっち) related strongly, sharing that on a long stay in England she had packed individual portions of uncooked rice in zip-lock bags to cook herself, plus carried single-serve packets of shijimi (freshwater clam) red-miso soup — 100 clams' worth per pack. Though the host family's grandmother served sunflower-oil toast and fruit compote every morning, by day three Mizunochi and her mother were quietly sipping shijimi soup together to face the day.

The udon conversation spun into a toppings debate, where both Mizunochi and Ojissan declared themselves firm "chikuwa ten" (chikuwa tempura) fans. Ojissan then revealed a more intense chapter: he once spent six months obsessively managing his diet — protein shakes three times a day with water (not milk, per a doctor's advice), plus canned chicken breast stirred into microwaved rice porridge. He lost 16 kg and worried the people around him, who said he looked like he was ill. When Mizunochi suggested they diet together, Ojissan declined without hesitation: "I prefer to do it alone."

A Confessional of Mispronunciations and Misreadings

Listener "Namu-mo-san" (ナムモさん, 55, Kanagawa) wrote in about a former workplace matriarch who consistently said "temochi-butasa" instead of "temochi-busata" — inadvertently invoking buta, the word for pig. The listener would mentally retort, "Hey, I'm not a pig!" She was also irked by the phrase "normally, as a human being" (futsuu ningen tte sa), which made her feel as if she were being classified as non-human.

Mizunochi then offered her own confession. In a YouTube video about her cabin-crew job-hunting experience, she repeatedly said "katatsuba wo nonde" when the kanji 片図 is correctly read "katazu" — meaning to bide one's time and watch quietly. She only found out through viewer comments, despite the kanji being right there on screen the whole time. Ojissan chimed in: he had long read 雰囲気 (fun'iki, atmosphere) as "fuinki." Both laughed it off together.

The Hong Kong Disneyland Toilet Incident and China's Open-Trench Restrooms

The episode's title moment came from listener "Yahon-san" (八本さん, 31, Hokkaido). On her first trip to Hong Kong, she visited Disneyland and stepped into an adorably decorated restroom. Two elementary-school-age children were chasing each other around — she assumed they were waiting for their mother. As she passed the stalls, she locked eyes with that mother: sitting on the toilet, door fully open, clothes down. She stalled for time, stepped outside, and the family had already vanished.

Mizunochi's response was immediate: "In China, that's normal." She recalled a trip from Dalian (大連) to Qingdao (青島) by local bus, stopping at a highway service-area restroom. Inside the fence were no partitions whatsoever — just a long trench with running water. You straddled the trench, made eye contact with the person in front and the person behind, and whatever was deposited upstream flowed downstream beneath you. No toilet paper either. Mizunochi described it as her "best-of culture shock" moment. She also explained that split-crotch pants for babies are sold as a matter of course in China, reflecting a broader cultural attitude toward relieving oneself anywhere, anytime.

Snack Time with Ippudo Ramen Chips from Hakata

The episode closed on a lighter note. Manager Nekocchi (猫っち) had brought back Hakata souvenirs from the Silver Week holiday — Ippudo (一風堂) Akamaru Shinaji Ramen Snack and Shiromaru Motaji Ramen Snack. Each piece is bowl-shaped, crunchier than Baby Star, and faithfully recreates nori, pickled ginger, and green onion. Ojissan, a dedicated Akamaru orderer at the actual restaurant, predictably championed the red-flavor version here too.