オープニング - 大竹まことゴールデンラジオ！currently outside the Japan top 100
【ヒコロヒー】2026年10月16日 たばこの花束 ＋ 今日のニュース（米要求の防衛費 明示見送りへ／政府アピール動画 59億円／働き続ける高齢者）
Hikorohii (ヒコロヒー), who turned 37 on October 15, joined Otake Makoto (大竹まこと) to talk about a Costa Rican 119-year-old's vitality, a friend who spent her birthday dinner reading out a list of famous people who died at 37, and an Asahi Shimbun report that the Japanese government is considering dropping an explicit GDP 3.5% defense-spending target demanded by the Trump administration. The conversation ranges across autumn saury, travel plans, and Trump's $5,000 voter-payment pledge over thirty minutes of warm, winding radio.
What this episode answers
How did Otake find this year's Pacific saury?
Otake said the saury was lean and low in fat — pressing the middle with chopsticks didn't cleanly separate the flesh to both sides, and the meat near the tail also came away poorly, making it noticeably different from a typical year.
What kind of country is Costa Rica, and why was it described as having high happiness levels?
Costa Rica is a Central American country roughly the size of Chiba Prefecture that maintains no military and ranks fourth in the world for happiness; it reportedly has a 119-year-old resident, and people in their 80s and 90 naturally gather at neighborhood celebrations and dance. The staple diet is simple corn-based food — boiled, grilled, or fried into bread — yet an 84-year-old man sells watches strung around his neck on the street and another person repairs disposable lighters to resell them, all with evident vitality.
What happened at Hikorohii's 37th birthday?
At a birthday dinner the night before, a friend looked up 'famous people who died at 37' and began reciting names starting with Van Gogh; another friend tried to intervene but couldn't stop her, leaving Hikorohii bemused and joking that she considered cutting ties.
How is the Japanese government handling the defense-spending GDP 3.5% target?
The government is leaning toward not stating the 3.5% figure explicitly in the year-end revision of its security documents, judging it politically untenable to impose a massive tax increase — which hitting 3.5% would require, costing more than 20 trillion yen a year — while also pushing to cut consumption tax on food; officials are also considering broadening the definition of security-related expenditure to include economic security, AI, and space budgets.
What election pledge has President Trump put forward?
Trump has pledged to pay $5,000 to each person who voted for him, a promise Otake questioned aloud before comparing it to the recently resigned minister Yanagi, who suggested he would cut road budgets for districts that did not vote for him.
An Autumn Morning, Saury, and Turning 37
With temperatures at a comfortable 23.8°C and clear autumn skies, Hikorohii arrived at the studio having ridden with the taxi's rear window fully open to enjoy the breeze. She had turned 37 the previous day, October 15, and reflected: "When I turned 36 I just thought, 'oh, 36' — but 37 feels like the mountain of 40 is suddenly closer." Still, she said there was no real anxiety, just the honest feeling of being absorbed in getting through each day.
Otake shared his verdict on saury he had eaten this autumn: pressing the middle with chopsticks hadn't cleanly split the flesh to either side, and the meat near the tail came away poorly too — lean, low in fat, clearly below the usual standard. When Hikorohii mentioned she can eat the innards as well — the grown-up way — Otake laughed and said, "So I'm the only child about it."
Costa Rica: Longevity and Happiness
Otake introduced a television special he had watched the previous evening about Costa Rica. The Central American country is roughly the size of Chiba Prefecture, maintains no military, and sits fourth in global happiness rankings. It reportedly has a 119-year-old resident — not the Guinness record holder at 117, but close — and people in their 80s and 90s routinely turn up at a 14-year-old's birthday party and join in naturally.
The staple diet is simple corn prepared various ways — boiled, grilled, or deep-fried into a bread-like form. Yet an 84-year-old man strings watches around his neck and sells them on the street, and another person repairs disposable lighters to resell them. "What do you even get for repairing a 100-yen lighter?" Otake wondered. Hikorohii replied: "If someone brings a lighter in for repair, it means either they treasure their belongings or they simply don't have enough."
The local greeting is something like "Pura Vida," a word that covers both "hello" and "I'm happy." What struck Otake most was an interview in which an elderly resident, unprompted, answered simply: "Dying is something I can do." "It says nothing explicit, yet it lands," Otake said. Contrasting this with images of Japan's welfare debates, rising prices, and overseas footage of people fighting over scarce petrol, he concluded: "Maybe I should just say the same — I'll live until I die."
Travel Plans and the Nakano Taiga Episode
Hikorohii has solo live shows starting at the end of the month and mentioned she is thinking of going to New York once they wrap. She also listed Spain, Italy, Greece, and Africa (Egypt) as places she would like to visit, though she scrapped an Africa trip the previous year because of the sheer number of vaccinations required. Otake recommended Costa Rica; Ota suggested "a Bali-style resort with fewer tourists."
Otake also described a documentary about actor Nakano Taiga (中野大賀) — whose father is Nakano Hideo (中野秀夫) — traveling through a labyrinthine old city. A man who initially seemed to be a street vendor kept following him, gradually grew warmer, and eventually invited him home, where Taiga ended up giving a football to his child. "I had no idea things like that still happened," Otake said.
The Birthday Incident
At a dinner the evening before her birthday, a friend announced: "You're turning 37 — I wonder who died famous at 37?" and started listing names, beginning with Van Gogh. A second friend tried repeatedly to stop her, but she pressed on. "Why, at my own birthday dinner, am I being given a roll call of people who died at the same age?" Hikorohii said, laughing. "I seriously thought about ending the friendship."
News: Defense Spending and Trump's $5,000 Pledge
Citing an Asahi Shimbun article, the show reported that the Japanese government is considering omitting an explicit GDP 3.5% defense-spending target — as demanded by the Trump administration — from the year-end revision of its security documents. Reaching 3.5% would cost more than 20 trillion yen annually, making tax increases unavoidable. Asking the public to shoulder that burden while simultaneously promoting a consumption-tax cut on food is "politically difficult," and officials are exploring whether economic security, AI, and space-related budgets can be reclassified as security expenses. Some within the government have reportedly argued that even 10 trillion yen a year would not be enough.
Otake then brought up Trump's pledge to pay $5,000 to every person who voted for him. "Is this real? Is this even allowed as a campaign promise?" he asked, before noting a resemblance to Minister Yanagi, who resigned after suggesting he would cut road budgets for districts that had not supported him. "Aren't those kind of similar?" The segment closed on Hikorohii's deadpan retort — "Money wins, doesn't it" — and Otake's puzzled "What do you mean by that?"
Takeaways
- A Costa Rican TV special inspired Otake to reflect on the country's simple, vigorous longevity — summed up in his line 'I'll live until I die' — and to contrast it with Japan's sense of economic and social stagnation.
- Japan's government is leaning toward dropping an explicit GDP 3.5% defense-spending target demanded by the Trump administration, citing the fiscal and political impossibility of large-scale tax increases alongside food-tax cuts.
- Hikorohii marked her 37th birthday on air, sharing a story of a friend who spent the birthday dinner reciting a list of famous people who died at 37 — starting with Van Gogh — prompting Hikorohii to joke about ending the friendship.
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.