Radio Show Hosts Make Heart-Warming Tokusatsu Event; Yama-Chang Has Touching Surprise

By Mishio Suzuki / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

12:00 JST, January 10, 2025

At the end of 2024, I put on an event based on Tokyo Star Radio’s “Ome Oja!” radio show, which is hosted by actress Nao Oikawa, singer NewJack Takuro and Yama-chang, who represents otaku geeks. Oikawa is known for playing the villainess Kegalesia in “Engine Sentai Go-Onger,” one of the Super Sentai tokusatsu sci-fi superhero TV dramas, while Takuro sings the theme song of “Gosei Sentai Dairanger,” another production from the Super Sentai series.

The show’s title “Ome Oja!” is short for “Omedeto de ojaru” — “Omedeto” means “congratulations” in Japanese, and “ojaru” is a sentence-ending word with an antiquated tone. The radio show has the title because Kegalesia is known to punctuate her statements with “-ojaru.”

The radio program, which started in 2018, always features guests from tokusatsu or the anison (anime song) world. The guests enjoy playing games or taking part in psychological tests with Oikawa and the other regulars. I was a guest on the show last summer and had a blast, so this time I suggested doing the event.

The Dec. 14 event, named Ome Oja! Matsuri, had appearances by the three regulars from the radio show, as well as actor Takumi Hashimoto, anison singer Yuka Uchiyae and actor Seiji Takaiwa, who is also a stunt performer. Hashimoto, a semi-regular of the radio show, has played the role of TigerRanger, a superhero in “Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger.” Uchiyae is famous for singing theme songs for the “PreCure” TV anime series. Takaiwa is a legendary suit actor — an actor who dons a full-body suit and mask to play the part of a superhero — particularly as “Kamen Rider” in the TV shows during the Heisei era (1989-2019). Both Uchiyae and Takaiwa have made guest appearances on “Ome Oja!” in the past.

In the radio show, there is a gender-ambiguous character named Papiyon Sensei (Prof. Papillon), who conducts mock psychological tests. At the event, Takuro came on stage dressed up as the character. He said it took him an hour to put on the costume — a silver wig and the attire of a glamorous-looking woman. He then used his sharp tongue to trash the psychological test results of the participants, much to the delight of the audience. In the second half, he suddenly announced news of his marriage, which came as quite the surprise. Takuro and Uchiyae both sang for the audience, too.

In the meantime, Hashimoto and Yama-chang participated in a round of competitive games to decide “who is more ludicrous.” The games included a balloon-breaking race, a Coca Cola-drinking competition and a speed-eating contest using fugashi — traditional Japanese sweets that dry out the mouth. The audience heartily cheered them on. Hashimoto and Takaiwa also performed the “nanori” choreographed sequences that their respective superhero characters do when introducing themselves.

It was so much fun, like being at a year-end party. And it was not all about “Ome Oja!” Toward the end of the event, Yama-chang suddenly started reading a letter, which he’d kept secret from his fellow performers. It was about his gratitude for Oikawa.

“I’m an amateur, but I’ve been able to keep going on thanks to Nao-chan’s help,” he said. His unpretentious thank you made Oikawa teary and filled the venue with a warm atmosphere.

You never know how an event will go, no matter how much you prepare for it or how good the participants are. I was a little bit concerned about what would happen if things got too fun and out of control, but it turned out to be a very heart-warming affair. Among the audience were visitors from overseas, who also thoroughly enjoyed the show. I hope to open a new page for tokusatsu and anison events in 2025, too, without getting mired in the things I’ve been doing up until now.