Ayako Kato: The job of an announcer is to deliver the final product. As long as there is something I want to convey, I want to deliver it.

Ayako Kato (Ayako Kato)

■ Profile

Freelance announcer Born in 1985. Joined Fuji Television in 2008 and worked as a flagship announcer. In 2016, she went freelance and is currently active as an actress. She currently serves as the main anchor for the news program "Live News It!" (CX) and is a regular on "Honmadekka TV" (CX).

■Please tell us what made you decide to become an announcer.

I had always admired school teachers and piano teachers, and in order to get a teaching license, I commuted two hours each way to attend classes at university. What sparked my interest in becoming an announcer was when a friend I was dating at the time asked me, "Why don't you try becoming an announcer?" I thought that both teachers and announcers are the same in the sense that they both involve communicating things to people, so I decided to enroll in an announcer school.

At the time, there wasn't much of an atmosphere of music college students getting jobs, so I started by gathering information about the announcer exam. After much deliberation, I chose Fuji Television because the atmosphere during my work experience was good and because I'd loved Fuji Television's variety shows since I was little. The job of an announcer is the final role of delivering a program to the other side of the television screen. Another attraction is being able to hear stories from a variety of fields.

■Please tell us about your attitude towards work.

Before I became a freelancer, I was passive about my work, but after I became a freelancer, I started to wonder what kind of person I was and began to reexamine myself. Sometimes I feel lonely, but since it was a decision I made myself, I don't regret it.

When you work in a public role, you tend to think big, but since I started working freelance, I've learned to carefully approach each job, be grateful, and focus on the task at hand. I'm working hard to ensure that this translates into good performance.

■Please give us a message for university students

When I took the announcer exam, I was the only candidate who graduated from a music college. I think that having a music college background is an advantage, and the way I communicate and express myself when improvising or reading a script is a testament to what I learned in music at university.

I hope all university students will find their own strengths and work hard towards their dreams.

■After the interview

I also attended the same university, so he was a senior I looked up to. I learned a lot from hearing about his various perspectives, from his student days to music and his current job. Just as Kato-san said, I have taken to heart the importance of utilizing my strengths and sticking to my beliefs.

Student Newspaper April 2022 Issue by Mari Okabe, First Year Student at Kunitachi College of Music