TBS "Netsukyo Mania-san!" Cooperation/Appearance, Theme: Ekiben (Railway Bento)🍱
I cooperated with and appeared on the TBS program "Netsukyo Mania-san!". The theme was Ekiben.
The broadcast on 5/17 (Sat) from 19:00 features "Spicy Food Maniacs" in the first half. This part focuses on the cities where spicy food enthusiasts want to live. The second half is an "Ekiben Special". It features 49 Ekiben maniacs vs. celebrities who love Ekiben. The format involves three celebrities trying to guess the "Top 10 Ekiben you want to eat in spring" chosen by the 49 Ekiben maniacs, from among the Ekiben available at the "Ekibenya Matsuri" shop in Tokyo Station.
Since I have been writing articles about Ekiben on note for a long time, I was chosen as an Ekiben maniac. Because it was about my favorite subject, Ekiben, I cooperated fully with the program. I had been dying to talk about it since my interview in late January, but I had to keep quiet because the TV station had imposed a gag order. The three celebrities who love Ekiben are as follows.
The "Top 10 Ekiben you want to eat in spring" chosen by the 49 Ekiben maniacs are as follows. My appearance on the program was only for a brief moment (★ indicates my comment, ☆ indicates I had not eaten it at the time of the interview).
① Gyu-niku Domannaka (Yonezawa) Shin-Kineya
② Fukagawa-meshi (Tokyo) Nihonbashi Daimasu
③ Shumai Chahan Bento (Yokohama) Kiyoken
⑤ Chicken Bento (Tokyo) JR East Cross Station Foods Company
⑥ Masu no Sushi Ichiju (Toyama) Minamoto
⑦ Hinai Jidori no Torimeshi (Akita) Hanazen
☆⑧ Zuwaigani Kaisenn Gozen (Hokkaido) Asahikawa Ekidachi Baikai
⑨ Sumibiyaki-fu Gyu-tan Bento (Tokyo) JR East Cross Station Foods Company ☆⑩ Hitokuchi Darake (Aomori) Tsugaru Sozai
The cooperation took place in three stages. First, I had an individual Zoom interview where I submitted my personal Top 10 Ekiben of all time and my Top 10 Ekiben that I had eaten recently. Second, I had a second individual Zoom interview. By this stage, the Top 10 results from the Ekiben maniacs' voting had already been finalized. In my predictions, I got zero correct for the former and only "Gyu-niku Domannaka" for the latter. There were two in the Top 10 that I had never eaten. It was surprising that "Toge no Kamameshi" and "Ebi Senryo Chirashi" were not in the Top 10. Third, there was an emergency online roundtable discussion. There were three Ekiben maniacs including myself: one was a university student named T-Rail, and the other was 64-year-old Ue-chan (Tsugutsugu Uesugi). The TBS MC asked us questions, mostly about the points of popularity and the reasons why they are delicious (manufacturing methods and ingredients). Since I didn't make them, I answered that I didn't know about the manufacturing methods, but Ue-chan's knowledge was incredible. For example, regarding the 10th place Goshogawara "Hitokuchi Darake", he said, "Although Aomori Prefecture's specialty apple🍎 is not used, the 'Gen-dare' sauce used for seasoning contains grated apple🍎." Also, I thought the fried rice in Kiyoken's "Chahan Shumai Bento" was chewy because of glutinous rice, but the label listing the ingredients did not say "glutinous rice." Not knowing the reason, I asked Ue-chan, and his answer, "It's because the rice is steamed, not boiled," made me nod deeply. I felt the same way when I participated in the "Sumo Hobby Club"; people who have mastered a path really research and learn a lot. I realized that compared to Ue-chan, my knowledge of Ekiben is far behind. There were many other amazing pieces of trivia introduced besides what I have mentioned here.