Episode 26: A Heartwarming Wedding Reception

February 28, 2026

I attended a wedding recently. It was a truly wonderful ceremony.

I felt that the personalities of both the bride and the groom really shone through.

Now, the groom had asked me in advance to give the "toast" speech. I’ve only done this once before in my life... and man, was I nervous. Honestly, more nervous than picking up the mic at the Tokyo Dome (lol).

In terms of the program, I was scheduled to go right after Chairman Sugabayashi’s brilliant congratulatory speech (which was seriously moving). At that point, I was in a "there’s nothing left for me to say! ((((；ﾟДﾟ)))))))" kind of situation.

However, I decided to take a moment to calm my mind and reflect.

A celebration of the bride and groom's new beginning. Their parents must be so happy. The friends, the colleagues—everyone is smiling.

As I was doing that... basically everything I had planned to say completely "vanished" from my head!

Oh no! To put it in Riki Choshu-san’s words: "I'm gonna fly!" (Tobu zo!). (Lately, my daughter has been watching nothing but Choshu-san’s YouTube and keeps doing impressions of him).

But as I approached the microphone stand, inspiration struck at the very last second! The phrase "Thank you for that introduction!" flashed into my mind.

Then, standing before the mic, the female MC introduced me.

MC: "The toast will be led by the President of the groom's company, and the 'Once in a Thousand Years' Talent—Hiroshi Tanahashi-san!"

Pfft! I couldn't help but burst out laughing! That moment completely broke the tension.

At this point, honestly, "Once in a 100 years" or "1000 years"—either one is fine with me.

I get nervous every time I have to give a speech like this, but I'll likely have to do it many more times in the future. It’s about time I evolved my speech-giving skills!