Aiba Manabu (TV Asahi, Sunday 6pm) is a variety show in which Arashi's Aiba Masaki learns about various things in various parts of Japan. On Getsuku, the show will feature the regular segment "Matsutake Hunting," in which he will welcome guests So Matsushima and Shuto Inomata from the junior group "timelesz" as they attempt to hunt for matsutake mushrooms in Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture.
This was Matsushima and Inomata's first appearance on the show. This was Inomata's first time meeting Aiba, and he was so excited to be working with him that he revealed he had a dream about Aiba the day before the recording. "I had an image of Aiba as a gentle sun..." he said, and the contents of his dream got the crowd excited right from the start.
He has tried matsutake mushroom hunting five times on previous programs, and although he was very successful in catching 34 in 2022, he only managed to catch four in 2023 and an astonishing zero last year, making it two consecutive years of poor results. Inomata declared, "I'm lucky, so I'll be the first to find them! I can already feel the atmosphere of matsutake mushrooms," and hearing this, Aiba put pressure on his energetic juniors, saying, "Today we'll find out whether the energetic juniors have it or not!"
The group searches for matsutake mushrooms together with Eiji Kotoge from "Bike King," Dai Okabe from "Hanako," and Abareru-kun. However, their guide, a matsutake mushroom hunter, says that because there has been less rain than usual this year, the best time to harvest is one week after the recording date. An uneasy atmosphere gradually begins to hang in the air, and just as everyone is about to give up, a "miracle" occurs.
After finishing the location shoot, Aiba said, "This was my first time meeting Inomata-kun, and I was really happy because I had really wanted to meet him. I've worked with Sato-chan on other programs and we have some contact, so I felt like he was also on this program (laughs). It was so much fun to hunt matsutake mushrooms with the two of them. We had a wonderful, warm and cozy time, and even in the midst of it all, a miracle happened... They really have a lot of talent!"
Matsushima also commented, "An unexpected miracle happened! Please check it out!! It was a matsutake that really touched my heart." Inomata reflected, "I was really happy from the bottom of my heart to meet Aiba-san. I received advice and guidance from him, so I would like to use that to continue to work hard in the future!"
