Tomikawa
You pay frequent visits and would like to host Rally Japan in Tohoku, right?

Akio
That’s right. The rally is a chance to show the world different landscapes.

When we talk about Europe, places like Italy and France have rough roads, while the Autobahn represents German roads. So even though we lump it all together as Europe, there are many different roads.

In an Asian country like Japan, shrines might appear in the landscape. While Japanese people may not notice this, I think the white guardrails are representative of Japan. That’s why I believe it’s good for these landscapes to be seen worldwide.

Many people still remember that the big earthquake occurred in Tohoku.

Through the rally, we can show people, not just through regular programs but also through motorsports, how much Tohoku has recovered after the tsunami.

In doing so, we can show what has been achieved through everyone’s support and express our gratitude, which is a good thing. I said that because I would like to use motorsports like rallying in this way.

Mr. Tasso, the Governor of Iwate Prefecture who was next to me, also smiled and said, “That sounds good,” so I believe we are heading in a good direction, even if it’s just a step or a half step forward.

Tomikawa
It would be good if people could see the recovery effort from all sorts of different angles. For example, an Italian documentary filmmaker is making a film about Kesennuma, so the best thing would be for people to see it in various ways.

Akio
That’s right. All sorts of people would see it.

Tomikawa
I hope everyone can see that we still hold Tohoku close to our hearts.

Akio
There have been disasters in Kumamoto and Ishikawa since then, and I think that knowing how Toyota is providing ongoing support for the earthquake in Tohoku will give both the people of Kumamoto and Ishikawa a bit of peace of mind.

I sincerely hope they can see that Toyota will not forget, and Toyota will continue to provide support.

Tomikawa
It just hit me right now that, while Toyota has become a global corporation, it really is a Japanese company.

I realize there are a lot of mixed feelings.

Akio
For all that… but nonetheless, let’s do our best.

Tomikawa
I’m sure there are concerns from a different perspective, but the feeling that we were raised in Japan and that we want to look out for our Japanese compatriots is something that is unmistakably there.

Akio
That is true.

Let’s leave it at that.

Tomikawa
Kyonosuke Morita has actually been sitting beside me throughout this radio recording. This is because Toyota Times Sports has been revamped into a new format, so I would like Morita to say a few words while introducing himself.

Kyonosuke Morita
Thank you very much. I kept quiet this whole time.

Tomikawa
We could hear you laughing partway through.

Akio
He was quiet all the way through, but he was watching us with the eyes of a manager.

Tomikawa
There’s no doubt he’s a Toyota employee.

Morita
I enjoyed listening to you.

Akio
You didn’t look like you were enjoying yourself.

Morita
Really?

Akio
“You mustn’t use those words.”

Morita
I certainly didn’t have that look on my face while I was listening.

Tomikawa
I felt it.

Akio
I also felt it sitting next to you.

Tomikawa
Has it been 3 years since you joined Toyota?

Morita
I’m in my 4th year.

Tomikawa
He’s been working hard in the public affairs division, checking things thoroughly.

Morita
I really wasn’t listening from that sort of perspective.

Akio
How were we? Did we make any verbal slips?

Morita
I wasn’t listening from that perspective, so I wouldn’t know.

Tomikawa
I think we should get back on topic.

Morita
On April 17th, which coincided with the 100th day before the start of the Paris Olympics, Toyota Times Sports underwent a slight rebirth.

Up until now, Toyota Times Sports was the name of a program broadcast every Friday, but it has been launched as a new sports media site with a slightly different look and feel, as you can see.

We have added all sorts of new videos, such as team introductions and documentaries.

Akio
No one will understand that sort of explanation when it’s on the radio.

Morita
Oh right. I apologize. It’s because I was a TV presenter for some time.

No one can see it, even if I say, “as you can see.”

Akio is looking at the website right now. On the homepage, there are new documentaries, team introductions, and talks. We will be taking on new challenges that we couldn’t have done with Toyota Times Sports before.

Within Toyota, there is a department called the Toyota Sport Promotion Department, and we will create new content working with this team.

Akio
There’s a section called “Talks,” which, for example, has a talk about the best pitcher-catcher combination in Japan. I assume this is where the women’s softball and men’s baseball pitcher-catcher combos are invited to have a face-to-face talk.

Morita
That’s exactly right.

Akio
You must provide these sorts of explanations.

Tomikawa
Morizo’s explanation just now was much easier to understand.

Morita
I think the chairman just saw the thumbnail.

Akio
That’s right.

Morita
I apologize.

Tomikawa
He’s a veteran when it comes to radio, so you have to learn from him.

Akio
I’m your radio senpai (senior).

Morita
Absolutely.

As the chairman just mentioned, that’s exactly what it is. This is a show where Japan’s two best pitcher-catcher combos come together and talk. This is unique to Toyota.

We can have this talk because we have both a women’s softball club and a baseball club in-house. When thinking of this being unique to Toyota, motorsports also falls within this sporting framework.

Akio
Thank you!

Morita
Drivers are included as athletes, and we obviously have things like Morizo getting very excited while watching Formula Drift Japan for the first time.

Up to now, Toyota Times Sports has been like the sports page within Toyota Times News, but this is like a new Sports Newspaper being created.

Akio
Why can we do this? I think this must be because Toyota has so many sporting clubs, including motorsports. Within that, there are professional teams, semi-professionals, and clubs where sports lovers gather. Also, as we saw at the Tokyo Olympics, we have some amazing Olympic athletes as well.

But just when you thought it was just Olympic athletes, we also have a legendary amateur league pitcher as well.

Morita
That would be Mr. Satake.

Akio
We have an abundance of content like that. There are so many stories with sports clubs, so it would be great if you could promote these heroes in this new program, but please also try to think of radio listeners, as you can sometimes be a little short on words at times due to being too used to television.

Morita
My apologies. I will work on it and try to provide more careful explanations.

Tomikawa
Next time you come back to report to us, hopefully, you can be at a level where you will be praised for being a solid radio speaker.

Morita
It’s very difficult. You can’t say things like “this.”

Akio
That’s right.

Morita
“This” isn’t also descriptive enough.

Tomikawa
You kept saying “this” even after being warned several times.

Morita
I didn’t pick up on that.

Akio
We should record you once to see how many you say “this” and “that.” You’re like an old man.

Morita
I guess I’ve had it too easy up to now. I’ll be careful of saying “this” and “that.”

Thank you.

Tomikawa
It would be nice if you could join us on the radio to tell us how things are going.

Morita
Like “this sort of new interesting content has been released”?

Tomikawa
Not “this sort of”!

He’s already doing it. It feels like it’s on purpose.

Morita
That was just an example.

Tomikawa
It has been two and a half months since our last voice-only broadcast, but ideally, we would like to do this once every month. Let’s aim for once a month.

Akio
But it must be difficult just keeping up when you have that many sports clubs and motorsports every week?

Tomikawa
That’s true. It might be better to categorize it as a sports newspaper.

Akio
Doing it every week is really hard work, and sporting events tend to be at the weekend. When they overlap, they really happen at the same time.

If broadcast times are already set and he has to fit everything in within the allotted time, Kyonosuke Morita will become even more of a fast talker.

Tomikawa
Toyota Time Sports used to be 30 minutes when it started, but now it goes for an hour and a half.

Akio
It’s on YouTube, so we can get away with it.

Morita
Our time management is a little out of control.

Akio
I agree. That’s also something not good from a radio perspective.

Morita
I must do radio to get back to the basics or at least think of how to shorten things.

Tomikawa

It would be nice if we could have this sort of conversation again in a month’s time.

Akio
A point to watch will be whether the way we talk changes.

Tomikawa
It would be great if listeners could look forward to things like that as well.

Thank you so much again for another episode, Morizo.

Akio
Thank you very much.

Tomikawa
See you next time, everyone. Goodbye!