On the October 26, 2026 episode of Japan's Shinken Yugi! THE Battle SHOW, comedian Kazuya Kojima brought up a grievance that had survived more than ten years: he still wanted the photograph he had taken with host Sho Sakurai in Singapore. The show's solution was wonderfully unhelpful. It put the photograph on television and invited Kojima to capture the screen himself. According to his account, an older TV programme had already proposed essentially the same thing.
A game show becomes a lost-photo help desk
The Fuji TV programme, hosted by Sakurai, pits teams of entertainers against one another in studio games. Its Monday, October 26 broadcast began at 8 p.m. Japan time; Kojima was on the comedians' team. According to a post-broadcast report, Sakurai asked whether Kojima had a complaint about him. Instead of discussing the competition, Kojima raised the missing picture.
For readers outside Japan, Kojima belongs to the comedy duo Unjash, while Sakurai is an actor and a member of the pop group Arashi. This was a televised anecdote between entertainers, not evidence of a serious personal feud.
Why Singapore? The story begins with a 2013 film
Kojima said they had travelled to Singapore while making a promotional television segment for The After-Dinner Mysteries (Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de). The film opened in Japan on August 3, 2013. Sakurai played Kageyama, a sharp-tongued butler, and the plot involves a luxury liner bound for Singapore. The location was connected to the film rather than a random holiday destination.
Kojima recalled asking for the picture without receiving it. Later, he says, he complained again on VS Arashi, an earlier variety show featuring Sakurai's group. His recollection of the reply is the setup: the group would display the image on air, and he could photograph the television at home. That earlier exchange is reported as Kojima's 2026 recollection; the original VS Arashi footage has not been independently checked here.
The Merlion photo appears, but the request remains
The 2026 show reportedly displayed a photograph of Kojima and Sakurai striking matching poses in front of Singapore's Merlion, the lion-and-fish landmark. The instruction to Kojima was, once again, to take a screenshot.
The joke builds by repetition. First, a routine request for one souvenir picture stays unresolved for over a decade. Second, the earlier show invents an unnecessarily elaborate workaround. Third, years later, a new show repeats that workaround instead of sending the file. The photograph is visible to the audience, but the person who wants it is still being told to retrieve it from a screen.
A screenshot preserves what is displayed on a device; photographing a TV is another way of copying a displayed image. Neither is the same as receiving the original digital photograph. The comic mismatch is between a tiny everyday favour and the extraordinary lengths television goes to avoid completing it.
Did Kojima finally receive the original?
The October 26 image display and screenshot request are described in a post-broadcast report. There is no verified evidence here that Kojima successfully saved it during the show or later received the original file. Nor does the anecdote establish that Sakurai deliberately withheld it for years.
Conclusion: a souvenir photo with its own sequel
The 2013 film explains the Singapore setting; Kojima's account of VS Arashi explains the callback; the October 2026 studio screen supplies the payoff. For everyone else, the question is simple: after all this time, couldn't someone just send him the photo?
References (6)
- Oricon News, October 26, 2026: Kojima's complaint and the photo
- Oricon report syndicated by mixi, October 26, 2026: the VS Arashi callback
- Fuji TV Mezamashi Media, October 25, 2026: broadcast and cast
- TVer: October 26 episode listing
- Kansai TV: the 2013 film and setting
- Japan Film Database: film release and cast
