What's going on
This comes from a long-running Japanese variety show built around a simple format: people write in with a wish, and the show's team of "detectives" go out and try to make it happen. The requests range from silly to deeply personal, and this one leans firmly into the latter.
A mother from Himeji wrote in about her five-year-old son, Haro, who became completely obsessed with lion dance (a traditional performance where a costumed lion, usually operated by two people, dances at local festivals) after watching one at his grandparents' town. She made him a lion out of a cardboard box and cloth, and he's been practicing with it every day since — to the point where he started asking to perform for real, in front of his friends, at Himeji Castle. The problem: neither parent knows the first thing about lion dance, and their own neighborhood doesn't even hold a festival.
So the show brought in a local youth association to take over where the parents couldn't — training him seriously, for hours at a time, and eventually giving him a stage.
Comments
Five years old and he already greets people properly and uses polite language. Smart kid.
5歳で挨拶も丁寧語も使えて賢い子。
He’d probably get along great with the boy from the Gojinjo Daiko episode a while back (a fierce, mask-wearing taiko drumming tradition from the Noto Peninsula) 😊 And I love how well-made his homemade lion costume and handheld sign are…
ちょっと前にあった御陣乗太鼓の男の子とすごく気が合いそうですね😊 手作りの獅子舞と手持ち看板が上手…
The moment he said “Alright, let’s go!” — that’s when he fully became the lion.
『よっしゃ、いくぞ』で完全この子は獅子になった
This is the “kid + gruff, serious adults” series I love! The way the grown-ups who aren’t used to teaching little kids are carefully choosing their words — that expression on their faces gets me…
子供と渋い大人シリーズだ！小さい子に教え慣れてない大人が真剣に言葉を選んでる表情が良いんだ…
I love this series where grown-ups go all in to make a kid’s dream come true.
子供の夢を大人が全力で叶えるシリーズ好き
As a local — before watching: “oh no, I’m gonna cry.” After watching: it took me 10 minutes just to write this comment.
地元民ワイ 見る前 泣きそうやなぁ…。 見た後 コメントするのに10分かかった。
Kids who show up on Knight Scoop like this always seem to have parents who raised them really well. The bit where he fixes the cardboard lion himself got me. And him holding Detective Takeyama’s hand the whole time is too cute…
探偵ナイトスクープに出てくるこういう子って親御さんの教育がしっかりしてますよね 箱の獅子舞直してあげてるのグッと来ました 竹山探偵とずっと手を繋いでるのが可愛すぎますね…
Every single person in this episode is a good one.
登場人物全員良い奴
Isn’t he a little too composed for his answers?
受け答えしっかりしすぎてない？
The fact that this kid has only been alive for five years is terrifying. Genuinely gave me chills — humans grow up way too fast, it’s scary.
これで5年しか生きてないの怖すぎる なんかリアルに背筋寒くなった、人間の成長ってあまりに早すぎるこわい
Isn’t it wild that a 5-year-old can practice for four hours straight? I’d have expected him to get bored way before that.
5歳で4時間練習出来るって凄くないか？普通は飽きそうだと思った
The person playing the back half of the lion, crouched down the whole time to match a kid’s height — that must’ve been rough 😂 Adults who take a child’s dream this seriously are the best.
子供の高さに合わせて舞った後ろ足の人はどんなに大変だったろう😂子供の夢に真剣に付き合ってくれる大人最高だ〜
4:45 — nobody’s laughing, everyone’s just watching him seriously. That part is so sweet.
みんな笑いもせずに真剣に見てくれる 4:45 ところ愛おしい
Why is it that seeing someone — especially a little kid — trying their hardest always makes me tear up? Another perfect episode. Thank you, Knight Scoop.
どうしてこう、人が……とりわけ小さき子が頑張っている姿って涙が出るんだろうな 今回も神回だった 探偵ナイトスクープありがとう
He actually went on to perform alongside the Ushitani-cho lion dance troupe (the local group in Himeji that trained him) during the procession dance at the Oshio Tenmangu shrine’s Kokuon Festival (a special festival only held once every several years) on May 4th 😊
5月4日に行われた 大塩天満宮国恩祭で 牛谷丁の獅子と道中舞で共演してました。😊
10:37 — I lost it when his mom brought along the homemade lion costume they must’ve practiced with together. She deserved to watch his big moment right there with him…!
10:37 お母さんが今まで一緒に練習してたであろう手作りの獅子舞を持ってきてたとこで涙が。一緒に晴れ舞台を見守ってもらいたいもんね…！
Haro never once looked like it was hard for him — he just looks thrilled to be able to perform the lion dance.
大路君、一度もつらそうな顔を見せなくて、獅子舞を演じられて嬉しくて仕方ないって感じだね。
4:18 — there’s a flash of laughter here, but everyone goes straight back to serious faces. You can feel that both the kid and the adults are all in 🤗
4:18 ここで一瞬笑いが溢れてるけど、すぐに皆さん真顔になって真剣な表情で見られてますね。子どもも大人も本気なのが伝わってきます🤗
The youth association members are wonderful too. I don’t think they held back at all just because he’s a kid — they coached him seriously. Hope he grows up to join them and become their ace someday.
青年団の方々も素晴らしいですね。子供だからと手を抜かず熱心に指導されたんだと思います。 将来、団員になってエースになってくれると良いですね。
He’s out here finishing unfinished business from a past life 😭
前世のやり残しを昇華してはる😭
The “please teach me the lion dance!” line wrecked me.
獅子舞教えてください！で泣いた
3:20 — the look on his face when he gets to see the lion dance up close. So good.
3:20 獅子舞を間近で見せてもらった時の表情、いいなぁ
That refreshed look on Haro’s face after finishing his performance, with Himeji Castle standing over him like it’s watching too — it got me right in the chest. Watching him throw himself into it, small body and all, under the youth association’s careful teaching, made me want to root for him. I really hope to see him dancing again once he’s grown.
獅子舞の演舞を終えた大路君の清々しい顔と背景の姫路城の雄大で見守られているような光景に胸が熱くなりました。 青年団の方々の丁寧な指導の中、小さい体で前向きに取り組む姿勢に応援する気持ちです。 青年になって舞う大路君の姿を見たい思いになりました。
Every time Knight Scoop features one of these kids who’s deeply into one very old-school, unglamorous thing, I lose it wondering how such a precious kid comes to exist. It’s almost too much. Twenty years from now it’d be totally fine if he laughs it off and says “huh, I used to be really into that” — the days he spent completely absorbed in one thing will still be precious, and I bet his parents get something from watching their kid like that that nothing else gives them (can’t find the right words 😣). An environment where a kid can just love what they love, straight up, no hedging — that’s beautiful. Thank you, straightforward kids, always.
超渋い1つのものをずっと好きでいるお子様がナイトスクープにちょこちょこ出てくるのを見て、どうやってそんな尊い子が育つんだ？とビビり散らかしている。尊すぎる。 20年後とかにはアハハーそんなこともあったねーとか言って、好きじゃなくなっててもいいんだ。1つのことに夢中で打ち込んでいたあの日々が愛おしいし、親御さんたちはそんな我が子からしか得られない栄養(語彙力😣)に勇気付けられているだろうな。好きなものをまっすぐ好きでいられる環境が本当に素敵。まっすぐな子供達、いつもありがとう。
Haro, we got it loud and clear — you really love the lion dance. I bet the lion’s happy about it too 😊
大路君 獅子舞が大好きってこと よくわかりましたよ。 獅子舞もきっと喜んでますね😊
This is the kind of thing I wish elementary schools would actually do. Experiences like this stay with you for life.
小学校の授業でやって欲しいレベル。こういう体験は一生の財産になる。
During the real performance, that serious face caught on the inner camera made me cry. So cool!
本番、内カメラの真剣な表情で涙でました かっこよかったです！
7:18 — his answer here cracked me up 😂
7:18 受け答えめっちゃ笑える😂
Performing the lion dance in front of a crowd like this?! Incredible! Former director Nishida (the show’s beloved second-generation host from 2001 to 2019, who passed away in 2024) and Tamura Kenji must be crying happy tears somewhere up there!
こんな大勢の前で獅子舞の披露！これはすごい！ 天国で西田局長とたむらけんじが号泣してますよ！
Tamu-ken, rest easy……
たむけん成仏してくれ……
Tamu-ken 🤣
たむけん🤣
Even among all the autumn festivals in the Banshu region (the old name for the area around Himeji), Oshio’s lion dance is genuinely top-tier. Really excited to see where Haro goes from here. Would love to see him officially join Ushitani-cho someday ❤
播州の秋祭りの中でも 大塩の秋祭りの獅子舞(獅子)は トップクラスです。 はろ君の将来が非常に 楽しみですね。 是非、牛谷丁に参加して欲しいですね❤
I was really moved by how the Ushitani-cho youth association stuck it out watching over four hours of practice 🌺🌺🌺
4時間もの間、練習を見守っておられる牛谷丁の青年団の方々の御姿勢に、大変感動しました🌺🌺🌺
This little lion looks like it might be the Bessho style (a nearby neighborhood with its own lion dance tradition) 🧐 — signed, a local
この小さい獅子って別所のやつっぽいな🧐by地元民
Best 5-year-old ever. Honestly hope he comes out to the Oshio Tenmangu Kokuon Festival happening a week from now! (It’s only held once every 11 years, so in a way this year we get to see two autumn festivals — and yes, Ushitani’s lion dance too!) It’s on May 3rd and 4th!!
最高の5才児だな。 これはぜひ、1週間後にある大塩天満宮国恩祭に来てほしいなぁ! （大塩天満宮国恩祭は、11年に1度開催される臨時祭です。 ある意味今年は、秋祭りが2回も見られることができます!! もちろん、牛谷の獅子舞も見れます!!） 開催日は、5月3日と5月4日です!!
He actually showed up and danced on the 4th, lol
4日に来て踊ってましたね！笑
I should’ve gone to Oshio… I live in Himeji and I’ve never even been.
大塩行ったらよかった。。。姫路におるのに行ったことない。
If they had a lion-dance-versus-ghosts showdown with that boy who wanted to meet a yokai from before, I bet they’d end up best friends.
前にいた妖怪と会いたい少年と獅子舞&オバケ対決したら仲良くなりそう。
I’ve thought this for a while 😮 — people from Himeji seem to have unusually good people skills.
昔から思ってる😮姫路の人ってコミュ力高い人が多い気がする
Four whole hours of practice, way to go!!! 😊 And that kid-like little jump at 9:36 is so cute!
４時間も練習頑張ったんだね！！！😊 9:36の子どもらしいジャンプもかわいー！
0:50 — somehow he already made his TV debut before all this, lol
0:50 いつの間にかテレビデビューしてたw
My own lion dance dream came true this year too! (though I nearly got sore muscles the next day)
俺も今年獅子舞する夢が叶いました！(次の日筋肉痛になりかけたけど)
I like Takeyama too, but for kid cases I kinda wish they’d assign Seiya as much as possible.
竹山も好きだけど子供には極力せいやを当ててほしい
My take
There's something so cool about a kid's completely straightforward feelings — and the grown-ups who take that seriously enough to match it.
Source & translation note
Comments loosely translated for tone. Reactions collected from Togetter and X threads.
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