Shogo Yano Makes His First Appearance on "Say You To Yo Asobi," Bonds with Hiroki Yasumoto Over Horse Racing and Idol Love — Even Volunteers Himself for a Surprise Rubber Band Snap

Episode 9 of "Say You To Yo Asobi Monday" aired on ABEMA at 10 p.m. on July 6.

Regular MC Junya Enoki was away from the show this time to attend "Anime Expo 2026" in Los Angeles, so Shogo Yano made his first appearance on "Say You To Yo Asobi" as the substitute MC. Yano entered the studio dancing the Awa Odori, sending the room into laughter and kicking things off with a flashy start.

Yano's First Appearance on "Say You To Yo Asobi" Bares All: He Reveals He Loves Horse Racing, Comedy, and Idols

The two had crossed paths on set before but had never really interacted much. During the opening talk, Hiroki Yasumoto candidly confessed, "I'm actually shy. I'm an introvert who's good at pretending to be upbeat, so variety shows are a stretch for me." Yano responded, "I'm the same — an extrovert on the inside of an introvert," creating an odd sense of kinship right from the start.

The broadcast featured a segment called "Shogo Yano's 'I Want Yasumoto to Like Me!'," aimed at winning over his senior colleague Yasumoto. Yano introduced himself using a board listing his profile. Yasumoto praised his politeness, saying, "He came all the way to my dressing room today just to say hello. That alone bumped up his likability meter."

In the deep-dive profile talk that followed, more of Yano's private side came out one after another. He revealed that he discovered the charms of the idol group Hinatazaka46 after turning 30, passionately declaring, "Their performances are amazing, and honestly everyone in the group is just so cute — I love them!" When the conversation moved on to horse racing, a shared hobby of theirs, Yasumoto looked back on his student days, admitting bluntly, "I have no idea how many course credits I lost because of horse racing." The two found that their betting style — always buying trifecta bets — matched perfectly, and the horse racing talk took off.

When the conversation turned to drinking, Yasumoto declared, "My face never sweats — because I'm an actress," and the phrase "actress constitution," so unexpected coming from his dapper looks, sent the studio into laughter.

It then came out that Yano loves comedy, and the two discovered they even share the specific habit of listening intently to comedians' radio shows and podcasts while out walking. Yano got excited, exclaiming, "That's exactly the same for me too!" while Yasumoto happily brushed him off with, "That's kind of gross (laughs)" — and in no time, the distance between them closed.

Yasumoto highly praised Yano's unreserved, straightforward attitude, and in the final "like-ability" rating gave him 80 points, saying, "He's honest, so 80 points." That unexpectedly beat Enoki's own score of 75 points.