24-Hour TV: 1,000 Cheer Runners Join Mari Hoshino’s Charity Marathon, TOKIO’s Joshima Sends Encouragement

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The story

“24-Hour TV 49” kicked off on August 29, and it was announced that actress Mari Hoshino, serving as the charity marathon runner, will set out from Nissan Stadium in Yokohama together with roughly 1,000 recruited cheer runners, aiming for Ryogoku Kokugikan. TOKIO’s Shigeru Joshima sent Hoshino a message of encouragement, saying “everything you’ve done up to now will push you forward.” On 5ch, reactions split between supportive comments and more cynical ones, with skeptical remarks about how donations are used and cast pay, along with wisecracks about the course distance and how the runners are treated.

Fri, Aug 29, 7:27 PM

The annual Nippon TV charity program “24-Hour TV 49 — Love Saves the Earth —” (August 29-30) began at 6:30 p.m. on the 29th at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.

It was announced that actress Mari Hoshino, the charity marathon runner, will start from Nissan Stadium in Yokohama alongside roughly 1,000 recruited cheer runners for the “Kids’ Fund to Grow the ‘I Did It!’ Feeling.” They will run 4 kilometers together inside the stadium before Hoshino continues on toward Kokugikan.

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

What people said

3AnonymousAug 29, 2026 19:32
Whatever's going on, the Leader's got a lot on his shoulders.
4AnonymousAug 29, 2026 19:32
Seeing this, I guess I'll go donate then?
Is that how it works?
7AnonymousAug 29, 2026 19:35
The cheer runners run for free, but Hoshino's getting a fat paycheck.
8AnonymousAug 29, 2026 19:35
Where'd SMAP's leader go?
9AnonymousAug 29, 2026 19:35
If it's just 100m per person, 100km's a breeze.
11AnonymousAug 29, 2026 19:36
Is it raining in Tokyo? Cooler weather means less heatstroke risk, but still sounds rough.
16AnonymousAug 29, 2026 19:38
No pay?
19AnonymousAug 29, 2026 19:39
Re: #16
She's the charity marathon runner, of course she's getting paid big.
35AnonymousAug 29, 2026 19:46
Surprised Mari Hoshino hasn't aged a bit.
139AnonymousAug 29, 2026 21:18
Re: #35
Kind-hearted people don't age.
45AnonymousAug 29, 2026 19:51
Run 6 hours total, walk 8 hours total — you'd finish no problem, right?
53AnonymousAug 29, 2026 19:54
Re: #45
Try walking 30km.
It's brutal.
72AnonymousAug 29, 2026 20:04
Re: #53
True if you never walk normally, but get a little used to it and it's doable.
That's just 15 laps around Komazawa Park.
79AnonymousAug 29, 2026 20:11
Re: #53
For a ¥10 million paycheck plus more work offers coming your way, it'd be a breeze.
50AnonymousAug 29, 2026 19:53
Every year physically disabled people (mentally disabled excluded)
get put on display for free
while the broadcast profits get booked as revenue by a for-profit outfit

and you guys are the ones donating.
71AnonymousAug 29, 2026 20:04
Re: #50
This show completely ignores the people doing the truly hard work of caring for the disabled.
57AnonymousAug 29, 2026 19:56
Instead of this pointless stuff, wouldn't it be better to do a live, all-out disaster recovery support broadcast from Kumamoto, Chiba, Ishikawa, and Toyama?
95AnonymousAug 29, 2026 20:21
Re: #57
Kumamoto's a no-go, but if they had the guts to make Inoue Sakura run all the way from Toyama, that might actually get people hyped…
68AnonymousAug 29, 2026 20:01
Even if you donate, it's probably just going toward these guys' drinking money.
73AnonymousAug 29, 2026 20:04
Re: #68
Setting aside any embezzlement, they've actually got that part cleverly worked out.

They use the donations to buy sponsors' products, then donate those to friendly organizations —
that way the show pulls in big money from sponsors, and that's where the cast's pay comes from.
85AnonymousAug 29, 2026 20:14
Feels like a lot of celebrities' kids have disabilities — is that just as common among regular people too?
88AnonymousAug 29, 2026 20:17
Re: #85
It's just that they get more attention — it's actually just as common everywhere.
101AnonymousAug 29, 2026 20:30
Guess TOKIO isn't banned from Nippon TV after all.
105AnonymousAug 29, 2026 20:34
Just hope the donation boxes don't get targeted by "tokuryu" gangs… (tokuryu: a Japanese police term for loosely organized, anonymous crime rings)
113AnonymousAug 29, 2026 20:48
Re: #105
Speaking from an organized-crime point of view,
this kind of thing's probably going to become necessary as times go on.
110AnonymousAug 29, 2026 20:42
Her face is like Nikaido Fumi, Miyazaki Aoi, and Mitsushima Hikari averaged together.
111AnonymousAug 29, 2026 20:44
Re: #110
That's former AKB48 member Nana Okada.
116AnonymousAug 29, 2026 20:53
Are they kidding? It's not even 100km.
118AnonymousAug 29, 2026 20:55
Re: #116
Seriously?
So the pay works out to over ¥200,000 per km?
Jealous.
126AnonymousAug 29, 2026 21:01
Re: #1
Bet nobody would notice if she got swapped out for Karen Miyama partway through.
131AnonymousAug 29, 2026 21:13
Re: #126
Maybe the punchline is she ends up as Suzuka Daigo by the end?

Background and Talking Points on This Story

“24-Hour TV” is a charity special that Nippon TV airs every August, and a segment where a cast member travels a long distance has become a yearly fixture. This time, charity marathon runner Mari Hoshino heads from Nissan Stadium in Yokohama to Ryogoku Kokugikan, with the twist that she runs the first 4 kilometers together with roughly 1,000 recruited cheer runners. The show hasn’t disclosed cast pay or exactly how donations are used, so claims circulating in the thread — that she’s “getting paid big” or that funds are being “skimmed” — remain unsubstantiated speculation. Worth noting: this kind of criticism gets leveled at the show every single year, not just this time around.

*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[24-Hour TV] 1,000 Cheer Runners Join Marathon Runner Mari Hoshino, TOKIO’s Shigeru Joshima Encourages Her: “Everything You’ve Done So Far Will Push You Forward”

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