Hiroki Aiga heard the bad news and unfortunately, there was no mishearing it this time.

His favorite TV show, “Tamori Club,” was ending its 40-year run in March.

Aiga, who lives in Tamano, Okayama Prefecture, was devastated because he devoted himself to finding bits for a specialty segment of the late-night show.

The Soramimi Hour portion presented short skits based on posts submitted by viewers, in which foreign-language song lyrics were deliberately misheard and reinterpreted for similar-sounding but entirely different Japanese expressions.

Aiga, 30, had submitted his “soramimi” (mishearing) ideas for more than 10 years, with 91 of his submissions featured in the segment.

“My life centered around soramimi and it almost became my life’s work,” he said in disappointment. “I have nothing else to do, and I have a major sense of loss.”

Hosted by comedian Tamori, whose real name is Kazuyoshi Morita, “Tamori Club” started airing on TV Asahi Corp. and its affiliates in October 1982.

The variety show dealt with railroads, buildings, fine art and other themes from the original and unique viewpoints of Tamori and his guests.

The broadcaster announced in February that it would end the program because it “has fully fulfilled its role.”

The final 1,939th installment aired after midnight on April 1.

HOOKED ON SORAMIMI IN SCHOOL

Aiga first became fascinated by misheard lyrics during an English class when he was in high school.

When his teacher played a video of a Soramimi Hour skit to introduce students to the fun of pronunciation, Aiga was glued to the screen.

He thought a phrase from an English metal song sounded like, “Curry, soba, pasta, pizza, soup, nan-nansuka?” (Curry, noodles, pasta, pizza, soup, what’s going on?).

He found it amusing for the very first time even though English was his weak subject and he always received failing grades in it.

He started watching “Tamori Club” and video-sharing sites. Before long, he started wanting to submit his own creations to the show.

It is said that it is particularly easy to find soramimi phrases in songs by Queen, Metallica and Dream Theater.

But it was not so easy for Aiga to come across misheard lyrics as he listened to their CDs.

Eventually, he found himself searching for soramimi phrases for hours a day, sitting on a “zabuton” cushion beside a small table in the living room and listening to music from a CD radio cassette player.

One day, when he was listening to “If I Only Knew” by Tom Jones, he thought the first phrase in the lyrics, “Homegrown,” sounded like “Honkon.”

Aiga submitted his finding to the show without hesitation, and it was featured in the segment.

As he expected, the comedian Honkon appeared in the skit.

Aiga had never won an award of any kind before. But he felt rewarded when he saw Tamori and Hajime Anzai, co-host of “Soramimi Hour,” break into laughter.

Aiga received an ear pick as a prize from the show, while his homeroom teacher told him his post was amusing.

“I was living a monotonous life with no hobbies, but I gained confidence and became obsessed,” he said.

BEST TIME FOR INSPIRATION

After graduating from high school, Aiga worked as a caregiver and a medical staff member.

He was most actively engaged in his soramimi quest when he was in his early 20s.

Inspired by Tsutomu Takahashi, a frequent submitter of misheard lyrics whose motto was “One soramimi a day,” Aiga set a goal of finding two phrases a day.

When he returned from work, he would head straight to the living room to sit on the zabuton and listen to Western music for several hours until late at night.

It was often late in the evening when Aiga found misheard lyrics.

“I find them a lot when I’m sleepy and become absent-minded because words become vague,” he said.

Going hand in hand with the lack of sleep, his parents, who lived under the same roof, would scold him for staying up late.

But he stuck to his mission because he could relax while searching for soramimi phrases.

However, when Aiga was pushing 30, he began to find his work physically demanding.

He would suffer from backaches after sitting for long hours. And on an increasing number of occasions, he would fall asleep and forget his discoveries after making strenuous efforts to find them.

He doesn’t remember exactly how many submissions he sent to the show. But the number is between 500 and 1,000, meaning that he couldn’t achieve his goal of finding two soramimi phrases a day.

Aiga said he may have become unable to genuinely enjoy music because he developed a habit of repeatedly listening to the part of a song that sounds like it is sung in Japanese, no matter how much he loves the song.

Still, he befriended clerks of a CD shop he frequented to buy CDs and was exposed to music genres he previously had no interest in.

He was also encouraged by like-minded Soramimi Hour fans and repeat submitters, who posted congratulatory comments on his real-name Twitter account every time Aiga’s submission was featured in the segment.

38,000 SOCIAL MEDIA LIKES 

Aiga posted the following comment on his Twitter account on Feb. 22 after learning about the end of “Tamori Club,” attracting 38,000 likes.

“Before I knew it, I have been living a life centered on soramimi for more than 10 years since I started submitting my findings light-heartedly. I initially never thought I could continue doing this for all these years, but I think this is the longest-lasting hobby for me when I had no hobby of any kind until then.”

His tweet attracted many comments from his followers, with one saying: “I think Soramimi Hour was such a great show thanks to guys like you, Aiga-san.”

“Even though I had a bad day at work, I could feel relaxed when I was searching for soramimi phrases,” Aiga said. “I am filled with a sense of gratitude for the Soramimi Hour, which enriched my life.”

HIROKI AIGA’s THREE FAVORITE SORAMIMI PHRASES

*“Funky Nassau” from “The Blues Brothers 2000”

Original lyrics: “Hit me the answer that I’m talkin’ about that is”

Soramimi: “Hime Seiso Dattara Yokatta-desu”

Meaning: “Princess, I wish she had been neat and clean looking.”

*Wu-Tang Clan’s “Rushing Elephants”

Original lyrics: “Back to the dormitory”

Soramimi: “Benchi ni Domoto”

Meaning: “(Idol singer Koichi) Domoto sitting on a bench”

*Frankie Valli’s “My Mother’s Eyes”

Original lyrics: “I found in my mother’s eyes”

Soramimi: “Anpan Ima Tabe ... Ah”

Meaning: “Now I eat ‘anpan’ (sweet roll filled with red bean paste)... Ah”