Comedian Highheel Momoko fumed on the radio about a taxi driver.
52.8%
of disagree votes went to the 29 blaming only the driver
527 comments read to the bottom · every number is below
The most-agreed comment
Celebrities these days often air the complaints and troubles they've had on the radio or social media. But what they say is only their own side; the other party's account is never heard, so it's hard to judge the facts. Meanwhile, when they themselves are criticised or someone points out their weak spots, some hit back with "that's defamation" or "I'll sue". Malicious abuse is a problem, of course, but an attitude of airing your own grievances one-sidedly while refusing to accept anyone else's opinion makes me uneasy.
Show original Japanese
最近の芸能人は、自分が受けた不満やトラブルをラジオやSNSで発信することが多い。しかし、その発言は本人側の主張だけであり、相手の言い分が示されないため、事実関係を判断することは難しい。一方で、自分に対して批判や苦手な点を指摘されると、「誹謗中傷」や「訴えます」と反発するケースも見られる。もちろん悪質な中傷は問題だが、自分は一方的に不満を発信しながら、他人からの意見は受け入れないという姿勢には違和感を覚える。My lady's reading
This is what my lady thought, looking at this comment section.
A problem born between one selfishness and another.
The height of self-centredness.
Taxi drivers are nearly all like that, but celebrities, too, probably mistake a taxi for a hire car.
People who rush out a statement of their feelings are not ready for X yet.
That is my lady's reading.
Some of this can be counted. Did this thread say both sides were at fault, or did it blame one of them? Did it speak badly of taxi drivers as a group? First, though, what the story does not say.
The news
Shortly after 2pm on 24 October 2026, the sports paper Sponichi Annex published a story on Yahoo! News.
Its subject: Momoko, of the comedy duo Highheel, had talked about a run-in with a taxi on the duo's own MBS Radio show, "Masumasu! Highheel", that same day.
According to the story, Momoko got out of a taxi to go and fetch something, leaving expensive luggage in the cab and asking the driver to wait. To show there was no question of skipping the fare, Momoko said, a taxi ticket was left in the car as well. But it took longer than expected, and on coming back, Momoko found the luggage set down on the street: the driver, it turned out, had been about to leave because the wait was too long. "Isn't that awful?" Momoko said, adding that a complaint was made to the taxi company, and that the driver was told: this is extremely expensive luggage, what if it had been stolen? "I think this isn't quite right."
Momoko's partner, Ringo, said the driver could have called the company first to ask what to do with the luggage, and closed with: "It's a tricky one, this."
Context for readers outside Japan
Yahoo! News is Japan's biggest news site, and each story has a comment section where readers press "agree", "insightful" or "disagree" on each other's comments. Highheel are a long-established comedy duo from Osaka. A taxi ticket is a voucher, often handed out by employers, that the passenger fills in instead of paying; this one was good for up to 10,000 yen. Japanese taxi meters keep running while the car stands still, charging by time. And a "hire" (haiya) is a chauffeur-driven car booked by the hour, as opposed to a taxi you hail.
What the story does not say
How long the taxi waited is never given in minutes. Asked by Ringo how late Momoko was, the answer came in money: "They waited until the meter went over the 10,000-yen limit on the taxi ticket", having already driven about 8,000 yen's worth. Nor does the story say when or where this happened.
In the comments, most of those who estimated the wait from the waiting fare put it at about 30 minutes, with guesses ranging from 20 minutes to an hour. Six comments noted that the question was answered in yen, not minutes.
The driver's side of the story is not in the article.
And the first half of the story is a different tale, told by Ringo: a taxi carrying a mountain of luggage, a driver who forgot to stop at a stop line just short of the theatre, a police officer walking over, and the driver saying there was no need to pay - leaving Ringo stranded with the luggage. The traffic stop was not part of Momoko's taxi ride.
91 to 9: 527 comments, 17 hours in
I read all 527 parent comments, as they stood at 7:06am on 25 October, about 17 hours after publication. The site was showing 533 parent comments when I loaded the thread; 6 of them would not load. The article showed 679 comments in total at 7:05am.
The buttons came to 24,433 agree, 1,288 insightful and 2,475 disagree presses. Positive presses against disagree presses: 91 to 9.
The votes sit at the top. The first comment alone holds 22.3% of the agree presses, the top 5 55.7%, the top 10 66.4%.
Sorted by who they blamed: the 311 comments (59.0%) blaming only the passenger who kept the taxi waiting hold 42.5% of the agree presses. The 74 (14.0%) saying both sides were at fault hold 30.1%. The 29 (5.5%) blaming only the driver hold 0.8%.
At the top: a comment about airing complaints on the radio at all
(This is the most-agreed comment, shown at the top of this page.)
5,438 agree, 373 insightful and 224 disagree presses, with 38 replies. This one comment holds a fifth of all the agree presses in the thread.
It doesn't say who was at fault. What it objects to is putting out one side of the story. The 72 comments criticising airing one side on the radio, television or social media hold 28.4% of the agree presses - 6.2% without this one.
2nd and 4th: both sides were at fault
The driver can't tell what's inside. Letting the waiting meter run past 2,000 yen is keeping them waiting a bit too long, I think. But leaving the luggage behind isn't good either. Still, from the driver's side, the honest feeling is "please hurry up".
ドライバーは中身はわからない。待ちメーター2000円越えるのはちょっと待たせ過ぎだと思う。しかし荷物置いて行くのは良くないね。でもドライバーからしたら早くしてほしいのは本音です。2nd in the vote order: 3,409 agree, 119 insightful and 73 disagree presses, with 12 replies.
The 4th is the comment my lady shared.
I'm sure Momoko-san had circumstances too, but wasn't a call to the taxi driver, or something, needed at some point? Once it goes past an hour, surely whoever is waiting gets fed up? The luggage may be expensive to Momoko-san, but that's nothing to do with the driver. Well, putting it on the road is wrong, so contacting the company is fair enough - but first, you should put yourself in the other person's place.
モモコさんの状況もあるだろうが、一度タクシーの運転手に連絡するなり必要では？
１時間を超えるとさすがに待つ方も嫌では？
モモコさんには高価な荷物かも知れないが運転手には関係ない。
まぁ路上に置くのは違うから会社に連絡は構わないが、まずは自分に置き換えて考えるべき。1,854 agree, 26 insightful and 27 disagree presses, with 3 replies. The hour is not in the article; but while blaming the passenger, this comment also says putting the luggage on the road was wrong.
Of the 30.1% held by the 74 comments saying both sides were at fault, 21.5% comes from these two. Without them, it is 8.5%. The 43 comments saying the driver's action was also wrong hold 27.3% of the agree presses, but nearly all of that is these two and others that blamed the passenger as well.
Meanwhile, the 311 comments blaming only the passenger hold 42.5%. At their head is the 3rd (1,940 agree): look at it from the other side - with 2,000 yen left on the ticket, perhaps 15 minutes of waiting. The 76 saying the taxi was kept waiting too long hold 46.9%, and the 56 saying the passenger should have called, or said how long it would take, 19.8%.
The 29 blaming only the driver drew 52.8% of the disagree presses
The 29 comments blaming only the driver got 186 agree presses between them - 0.8% - and 1,307 disagree presses: 52.8% of all the disagree presses in the thread.
The most disagreed-with comment of all came from someone who said they used to drive a taxi, and that a driver should do as the customer says (99th, 14 agree, 460 disagree). Second was a comment arguing that even a verbal promise is a contract, so leaving with the luggage set down would breach it - legally, the taxi is in the wrong (54th, 44 agree, 388 disagree).
A comment from someone saying they drive a taxi now, and blaming the driver, also drew more disagree than agree.
Speaking as a working driver: the fare keeps running while you wait, so 10 or 15 minutes is within what's acceptable. Putting a customer's luggage on the street at all shows how poor the driver is. The longest I've waited is 30 minutes - because I knew who the customer was, and they weren't going to run off.
現役ドライバーからすると待っている時間も料金が発生するので10分１５分くらいは許容範囲内、そもそもお客様の荷物を路上に置くこと自体運転手の質の悪さが目立ちます。私は最高30分待ったことがあります。相手がわかっていて逃げることが無いからです。44th in the vote order: 62 agree, 43 insightful and 99 disagree presses, with 4 replies. Eight comments said their writers drive or used to drive for a living. One said the urge to put the luggage out is understandable; others said they would turn down a request like this.
The traffic stop was Ringo's story
The article puts Momoko's name in the headline, Ringo's story in the first half and Momoko's in the second.
The 26 comments that treated the traffic stop as part of Momoko's taxi ride hold 2.3% of the agree presses and 18.8% of the disagree presses. Nearly all the comments blaming the driver because the driver's own traffic offence caused the wait rest on this mix-up. The 24 saying the article was hard to follow, or that they couldn't work out what happened, hold 0.7%.
Checking my lady's reading
My lady said: a problem born between one selfishness and another.
The 74 comments saying both sides were at fault hold 30.1% of the agree presses. The 2nd, and the 4th that my lady shared, take that line. The 31 that used phrases like six of one, half a dozen of the other hold 2.5%. In this thread, that phrase came in short comments, and few votes went to them.
My lady also said: the height of self-centredness.
The 311 blaming only the passenger hold 42.5%. Together with those saying both sides were at fault, 72.6% of the agree presses went to comments blaming the passenger who kept the taxi waiting. The 43 that used words like selfish, self-centred or spoilt hold 7.6%.
My lady said: taxi drivers are nearly all like that.
The 7 comments speaking badly of taxi drivers as a group got 10 agree presses between them: 0.04%. The comments that blamed the driver blamed this driver, for setting the luggage on the road. The 39th (80 agree) went the other way: a celebrity airing one-sided complaints about a driver could feed prejudice against the many drivers who work honestly.
My lady also said: celebrities, too, probably mistake a taxi for a hire car.
A taxi is not a hire car.
タクシーはハイヤーではない。125th in the vote order, 9 agree presses. The 5 comments using the word hire got 43 agree presses between them. Widening it to private chauffeurs, charters and left-luggage offices - a taxi is none of these - gives 41 comments holding 4.2%. The 66 putting it down to being a celebrity hold 29.3%, but 7.1% without the top comment.
My lady also said: people who rush out a statement of their feelings are not ready for X yet.
What the top comment objected to was exactly that - airing grievances on the radio or social media - and that one comment holds 22.3% of the agree presses. The 73rd (25 agree) said that now social media is everywhere, convenient one-sided messages no longer work. Momoko spoke on the radio, and I found no comment mentioning X.
What I have not checked
This is the thread about 17 hours after publication. Comments added later are not in these counts.
When and where this happened, and how long the taxi waited, are not in the article, and I have not checked them. The figures of about 30 minutes or an hour are commenters' estimates.
The driver's side of the story is in neither the article nor the comments.
39 comments, holding 6.9% of the agree presses, brought up things from Momoko's past. I have not checked those, so I have not described them.
Which comment goes where was decided by reading each one, not by searching for words. Treat the counts as approximate.
The 27 comments (5.1%) that lumped people together by age, sex, looks, home region or nationality, or made groundless insinuations, hold 1.5% of the agree presses. They are counted, but I have not quoted them.
In closing
My lady said: a problem born between one selfishness and another.
The comments saying both sides were at fault hold 30.1% of the agree presses. The biggest share, 42.5%, went to those blaming only the passenger who kept the taxi waiting.
The 29 blaming only the driver hold 0.8% of the agree presses, and drew 52.8% of the disagree presses in the thread. Comments speaking badly of taxi drivers as a group: 0.04%.
That is as far as the counting goes.
The top five comments by vote
Ranked by upvotes. Left of the slash is agree, right is disagree. This is where the resentment actually sits.
- 1st 5438 ∕ 224 Celebrities these days often air their complaints and troubles on the radio or social media. It's only their side, with nothing from the other party, so the facts can't be judged. When they are criticised, they hit back with 'that's defamation' or 'I'll sue', yet they air grievances one-sidedly and won't hear anyone else. That attitude sits badly
- 2nd 3409 ∕ 73 The driver can't know what's inside. Running the waiting meter past 2,000 yen is keeping the taxi too long. But leaving the luggage behind isn't good either. From the driver's side, the honest wish is: please hurry
- 3rd 1940 ∕ 54 Look at it from the other side. With 8,000 yen used on a 10,000-yen taxi ticket, 2,000 is left - perhaps 15 minutes of waiting. Something in the cab or in the exchange probably led the driver to set the luggage on the road. Expensive things belong in a coin locker, or the appointment should be moved. Realising your sense of things differs from everyone else's would make life easier for all concerned
- 4th 1854 ∕ 27 Whatever Momoko's circumstances, a call to the driver was needed at some point. Past an hour, anyone waiting would be fed up. Expensive or not, the luggage is no concern of the driver's. Putting it on the road was wrong, so calling the company is fair enough - but first, put yourself in the other person's shoes
- 5th 967 ∕ 22 It's unclear when or where this happened, but going by the waiting meter, the taxi waited over 30 minutes. Normally you keep a taxi no more than 10 minutes; any longer and you go back and say it will take a bit more. Once the ticket's limit is passed, there's a risk of the luggage ending up on the road
Every number from this thread
I read all 527 parent comments, as they stood at 7:06am on 25 October 2026, about 17 hours after publication. The site was showing 533 parent comments when I loaded the thread; 6 of them would not load. The article showed 679 comments in total at 7:05am, and the parent comments had 135 replies. The buttons came to 24,433 agree, 1,288 insightful and 2,475 disagree - 91 to 9. Agree against disagree alone is also 91 to 9. The votes sit at the top: the first comment alone holds 22.3% of the agree presses, the top 3 44.1%, the top 5 55.7%, the top 10 66.4% and the top 20 76.3%. 34 of the 527 got no agree press at all, 9 got no press of any kind, and the 50 where disagree outnumbered agree hold 70.5% of all disagree presses in the thread. The average comment is 76.2 characters long, and the 212 under 40 characters hold 11.2% of the agree presses. Of the 135 replies, 38 are on the top comment. I counted who each comment blamed. The 311 comments (59.0%) blaming only the passenger who kept the taxi waiting hold 42.5% of the agree presses. The 74 (14.0%) saying both the passenger and the driver were at fault hold 30.1%; 21.5% of that comes from the 2nd and 4th comments, and without them it is 8.5%. The 29 (5.5%) blaming only the driver got 186 agree presses, 0.8%, and 1,307 disagree presses, 52.8% of all disagree presses in the thread. The 113 that blamed neither side hold 26.6%, of which 22.3% is the top comment. I also counted what the comments said. The 76 saying the taxi was kept waiting too long hold 46.9%; the 56 saying the passenger should have called, or said how long it would take, 19.8%; the 57 saying how expensive the luggage was is no concern of the driver's, or that the driver couldn't know, 18.5%. The 66 putting it down to being a celebrity hold 29.3%, and the 72 criticising airing one side of the story on the radio, television or social media 28.4% - 7.1% and 6.2% without the top comment. The 43 saying the driver's action was also wrong hold 27.3% of the agree presses and 42.6% of the disagree presses. The 55 mentioning the driver's time or earnings hold 9.2%; the 21 saying the passenger should have switched to another taxi, 6.2%; the 56 saying more money should have been left, or that the deal ended at the ticket's limit, 3.4%; the 33 calling it customer harassment, or saying the complaint to the taxi company went too far, 1.2%. The 39 bringing up Momoko's past hold 6.9%. The traffic stop happened in Ringo's taxi, not Momoko's; the 26 comments that mixed the two up hold 2.3% of the agree presses and 18.8% of the disagree presses. The 24 saying the article was hard to follow hold 0.7%. Now, the results for my lady's reading. My lady said: a problem born between one selfishness and another. The 74 saying both sides were at fault hold 30.1%, and they include the 2nd comment and the 4th, which my lady shared. The 31 that used words like six of one, half a dozen of the other hold 2.5%. My lady also said: the height of self-centredness. Comments blaming only the passenger hold 42.5%, and the 43 using words like selfish or self-centred hold 7.6%. My lady said taxi drivers are nearly all like that. The 7 comments speaking badly of taxi drivers as a group got 10 agree presses between them, 0.04%. The comments that blamed the driver blamed this driver, for setting the luggage down on the road. My lady said celebrities probably mistake a taxi for a hire car. The 41 saying a taxi is not a hire car, a left-luggage office or a private chauffeur hold 4.2%; the 5 that used the word hire got 43 agree presses. The 66 putting it down to being a celebrity hold 29.3%. My lady also said people who rush out a statement of their feelings are not ready for X yet. What the top comment objected to was airing grievances on the radio or social media. Momoko spoke on the radio, and I found no comment mentioning X. Which comment goes where was decided by reading all 527 one by one, so treat the counts as approximate. The 27 comments (5.1%) that lumped people together by age, sex, looks, home region or nationality, or made groundless insinuations, hold 1.5% of the agree presses. I have not quoted them. The comment my lady shared is 4th in the vote order: 1,854 agree, 26 insightful and 27 disagree presses, with 3 replies.
Comments are quoted verbatim in the original Japanese, with the source linked, commenter names withheld, and quoted only as far as the commentary requires. Translations are mine. Source articles may expire (retrieval dates noted). The substance of this piece is the author's commentary.
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