<figure id="attachment_401647" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-401647" style="width: 1931px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="1e38b507"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/11/73e0a7ec2904fa50255569c2ff407595.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-401647" class="wp-caption-text">Fukawa Ryo, who served as MC</figcaption></figure>
<h2> The man who discovered Matsuko Deluxe</h2>
<p> This year, too, many famous programs such as &#8220;Sekai Fushigi Hakken! (TBS) and &#8220;Bratamori&#8221; (NHK, scheduled to return in April 2025). While this is a typical event during the season of program renewal, many people may have felt that the times have changed and wondered if the program would finally come to an end.</p>
<p> There are many reasons why programs end, such as declining viewership ratings, production cost reductions, and aging cast members, but there is one program that is said by some TV people to have ended for &#8220;unexpected reasons. It was Tokyo Metropolitan Television&#8217;s (Tokyo MX) signature program, &#8220;Barairo Dandy,&#8221; which began airing in 2014 and ended in September of this year.</p>
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<p> It was an information program that aired live from 9 p.m. Monday through Friday. The program&#8217;s MCs were Ryo Fukawa (50, in charge of Monday through Thursday) and Ryuji Harada (54, in charge of Friday), and the assistants were Kuniko Yamada (64, in charge of Monday through Thursday) and <em>Maki Arai (42, in charge of Friday)</em>.</p>
<p> The commentators were Hideto Tomabechi (65), So Takei (51), Nagiko Tono (45), Utamaru (55), and Jutaro Tamabukuro (57), all punchy people, and their toothless comments often made the Internet news, making their presence known even among local residents. A veteran staff member at Tokyo MX overheard me about the demise of such a signature program, saying, &#8220;&#8216;Balladin&#8217; is an internal company program. <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;There is a rumor going around that Balladin was destroyed as a result of an internal power struggle,&#8221; he told me</span>.</p>
<p> What does this mean?</p>
<p> Mr. A, a shrewd producer, was the founder of Barahiro Dandy. He is known as the creator of Tokyo MX&#8217;s other signature program, &#8220;5 o&#8217;clock! another Tokyo MX signature program. He is credited with the discovery of Matsuko Deluxe, and was promoted to Managing Director (with responsibility for the programming and production division and sales division) in June of last year. Some TV people said, &#8220;Will he rise to the position of president after this June&#8217;s personnel change?&#8221; There were even some TV people who said, &#8220;Will he rise to the position of president after the personnel changes in June of this year?</p>
<p> However, as it turns out, Mr. A did not become president. On the contrary, he was forced to leave Tokyo MX.</p>
<p> What exactly happened?</p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Sudden resignation"></div>
<figure id="attachment_401646" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-401646" style="width: 1170px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="9e9ad3c4"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/11/b3a3ba98e7339ea41d0dd1f27cfaee6f.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-401646" class="wp-caption-text">The curtain came down after 10 years (from the website)</figcaption></figure>
<h2> Program termination&#8221; immediately after Mr. A&#8217;s departure.</h2>
<p> On April 26, Tokyo MX announced that its executive director had been improperly accounting for fictitious production costs charged to suppliers to cover entertainment expenses, and that he had returned approximately 35 million yen to himself between 2015 and 2023.</p>
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<p> Although the station is adamant about not revealing the name of the executive director in question, a veteran Tokyo MX staffer assured us that <span class="strongInContent">it was &#8220;Mr. A.&#8221;</span> In fact, after a personnel change in June of this year, the station announced that it would not be able to disclose the name of the executive director. In fact, his name is not on the new management team announced after the personnel changes in June of this year.</p>
<p> An entertainment writer who was acquainted with Mr. A tilted his head and said, &#8220;The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is a shareholder in MX.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Mr. A once told a magazine in an interview, &#8220;The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is a shareholder in MX, and they won&#8217;t allow us to use the cost of alcohol to pay for our programming. In fact, MX also announced that it had decided not to file criminal charges against Mr. A for his entertainment expenses, claiming that &#8220;it cannot be said that the expenses were not related to his work. If this is the case, why did they disclose it to the public? Since he was a person of great merit, shouldn&#8217;t the matter have been handled privately?</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> There was a voice among the staff that said, &#8216;They really didn&#8217;t want Mr. A to become president, did they? This was because Mr. A had always said, &#8216;It is strange that a TV station has an outsider who doesn&#8217;t know anything about TV in the upper management. If he became president, there were no doubt more than a few people who would have gotten chills down their necks.&#8221;</span></p>
<p> From here, things took a sharp turn.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> At the end of April, the &#8220;accounting irregularities&#8221; were made public, and at the end of May, Mr. A said his farewells to people inside and outside the company and left MX. A few days later, in June, we staff members were informed of the termination of Baradan. It was truly a shock to our ears. We were stunned to hear that they wanted to reduce Mr. A&#8217;s influence so badly. &#8230;&#8230;&#8221; (another program staff member).</span></p>
<p> Mr. A was kicked out of MX and even lost his own program, &#8220;Rose Yellow Dandy. When questioned by the program staff, he simply said, &#8221; <span class="strongInContent">I guess there are things like the &#8216;real Hanzawa Naoki&#8217;</span> &#8221; and left. It is very meaningful.</p>
<p> No one has seen him on TV since then. However, it is hard to believe that one of the industry&#8217;s most talented producers would just back off like that. He may be aiming to &#8220;double down&#8221; in some way.</p>
<p> Incidentally, a woman with no experience in TV production was appointed president of Tokyo MX in June of this year. What kind of programs will be produced by MX in the future, and what will happen to Mr. A&#8217;s other legacy, &#8220;5 o&#8217;clock Mumu! will be in the future?</p>
<p> What will Tokyo MX and Mr. A do in 2025?</p>
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 Hisashi Niisa (Broadcaster)

 Jiji Press (Ryo Fukawa)

 Although local to Tokyo, "Barairo Dandy" boasted a strong lineup of MCs and guests, and was so well known nationwide that it frequently made the Internet news. The program ended its 10-year run this past September, but its creator, Mr. A, left the company at the same time the program ended.

Power Struggle Behind the Termination of the Popular TV Program &#8220;Barairo Dandy&#8221;?　The &#8220;creator&#8221; producer &#8220;leaked a few words&#8221;.

Power Struggle Behind the Termination of the Popular TV Program “Barairo Dandy”?　The “creator” producer “leaked a few words”.

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