MHLW’s Anger at Fuji’s Independent Reporting of Ryubei Ueshima’s Obituary

The TV personality Ryubei Ueshima passed away on May 11. In light of his death on May 11, and in light of reports and broadcasts indicating that the cause of death may have been suicide, we have sent a letter this morning requesting that broadcasts and reports be made in accordance with the “Guidelines for Suicide Reporting.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) issued an unprecedented alert to TV stations and other media outlets.

The Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW) has issued an unprecedented alert to TV stations and other media outlets in response to the news report on Ryubei Ueshima, a member of the comedy duo “Ostrich Club,” who passed away suddenly on March 11.

The Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW) listed four major items in red letters as examples.

Reporting the “means” of suicide
Broadcasting from in front of the home of the person who died by suicide.
Photos and videos of the place (home) where the person died by suicide are posted on the website.
Conducting interviews on the streets to report the reactions of the public.

Although not explicitly stated, the full text of the report suggests a sense of anger that “TV stations have had enough.

In general, Fuji Television’s “Mezamashi 8” was the most excessive. Fuji TV started reporting the news of Ueshima’s death at around 7:30 a.m. in its previous program, “Mezamashi TV,” and was the first to report the news. That in itself would be the role of the news report, but after 8:00 a.m., the reporter arrived in front of Mr. Ueshima’s home and even revealed the specific manner of his death in an aloof tone of voice.

He also told us that he had asked neighbors about Mr. Ueshima’s recent condition. Of course, since this was a live broadcast, there was no way to create a mosaic, so there was a risk that his home would be identified. Unless there was something to report, it would not have been necessary to do so during the live broadcast.

Later, “Shinichi Hatori Morning Show” (TV Asahi) also broadcasted the live report, but these broadcasts caused a huge firestorm on the Internet. Although they did not name names, judging from the timing, the MHLW was no doubt concerned about the attitude of these news reports. To put it more straightforwardly. I think there must be a part of them that could not tolerate it.

On “Mezamashi 8,” education critic Naoki Ogi, a.k.a. “Mom Ogi,” who appeared on the show, said, “The WHO guidelines do not allow for the death of children.

The WHO guidelines state that the cause and location of death should not be specified.

She complained about the program side, saying, “WHO guidelines state that we do not specify the cause or location of death. It was a brave statement for a performer to criticize the actions of the staff.

It was also praised on Twitter, where “Ogimama” was trending. In response to the “scolding,” the reporter moved to her office and relayed the program from there. However, was it really necessary to broadcast such a live report in the first place?

The news of his death came in suddenly, and each station did not have time to prepare a VTR for the memorial service. They must have felt the need to convey something, so they took the approach of broadcasting live from a location related to Mr. Ueshima. However, even if we went in front of his home, we would not be able to film anything, and there would be no mourners or bereaved family members. It is probably time to reevaluate the act of making a “doing it” impression, even though they knew this.

When Yuko Takeuchi and Haruma Miura died in 2008, the guidelines for reporting on suicide were tightened. Except for Fuji and Teresa, all others are covering the issue with caution this time as well.

Fuji Television reported the news of Mr. Ueshima’s death as a “scoop” before any other company. However, it seems to have paid a heavy price for its subsequent overzealous coverage, which drew flak from various quarters.