The president of TV Tokyo apologized Wednesday before the Diet for the bizarre health problems suffered last week by viewers of an animated television program.

Yutaka Ichiki told the Lower House Communications Committee that it was impossible to predict the results of the airing of the popular "Pocket Monsters" show. "We offer the deepest apology to those who fell ill because of our TV program. We never imagined that it would affect viewers in that way," said Ichiki, who was summoned to the committee to testify as an unsworn witness.

The 30-minute episode of "Pocket Monsters," or "Pokemon" as it is popularly known, was aired on TV Tokyo at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 16, with an estimated 4.15 million households tuned in nationwide, Ichiki said. A total of 685 people ranging in age from less than 1 to 58 were rushed to hospitals after watching the show, according to the Fire Defense Agency. Ichiki said two of them are still hospitalized.

The episode included a technique called "paka-paka," in which different colored lights flash alternately. It is this effect that is suspected of causing the ailments.

Although Ichiki said the technique is decades old and traditionally used in animated programs, he admitted that the high intensity of the effect used in the Dec. 16 episode may have affected the viewers.