OSAKA -- The Wakayama and Nara prefectural governments are protesting a remark made by popular TV personality Ryutaro Kamioka on a talk show that "people from Wakayama and Nara are snatching purses in Osaka," it was learned Thursday.
Letters of protest reached both Kamioka and producers of the program, which was broadcast on a TBS-affiliated network in the Kansai region, sources said. The talk show, attended by foreign residents and Japanese personalities including Kamioka, was broadcast March 24.
When a non-Japanese panelist said that there are many purse snatchers in Osaka, Kamioka responded with the remark in question. His remark was aired with a superimposed message in Japanese saying "it differs from the fact."
Officials from both Wakayama and Nara prefectural governments said they have received a large number of telephone calls from angry residents urging them to protest Kamioka's remark and demand a retraction.
TBS producers in charge of the program recently visited the Wakayama Prefectural Government to apologize for the remark.