Since Oct. 10, when the House of Representatives was dissolved, bigwigs from Japan's political parties have been making the rounds of the nightly news shows, spelling out their differences and promoting their spiffy new "manifestos" in preparation for the election on Nov. 9. Though they've contained a few touchy outbursts, the discussions have been the usual mix of meaningless platitudes and defensive posturing; which is all the more reason to mourn the absence of Hiroshi Kume.
Actually, Kume, the anchor of TV Asahi's nightly "News Station," is still around, but as many media watchers have commented, he's not his old self, and, in fact, hasn't been for about three years.
In August, the 59-year-old radio and TV veteran announced that he was leaving "News Station" next March for good, and subsequently there has been some discussion about his impact on broadcast news since the show debuted in October 1985. Depending on the source, Kume is either the worst thing that ever happened to Japanese broadcasting or the only newscaster of any real value.