Everybody's hooked on something. What's life without its little pleasures? Mere struggle for survival. Smokers crave nicotine, coffee-drinkers caffeine, gamers games. The pursuit of happiness takes many forms. Society approves of most, frowns on others. Some it bans outright.
One Golden Week morning in 2016, NHK announcer Kenichi Tsukamoto opened his door to unexpected company. Police, they said, narcotics squad: "You're under arrest."
The Asahi Shimbun published his story in December. The brief imprisonment and ¥500,000 fine were just the beginning. NHK fired him. No one would hire him. No one would rent him an apartment. His name was all over the internet — coupled, he says, with the most outrageous lies. He was persona non grata.
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