More TV censorship

[Aaron Gerow]

Now that Ultraman Cosmos is back on the air (hurray!??), another case of 
TV censorship has hit the news. It seems that NHK, which has broadcast 
the American TV series _ER_ for many years, has decided not to broadcast 
two episodes in which a mental patient stabs a doctor because of "fears 
it might foster prejudices and mistaken impressions about mental 
illness." 

What is odd about the decision is not just the suddenness (the previous 
week's broadcast actually showed previews of the episodes) and lack of 
explanation (NHK just broadcast a short plot summary of the missing 
episodes with no explanation for why they were cut), but also the fact 
the episodes were broadcast earlier by NHK on its satellite channel. Why 
were they cut now for regular TV?

Especially given the fact that NHK recently drastically cut a documentary 
on the women's war tribunal, substituting statements critical of Japan's 
lack of war reparations, with comments by right wing commentators, one 
wonders whether or not NHK is oversensitive to "controversy" without 
having any clear regulations on how to act on these matters.

Aaron Gerow
Associate Professor
International Student Center
Yokohama National University
79-1 Tokiwadai
Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240-8501
JAPAN
E-mail: gerow at ynu.ac.jp
Phone: 81-45-339-3170
Fax: 81-45-339-3171