On July 6, the president of Fuji TV, Ko Toyoda, held a press conference and apologized for a June 9 segment of the variety show "Mecha Mecha Iketeru!" in which a group of celebrities had a drinking contest. Three citizens organizations, including a group of parents of children killed in drunk-driving accidents, complained to the network, saying that the 45-minute segment promoted "alcohol harassment" in social gatherings. Toyoda said that the point of the segment was to show how people could "open their hearts to one another" by drinking together. However, he added that the producers now realize the segment might have sent the wrong message and vowed to "enlighten our employees" about the dangers of binge drinking.
On the program in question, long-time regulars sat down with the new recruits for the purpose of getting to know one another. As one of the comedians said, the relationship between the two factions hadn't gotten off to a good start, so maybe drinking together would help. But, of course, they couldn't just leave it at that and so they had a contest: Whoever remained awake at the end of the night would be declared the winner. The drinking started at 6:30 pm and the winner was declared at 4 am.
Before the pouring and joking commenced, the emcee pointed out that everyone could drink "at his own pace," meaning no one would be pressured into overdoing it. As the segment continued the participants became noticeably drunk and loosened up accordingly. No one was violent or abusive, and we didn't see anyone pressure anyone else to drink more. Still, to anyone who has accompanied work colleagues on a company-sanctioned bender after work, the scenario seemed familiar: We're all here to lose our inhibitions and get to know one another. It's called nomyunikēshon, a compound neoligism containing "nomu" (to drink) and "communication."