Actor Okada Masumi (68) announced at a press conference yesterday that his 26-year old son commited suicide at the end of last month. He said, “I don’t know why. It’s ben hard… and so sad when the child dies before the parent.” His third son was from his marriage to actress Fujita Midori (58), whom he divorced in 1994. He worked for a theater company as an assistant stage designer. He was found hanged on July 27 at his mother’s home in the upscale Denenchofu suburb of Tokyo. Okada said he had been too shocked to attend the private funeral the following day. He called the brief press conference after the magazine Shuukan Josei reported on the suicide and claimed that Okada and his son had been on bad terms. Okada said this was untrue.
• TV viewership of Saturday’s baseball game between the Yomiuri Giants and the Hiroshima Carp was a mere 4.2%, the lowest ever figure for a Giants game. While it was overshadowed by the Japanese medal rush at the Olympics and NTV’s 24-hour TV marathon, the figure also reflects the declining interest in pro baseball.