Okuyama Eishi (62), one of the best-known faces on the afternoon “wideshow” circuit, has been missing since the spring, it was revealed earlier today in the “Shuukan Josei” weekly magazine. His management at the Yoshimoto Kogyo talent agency say they were able to establish that he was okay after the earthquake and tsunami in March but have had no contact with him since. They were contacted by his family on May 19 and a staff member visited his apartment in Kawasaki, where he lives alone. The apartment was undisturbed, there was laundry on the balcony washing line and water in the bathtub. The only thing that appeared to have been missing was his bank savings book. Okuyama’s family put in an application to the police for a missing person search the next day.
Okuyama was formerly a showbiz reporter for Fuji TV. Yoshimoto say that his last work assignment for the agency was at a comedy event in Tokyo in February of last year. He has a long history of working as an afternoon show reporter on such major events as the JAL Flight 123 jumbo crash of 1985 and the Aum Shinrikyo sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995.