Japanese freelance television announcer Hiroshi Kume, known for hosting the popular music show ¡°The Best Ten¡± and news show ¡°News Station,¡± died of lung cancer on Jan. 1, it was learned Tuesday.
Kume joined Tokyo Broadcasting System Television in 1967 and gained attention hosting the quiz show ¡°Pittashi Kan Kan.¡±
From 1978, he hosted ¡°The Best Ten¡± with actor Tetsuko Kuroyanagi. The two¡¯s quick repartee became popular.
Kume left TBS the following year, but he hosted the show until 1985.
After turning freelance, he hosted several shows such as Nippon Television Network¡¯s show ¡°Hiroshi Kume¡¯s TV Scramble¡± with comedian Yasushi Yokoyama and talk show ¡°Oshare.¡±
At TV Asahi¡¯s ¡°News Station¡± from 1985, he broke the newscaster stereotype with his witty delivery, which brought the show high ratings.
As a huge fan of professional baseball team Hiroshima Toyo Carp, based in Hiroshima, Kume once declared on the show that he would shave his head if the Tokyo-based Yomiuri Giants beat Carp, and to his audience¡¯s surprise, he kept his word.
Sometimes Kume¡¯s outspoken comments raised controversy, but he said on the show¡¯s final edition in 2004 that ¡°it was only because of the harsh criticism that I was able to continue.¡± On that note, he poured himself a beer and bid his viewers, ¡°Sayonara.¡±
Aside from TV, Kume also had a radio program from 2006 to 2020, on which he spoke freely about current affairs and the media. In recent years he had been focusing on video streaming.
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