Since being arrested for possession of stimulant drugs on June 2, it is assumed that 30-year-old actor Ryo Hashizume¡¯s career is over. As Mark Schilling wrote in the June 15 Japan Times, Hashizume¡¯s latest film, in which he played a supporting role, was pulled from theaters. It reopened June 17, but with Hashizume¡¯s scenes deleted. For all intents and purposes, he had become a nonperson in show business.
And I mean that literally. Owing to the way drug busts are covered in the media, anyone even accused of using illegal substances is presented as not just a criminal, but something subhuman. This idea was established in the 1980s with an announcement that used the slogan, ¡±Ningen yamemasu ka?,¡± meaning, ¡°Will you stop being a person?¡± By taking drugs, that is.
Media critic Chiki Ogiue mentioned the campaign on his ¡±¡± radio show back in January.
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