Pundit Blurts Out a Banned Broadcast Word on Miyaneya — Host Miyane Apologizes: ‘I’m Terribly Sorry’

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The story

During the September 1, 2026 broadcast of Nippon TV’s “Miyaneya,” a former head of the Kanagawa Prefectural Police’s First Investigation Division — appearing remotely to give his take on a case in which the owner of a long-established Japanese confectionery shop in Mine, Yamaguchi Prefecture was killed and his wife seriously injured — used a term considered banned from broadcast while explaining a possible motive for the attacker targeting the victim’s head. The show displayed a caption reading “There was an inappropriate expression,” and host Seiji Miyane apologized, saying “I’m terribly sorry about that.” On 5channel, discussion centered on the fact that many viewers couldn’t actually make out what word was said, the point that “banned broadcast words” aren’t a legal category but merely a self-imposed restriction by broadcasters, and generational differences in sensitivity to such language.

Tue, 9/1, 4:24 PM

During the live broadcast of Nippon TV’s “Information Live Miyaneya” (weekdays, 1:55 PM) on the 1st, a segment aired in which a guest used a banned broadcast term, followed by an apology.

The segment was covering a case in Mine, Yamaguchi Prefecture, in which the owner of a long-established Japanese confectionery shop was killed and his wife was also seriously injured. Discussing the victim, who had been targeted in the head, a former head of the Kanagawa Prefectural Police’s First Investigation Division — appearing remotely as an expert commentator — gave his view: “If the attacker aims for the head and the victim doesn’t end up dying… they won’t be able to live a normal life, and if they can’t talk anymore, that would suit the culprit just fine — maybe that’s why they go for the head,” using an expression considered banned from broadcast as he spoke.

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

What people said

5AnonymousSep 1, 2026 16:40
There's no such thing as an official 'banned broadcast word' — it's all just self-imposed restrictions the TV stations made up themselves
6AnonymousSep 1, 2026 16:40
Old man Narumi vanished right after the katawa comment, and then it switched to the younger Narumi lol
22AnonymousSep 1, 2026 16:46
Re: #6
The younger Narumi doesn't seem like the type to make such a careless remark, so it's reassuring
7AnonymousSep 1, 2026 16:40
Maybe 'Kanagawa Prefectural Police' was the actual no-go phrase, huh
9AnonymousSep 1, 2026 16:40
Former Kanagawa Police investigation chief: 'Ahh, this one's a suicide~'
11AnonymousSep 1, 2026 16:42
Nobody even watches TV anymore so we wouldn't know
14AnonymousSep 1, 2026 16:44
TV's self-censorship rules have nothing to do with us
17AnonymousSep 1, 2026 16:45
So basically Kanagawa Police are banned from saying anything other than 'it's a suicide'
24AnonymousSep 1, 2026 16:47
Unrelated, but the word 'homeless' is pretty rough too
In Japanese it'd literally be 'houseless'
49AnonymousSep 1, 2026 16:53
Re: #24
These days they'd probably call it 'house-camping' (a jokey euphemism blending 'house' and 'camping')
36AnonymousSep 1, 2026 16:51
What did he even say?
Must be Burning Productions (a running 5ch joke blaming Japan's powerful Burning talent agency for media censorship)
38AnonymousSep 1, 2026 16:52
Re: #36
Maybe he said something like 'fucking bitch'?
37AnonymousSep 1, 2026 16:52
Didn't even know 'ka◯wa' was a word
47AnonymousSep 1, 2026 16:53
Re: #37
That's chicken (kashiwa)!
59AnonymousSep 1, 2026 16:55
Re: #37
Kashiwa (chicken) is delicious
102AnonymousSep 1, 2026 17:05
Re: #37
Covering up a bald spot a little is fine, isn't it
42AnonymousSep 1, 2026 16:53
I mean, even if someone says 'katawa,' wouldn't most people not get it these days?
This is straight-up old-man slang
51AnonymousSep 1, 2026 16:53
Re: #42
That's smack in the core 5channel demographic
50AnonymousSep 1, 2026 16:53
You can just tell that old guy uses words like that all the time in real life
56AnonymousSep 1, 2026 16:54
Re: #50
It's not like he said it with discriminatory intent though
69AnonymousSep 1, 2026 16:57
Did his body get taken over by a cactus or something?
74AnonymousSep 1, 2026 16:58
Re: #69
Only the people who get it will get it… lol
92AnonymousSep 1, 2026 17:02
katawa = a physically disabled person
94AnonymousSep 1, 2026 17:04
Re: #92
Ohh, you actually said it
103AnonymousSep 1, 2026 17:06
Does anyone even still say 'katawa' these days, TV or not?
110AnonymousSep 1, 2026 17:07
Re: #103
Oh, turns out he's an ex-cop
Yeah, those guys would say that
111AnonymousSep 1, 2026 17:07
Apparently 'gone crazy' (kurutteru) is a banned broadcast phrase too
113AnonymousSep 1, 2026 17:09
Re: #111
That's just insane

Background and Key Points of the Discussion

There’s no legal category called “banned broadcast words” in Japan — as the thread itself points out, it’s simply a self-imposed list each broadcaster draws up on its own, often shaped by requests from human rights groups. “Katawa” is an old derogatory term for a physically disabled person that fell out of use in broadcasting and public life following the disability rights movement of the 1970s–80s. Because the remark aired live, many viewers couldn’t actually make out which word was used, and the thread’s recurring reaction of “nobody actually knows what he said” is background that doesn’t come through from the article text alone. The generational gap in sensitivity to such language was also a talking point — less a question of discriminatory intent and more a sign of how the standard for acceptable vocabulary in broadcasting and journalism has shifted over time.

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Geisports Sokuho+) thread “Miyaneya: Expert Uses Banned Broadcast Word, ‘There Was an Inappropriate Expression’ — Miyane Apologizes: ‘I’m Deeply Sorry’.”

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