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[TABLE NOT SHOWN] Japanese 'toon wreaks havoc
TOKYO - Colors exploded on TV screens across Japan, a cartoon
character flashed his sparkling eyes - and hundreds of young viewers
were felled by fits of spasms and nausea. More than 600 viewers of the
hit cartoon "Pokemon" suffered epilepsy-like seizures about 20 minutes
into Tuesday night's show and were rushed to the hospital, TV Tokyo
reported Wednesday.
TV Tokyo is canceling the segment on 30 other stations scheduled to
show it. The bizarre sickness has officials considering new
programming guidelines and mothers concerned that Japan's wildly
popular cartoons could be harmful.
"I'm worried," said Keiko Murakami, who watched the program with her
three children at their suburban Tokyo home, though none of them got
sick. "I have to warn my kids that the program could be dangerous."
TV Tokyo did not say which scene of the show sickened the viewers, but
news reports said an explosion mixed with five seconds of flashing red
lights from the eyes of the most popular character, a rat-like
creature called "Pikachu," coincided with the viewers suffering the
epilepsy-like symptoms.
"Toward the end of the program there was an explosion, and I had to
close my eyes because of an enormous yellow light like a camera
flash," viewer Takuya Sato, 10, was quoted as saying by the national
Mainichi newspaper.
TV Tokyo said about 650 viewers ages 3 to 20 fell ill, including some
who saw part of the show on a news program. About 150 remained
hospitalized Wednesday.
The show, "Pokemon," - a Japanese rendering of "pocket monsters" - is
based on characters in a game produced by Nintendo Co. The weekly show
has been broadcast on 37 TV stations nationwide since April and has
the highest ratings in the Tokyo area in its 6:30 p.m. slot.
It's not the first time kids have been sickened by Japanese animation.
Several years ago, a handful of teen-agers suffered seizures while
playing video games sold by Nintendo. The company now attaches a
warning of epilepsy-like symptoms triggered by the games' optical
stimuli.
In the United States, a woman said in 1991 that she suffered seizures
from the voice of "Entertainment Tonight" co-host Mary Hart. Dianne
Neale's doctors said Hart's electronically transmitted voice was
triggering the abnormal electrical discharges in her brain. Neale
suffered from a rare form of epilepsy called temporal lobe seizure.
In Japan, a country where garishly illustrated and often violent
animation is so popular, some people are urging the government to more
closely monitor the images that children watch on TV.
"I hope broadcasters would investigate it thoroughly and take
precautions to avoid similar problems in the future," said Murakami,
who complained that TV programs do not provide any warnings about
content.
The Posts and Telecommunications Ministry, which supervises TV
stations, announced it is investigating the incident.
A spokesman for Nintendo Co. said there was no link between its game
and the cartoon apart from the use of characters.
TV Tokyo spokesman Hiroshi Uramoto said the scheduled broadcast of the
same program on 30 other stations nationwide would be canceled.
"We are shocked to hear many children were taken to hospitals,"
Uramoto told reporters. "We will investigate thoroughly, and consult
with experts."
Tuesday's "Pokemon" episode featured a child and a monster fighting
together to escape a computer. Program producer Takemoto Mori said he
has used similar flashing effects in most of the previous "Pokemon"
shows, with slight variations in color and background combinations.
"During editing, that particular portion didn't call my attention or
bother me," Mori said.
"I'm really sorry that the kids got sick watching their favorite
cartoon."
Toshio Yamauchi, an epilepsy expert at Saitama University of Medicine
outside Tokyo, said that the symptoms suggest a one-time attack
triggered by optical stimulus, which is different from epilepsy, Kyodo
News said.
"There have been many similar cartoon programs in the past, and I
don't understand why the program this time caused so many attacks,"
Yamauchi was quoted by Kyodo as saying.
Television and newspaper headlines Wednesday morning were dominated by
the reports. "'Pokemon' panic," screamed a national newspaper
Mainichi. "What happened to the popular program that abundantly used
high technology."
Some of the commercial TV stations set up telephone hotlines for
viewers to call in more information.
The weekly program is watched by millions of children. It has been
broadcast on 37 TV stations nationwide since April and has the highest
ratings in the Tokyo area for its time slot.
Television epilepsy
The children all came down with the symptoms about 20 minutes into the
30-minute long animation.
The Yomiuri newspaper quoted a doctor specializing in epileptic fits
as saying the symptoms were similar to fits that some children are
susceptible to when they play video games.
Doctors who treated the victims said children went into a trance-like
state, complaining of shortness of breath, nausea and bad vision when
the rat-like creature's eyes flashed.
Other children were stricken when they watched TV replays of the
offending scene in news reports of the earlier victims. Dr Yukio
Fukuyama, an expert on juvenile epilepsy, said bright flashes of light
and color from a television screen could trigger a phenomenon known as
"television epilepsy."
Doctors have known that children are susceptible to such seizures
since even before the dawn of television, but it has become more
evident with the spread of TV, Fukuyama said.
He said the seizures, albeit unpleasant, were not dangerous and that
spontaneous recovery was the norm.
But parents should be aware of possible side effects of watching
programs featuring bright flashing lights. "The networks should
definitely think of issuing a health warning beforehand," Fukuyama
said.
Psychologist Rika Kayama said the phenomenon appeared to be an
epileptic effect induced by flashing light, known as photosensitive
epilepsy or group hysterics.
"Given that they collapsed with their eyes irritated, there is the
possibility of photosensitive epilepsy or group hysterics," said
Kayama, author of a book on video games, said.
"The children must have been totally immersed in the program," she
said.
Doctors at the University of Tokyo Hospital, where four children were
hospitalized, said the patients seemed to have been affected by
glaring light that stimulated their nerve cells.
One child did not remember watching the cartoon.
The Associated Press and Reuter contributed to this report.
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