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    Got a light?

    When I first saw this story, I assumed the suspect had set things on fire to give himself more dramatic stuff to cover–faking stories is not unheard of at NHK, though we haven’t had any really good scandals to laugh out loud over lately.

    It appears, however, that he may just be seriously screwed up in the head. I can’t decide whether that’s more or less disturbing:

    A 24-year-old NHK reporter was arrested Saturday on suspicion of attempted arson at a house under construction in Kishiwada, Osaka Prefecture, with police saying he was a suspect in 11 arson attacks, including burning down a house in Otsu.

    Arrested was Hirofumi Kasamatsu, a reporter at the public broadcaster’s Otsu Station, according to a joint force of the Shiga and Osaka prefectural police.

    Hired by NHK in April last year, Kasamatsu was responsible for covering crimes and accidents in the prefecture at the time of the arson attacks. He is currently on leave from work.

    According to the police, Kasamatsu admitted the alleged attempted arson, saying he lit the fire with a cigarette lighter. He also admitted setting a number of fires in the Shiga Prefecture capital in April and May.

    Kasamatsu told the police that he regretted what he had done. He also said he had committed the arson attacks due to problems at work.

    NHK Chairman Genichi Hashimoto said: “It’s regrettable that a person of the media caused such crimes. I’d like to sincerely apologize. We’re considering how to reprimand him in light of the investigation.”

    Reprimand? Firing him sounds like a pretty good idea, though I don’t suppose administering a good scolding along with it wouldn’t hurt.

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