Media analysts say it is a big deal when celebrities such as former pro baseball player Kazuhiro Kiyohara get arrested for alleged possession of stimulant drugs because they are/were heroes to childre

They are people just like everyone else. It's the fault of society to elevate these people into the position of "role-model". So when they fall from grace, it's the fault of the athlete? I don't think so. It's the fault of those who choose to put these people on a pedestal and have their children strive to be like them.

Of course, people like Kiyohara are role models and have some kind of duty because of that but there are role models closer to home, like parents and teachers, who likely won't be held up to scrutiny and who have much more influence. More often than not, directly or indirectly, they also do the state's bidding. But it is because Kiyohara appears to oppose state policy that he has to be made an example of by it and criticised in this manner by these so-called media analysts. The next corporate or bureaucratic manager let off by the courts will not be criticised as a poor role model even though for a majority of young people this is their ambition in life.

“I am not a role model. I am not paid to be a role model. I’m paid to wreak havoc on the basketball court. Parents should be role models. Just because I dunk a basketball does not mean I should raise your kids.”

-- Charles Barkley

And what about Japanese politicians? Are they role models? Haven't hear anything about that. This is tool of state control over individual freedom. But you won't here that being discussed in school.

Media analysts say it is a big deal when celebrities

. . . celebrities are always in the spotlight. Its only "a big deal" in Japan's media cause of the whole 'losing face' thing in this culture. Look at Becky.. She is being crucified for simply having sex.

When Micheal Phelps was smoking pot, the worldwide media blasted him. But ordinary westerners young & old were like- "its no big deal."

When Kobe Bryant was accused of rape/ sexual assault, by a 19 yrs old schizophrenic, in Colorado 2003, it tarnished him. But after all the smoke was clear and wasn't charged, Kobe re-acquired his coca-cola, Nike endorsements, MVP Awards etc. In Japan, that would never happen.

@Wc626

Celeb culture is part of the problem - Becky an example.. It isn't just Japan. The fawning garbage you see in the States at the Oscars has me reaching for the sick bucket along with whooping, screeching idiots in the audience at talk shows whenever a celeb turns up. The US also has that silly puritanical streak with regards to sexual conduct.

My country, the UK, also has this crap. Princess Diana?

Stop worshiping athletes, they are not bringing anything that should matter in a society with enough sense.

1- They get paid to do what they know how to do. Sometimes to be great, sometimes just for their image, sometimes for no reason at all other than they know the right person. This is what any other work environment looks like, and anybody working is doing the same thing without getting any praise.

2- They get paid by sponsors, meaning by people watching them in the end (the advertising costs are included in the price customers pay for products). They are not creating new laws, inventing new innovations, changing the society in depth, this is "just" entertainment. While still very important, athletes should not be elevated to more than what they are.

3- By focusing so much on things that a single man (in this case) did, the real true stories are completely forgotten. A few days ago in Sendai, a court upheld reparations to be paid by demonstrators whose identity was illegally taken by the police. The only "crime" of those participants is that they demonstrated. One has the right to demonstrate in Japan, and one has the right to object to policies from the government in a democratic way, but still they were treated as suspects, and continue to be. This is a very serious thing, similar to what a fascist state would do, and yet the media focuses on that baseball guy, on Smap and on Becky while fascism is coming into place.

I do not expect any change, people are fed sleeping pills to stay in place in the matrix basically. But to the question "should the media", absolutely not, they are the main responsible for the whole mess by not doing their job (as proven by the Reporter Without Boarder Press Freedom Index where Japan managed to go from 10th in 2010 to 60th only a few years later, the only developed country with such a negative trend).

At the end of the day they are only animals called humans.

I think the ones who ratted on them should be sent to jail!

Amen @lostrune2. Charles Barkley . . . one of my 'old school" fav NBA stars.

(Like Kobe Bryant) Former LA Lakers's, MVP James Worthy went through some heat too. But after a few yrs. laying low, he re-emerged on the sports scene becoming an important NBA commentator.

Can you blame Kiyohara? For using "stimulants"? Sorry (i like baseball too) . . . but its a S-L-O-W- darn game (imo.).