They called him “Show-Killer Kume.”

When Hiroshi Kume (1944-2026) was a rookie announcer at Tokyo Broadcasting System Television Inc. (TBS), a jinx-like legend trailed him: programs he was assigned to seemed to be taken off the air not long afterward.

Back then, it happened more than once: in the heat of a live radio broadcast, nerves would seize him, his tongue tangling so completely that he could hardly get a smooth sentence out.

It is striking, in hindsight, that this same man would later front multiple hit shows with a trademark torrent of rapid-fire, seemingly effortless speech.

The quiz show “Pittashi Kan-Kan” and the live music countdown “The Best Ten,” which he co-hosted........

© The Asahi Shimbun