Japanese critic Susumu Nishibe dies in apparent suicide

January 21, 2018

Tokyo- Conservative Japanese critic Susumu Nishibe died in apparent suicide on Sunday. He was 78.

Around 6:40 a.m. (9:40 p.m. Saturday GMT), police received an emergency call reporting that someone went into the Tama River in the Denenchofu district in Tokyo's Ota Ward.

Police officers rushed to the scene and pulled the male person out of the river. But he was confirmed dead at a hospital about two hours later.

The man was identified as Nishibe. The Denenchofu police station of Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department is investigating his death as an apparent suicide case.

Nishibe went missing in the small hours of Sunday. Nishibe's eldest son, 48, saw his father go into the river during a search for him and called the police. What appeared to be a suicide note written by Nishibe was found on the riverside.

The critic, who was from Hokkaido, northern Japan, has worked as professor of the University of Tokyo. He sometimes appeared in late-night television debate programs. Jiji Press