Interest

Sazae-san Airs for 1st Time in 14 Years With No Sponsors After Fuji TV Scandal

The Sports Nippon newspaper's Sponichi Annex reported that the massively popular and long-running anime series Sazae-san aired without any sponsors on February 2. In place of the sponsorship screen, Sazae-san's Isono family cat, Tama, walked across the screen. Ads for the Fuji TV dramas Eye See: Shunkan Kioku Sosa Hiiragi-han and 119 Emergency Call aired during the commercial breaks. ANN's Japan-based staff members confirmed the report.

Several posters on X (formerly Twitter) also noted the missing sponsorship screen. One user, @Twitte_kun_, uploaded part of the Niconico Douga livestream of the Sazae-san episode. During Tama's walk across the screen, commenters expressed their shock:

According to a Sankei Sports report, this is the first time since March 20, 2011 that Sazae-san aired without any sponsors. The Sanspo report also notes the final sponsor for Sazae-san, baby goods company Nishimatsuya, decided to stop airing commercials on Fuji TV entirely, saying, “In light of various circumstances, we would like to inform you we will be suspending advertising on Fuji Television for the time being.”

While the lack of sponsors for Sazae-san in 2011 was due to the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, this year's pullout comes after the scandal surrounding former SMAP member Masahiro Nakai. The Weekly Bunshun magazine reported in December that the disgraced idol reached a 90-million-yen (about US$580,000) out-of-court settlement with a woman. The settlement was reportedly for an incident involving nonconsensual sexual activities at a June 2023 gathering. Weekly Bunshun also reported that Fuji TV staff was involved with the incident, although the magazine later said that woman was not initially invited to the gathering by a Fuji TV official as it had reported in December.

Sazae-san wasn't the only Sunday evening anime staple hit by the Fuji TV sponsorship drought. According to Suponichi Annex, the February 2 episode of Chibi Maruko-chan also aired without any corporate sponsors, and it was instead sponsored by the non-profit public service announcement company AC Japan. The episode also aired commercials for the Fuji TV dramas Eye See: Shunkan Kioku Sosa Hiiragi-han, Mondai Bukken, Nihonichi no Saitei Otoko, and 119 Emergency Call, plus the variety show special Nepu League. ANN's Japan-based staff members also confirmed this report.

There have been no announcements regarding sponsorships for the following anime series airing on Fuji TV:

• Honey Lemon Soda
• Rurouni Kenshin
• Dragon Ball Daima
• Bonobono
• Tōsōchū: The Great Mission
• One Piece

As of press time, no announcements have been made regarding Sazae-san and Chibi Maruko-chan's sponsorships going forward. Toshiba was Sazae-san's main sponsor for its first 48 years, but Nissan replaced it as the main sponsor from 2018 until now. The secondary sponsors included Amazon Japan, Nishimatsuya, and homebuilding company Daiwa House.

Sources: Sponichi Annex (link 2), Sankei Sports, Sazae-san anime's website, @Twitte_kun_'s X/Twitter account via Hachima Kikō