10 Media Outlets Reported 'Puberulic Acid Identified as Causal Substance,' with 6 Maintaining Their Coverage — Filing of 20th Administrative Review Request Challenging MHLW's Claim of 'No Public Disclosure'

Kunsei Club Co., Ltd. (Hayashima-cho, Kita-kurume District, Okayama Prefecture; CEO and licensed pharmacist: Masaki Mori) has been verifying facts regarding health damage incidents linked to Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's red yeast-related products since March 10, 2026, through information disclosure requests to relevant government agencies. On June 21, 2026, the company collectively submitted multiple administrative review requests challenging the MHLW's administrative document non-disclosure decision dated April 22, Reiwa 8 (MHLW Health Bureau Notification No. 0422-2), which stated, 'There was no fact of publicly identifying puberulic acid as the causal substance.' This press release reports on the 20th request in the series, focusing on contradictions with media confirmation results.

The subject of this request is the MHLW's administrative document non-disclosure decision dated April 22, Reiwa 8 (MHLW Health Bureau Notification No. 0422-2). The Ministry declared documents related to the decision-making process of identifying and publicly announcing 'puberulic acid' as the causal substance to be non-existent, stating 'no such fact occurred, and therefore no documents exist,' and thus withheld disclosure.

[Point in Question: Contradiction with Media Outlets' Confirmation Results]

On September 18, Reiwa 6, at least 10 media outlets—including NHK, Yomiuri Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Nikkei Medical, Nippon Television, Shikoku Shimbun, Nikkan Yakuji Nippo, Jiji Press, and FNN Prime Online—simultaneously reported that the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the National Institute of Health Sciences (NIHS) had identified and publicly announced puberulic acid as the causal substance behind health damages (kidney injuries).

Since May 1, Reiwa 8, our company has conducted fact-checking inquiries (requests for clarification) with these media outlets, pointing out the contradiction between their reporting and the content of the administrative decision (No. 0422-2), which claims 'no public announcement identifying puberulic acid as the causal substance.' In response, six outlets—Yomiuri Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Kyodo News Agency, Shikoku Shimbun, and Yomiuri Television—confirmed that their original reporting contained no errors.

[Our Position]

The fact that multiple media organizations, equipped with independent reporting systems and internal procedures for corrections and retractions, continue to maintain their reporting without correction approximately 1 year and 8 months later strongly suggests that their reports were based on actual explanations provided by their sources (MHLW or NIHS). Despite this, the administrative authority's claim of 'no public disclosure' directly contradicts these external, objective confirmations. We argue that the factual basis underlying this non-disclosure decision lacks reasonable grounds and therefore request its cancellation and a renewed, thorough search and disclosure decision.

Additionally, in this request, we include a supplementary statement urging the administrative authority to hold a press conference to correct and clarify the accurate content, should it be the case that the September 18, Reiwa 6 announcement was merely a disclosure of findings from animal experiments and not a public identification of a causal substance—such a scenario would indicate a significant misunderstanding between the government and both the public and media.

[Differences from Previous Requests]

Previous requests in this series targeting the No. 0422-2 decision include the 16th to 18th (challenging the non-existence of decision-making documents and contradictions with Consumer Affairs Agency's disclosed documents) and the 19th (contradictions regarding the non-existence of specimen receipt records and approval documents). This 20th request differs in focus, centering on contradictions with external, objective evidence—namely, independent confirmation results from media organizations.

[Overview of the Administrative Review Request]

Submission Date: June 21, Reiwa 8

Recipient: Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare (Kenichiro Ueno)

Target Decision: MHLW Health Bureau Notification No. 0422-2, dated April 22, Reiwa 8 (Administrative Document Non-Disclosure Decision Notice)

Request: Cancel the decision and issue a new disclosure decision

Legal Basis: Article 2 of the Administrative Appeal Act (Act No. 68 of 2014)

▼ This press release is the 108th in a series issued since March 10, 2026.

The complete series is available at https://kunsei.com/archives/category/benikoji.

[Company Overview]

Company Name: Kunsei Club Co., Ltd.

Representative: CEO and Licensed Pharmacist Masaki Mori

Address: 611-1 Maekata, Hayashima-cho, Kita-kurume District, Okayama 701-0303, Japan

Business: Manufacturing and sales of ham and sausages

Inquiries: [email protected]