Retired Japanese Comedian Masuo ‘Esper’ Ito’s Cause of Death Determined to be Epileptic Seizure

From TV Asahi

January 19 2024

TOKYO – Former comedian Esper Ito, who was reported to have passed away on the 17th at the age of 63, announced on the 19th that the cause of his death was status epilepticus.

The office said, “Esper Ito (real name Masuo Ito) had been receiving rehabilitation treatment at a facility for a long time and has been repeatedly in and out of the hospital, but on January 16, 2024, due to status epilepticus, He passed away at a medical institution.” 

The statement went on to say, “I would like to express my gratitude to all of you for your kindness during my lifetime.I would like to inform you with all due respect.A farewell party has not yet been decided.” 

On the 17th, comedian ‘Beat’ Takeshi Bito (60), the president of his agency, posted on his X (formerly Twitter), “Currently, I am handling everything by myself, so I would like to apologize to everyone who has contacted me. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We will contact you as soon as we know the details. Thank you for your understanding.” 

Esper announced on December 22, 2018 that he would retire from the entertainment industry at the end of the same year due to hip problems. He held a press conference on December 25th of the same year and retracted his retirement, saying, “It was intended to be a temporary hiatus.” He explained his hip discomfort as “right osteoarthritis” and had been absent from work since January 2019. In September of the same year, Vito explained that Mr. Ito had undergone artificial hip surgery in February, but that he had suffered a new cerebral infarction and was continuing to be hospitalized for rehabilitation.