I've heard off-hand remarks from several people here about his alleged drinking problem. I don't know particulars and I think it's all a bit too personal, so I'm not really interested in knowing any more, but I assume(!) it's probably true.
Ed Holland and I visited Kawakita last year and he seemed fine. He runs his own company called Dream Planet Japan Inc (
http://www.dreamplanet-j.co.jp) which produces FX for TV and commercials. I think they do a lot of merchandising goods too, but I don't really know.