 Following the revelation, the city of Hiroshima announced that it would be revoking the Hiroshima Citizens' Award it presented to Samuragochi in 2008.On 7 March 2014, he gave a press conference in Tokyo, appearing in public for the first time since the ghostwriting allegations arose.He admitted that while his hearing was impaired, it did not meet the legal requirements for deafness, and that he had returned his disability certificate.