Shaima Khalil
Tokyo correspondent
AP
Masahiro Nakai announced his retirement in January
For months, the Japanese entertainment industry was shaken by a scandal that overthrew one of its most popular celebrities and put one of its greatest diffusers in danger.
But some believe that he also marked a turning point in the way in which cases of sexual assault are perceived in Japan – where the victims traditionally were shameful of silence.
In his heart was Masahiro Nakai, a familiar name and leading presenter for Fuji TV, one of the largest broadcasters in the country.
Nakai, who is also a former member of the group of J-POP SMAP boys, was accused of having sexually assaulted a woman during a dinner in 2023.
The revelations, which appeared for the first time last December in the weekly magazine of the Shukan Bunshun tabloids, marked the last of a series of scandals involving celebrities in Japan, including that of the late entertainment magnate Johnny Kitagawa, who was found by investigators for having abused hundreds of boys and young men for six decades.
Although Nakai did not admit guilt, he apologized for “causing trouble” in a statement and said that he had “resolved” the case with the woman in a regulation, worth more ‘Half a million dollars.
But while public anger rose, Nakai, who also denied having used force against women, was also forced to announce her retirement from the entertainment industry in January. Another channel, the Tokyo broadcasting system has also stopped broadcasting a program on which Nakai appears regularly as MC.
The impact on Fuji TV has been devastating.
The reputation of the diffuser is now in ruin, his threatened income and some of his senior executives have been forced to resign.
High -level companies like Nissan and Toyota were one of those who drew from the publicity of the broadcaster as a mounted public anger. Fuji TV has since admitted to having allowed Nakai to continue presenting programs even after discovering the allegations.
“Stay silent to keep your job”
“If that had happened 10 years ago, there would not have been this uproar,” Keiko Kojima told BBC worked in the Japanese media industry for 15 years as a television presenter .
Sexual violence against women is one of the most kept secrets in Japan. A survey in 2020 said that more than 70% of sexual assaults in the country have not been reported. And according to a study in 2024 published in the International Journal of Asian Studies, for 1,000 rapes in Japan, only 10 to 20 lead to criminal conviction – and less than half of the convicted rapists are imprisoned.
“There is always a widespread attitude of” shoganai “or” there is nothing that you can do “which is projected on women – so they are encouraged to remain silent,” BBC Machiko Osawa told BBC, Emeritus professor at the Japan Women’s University in Tokyo, BBC.
She added that women were rarely believed and had no appropriate mechanisms to even report such incidents, which contributed to this culture of silence.
Ms. Kojima said that the media industry in particular has long had a culture of impunity and a lack of responsibility in which many young women estimated that they should be silent to keep their jobs.
“It was common for men to make coarse comments on the body of women or appearance or age. I remember my colleagues and I was asked with how many people we had sex,” -Ali said.
“We had to answer with a sense of humor without getting angry or offended. I saw sexual harassment and other forms of derogatory treatment of women -the professional of television or the media.”
Keiko Kojima
Keiko Kojima who has worked in the media industry in Japan for 15 years, says that women had to bear sexual harassment to keep their jobs
The Fuji TV affair also raised the question of whether dinners and drink parties involving celebrities and young women were a common practice.
Although Shukan Bunshun has retracted a previous report which claimed that the alleged assault had taken place at a party organized by Fuji TV, Ms. Kojima told the BBC that he was indeed running to use women like “Tools to entertain”.
“In Japanese work cultivation, it is a daily practice for bringing young employees in an overemphable way to entertain customers.”
“Men are happy when young women join them. The idea that women are like a gift and that taking a young woman with you is a way to offer hospitality to the other person is very common.”
This is why the benefits of this scandal encouraged activists in women’s rights.
Minori Kithara, one of the founders of the flower demonstration movement – where groups of victims of sexual violence and their supporters meet in public spaces on the 11th of each month – admitted that she was surprised to see what The sponsors reacted quickly and severely.
“Even if it is more self-service than human rights for sponsors, it is a turning point for the metoo movement in Japan. It is to us how we do it”, a- She said to the BBC.
Deeper into disgrace
Getty images
Masahiro Nakai was accused of having sexually assaulted a woman at a party in 2023
Nearly 50 companies have moved away from the now tarnished diffuser.
The government has also withdrawn all its recent and planned advertisements with the network.
The Japanese government has called Fuji TV to regain the confidence of viewers and sponsors. So far, he seems to have done either.
The scandal and the role of the broadcaster in hiding, sent the company to a crisis management frenzy which seemed to have dug it deeper and fueled more public anger.
Then, the president of Fuji TV, Koichi Minato, admitted that the company had experienced the allegation shortly after the alleged incident.
But he said that they had chosen not to disclose him at the time because they “prioritized the physical and mental recovery of women as well as the protection of her private life”.
After a press conference he held in the hope of defusing indignation turned into a public relations disaster, the company held a second which lasted 10 hours – intended to show remorse.
The president of Fuji TV, Shuji Kano, and his president Koichi Minato resigned – bowing humbly when they announced their resignations.
It was announced that the executive vice-president of the company Kenji Shimizu would replace Mr. Minato as president.
But these were considered as simple facial and income economy exercises rather than a substantial change, especially because the replacement of the president was the same leadership framework.
The change is slow
Professor Osawa, however, told BBC that high -level cases like Fuji TV become important precedents for these models to change.
The saga is the last in a series of cases of high level sexual misconduct that have generated a conversation on women’s rights in Japan.
These include the case of journalist Shiori Ito, which has become a symbol of the #MeToo movement in the country when in 2017, it made the rare public meeting with allegations according to which Noriyuki Yamaguchi, a Senior television journalist, raped her after meeting her to have a drink. While he denied allegations in 2019, she won her civil trial against him.
“People have now started to realize that it was normal to express themselves and to say that this (sexual harassment) is a problem. We change what we take as the norm,” said Kojima.
Ms. Kojima and Mrs. Kithara both say that Japan does not move fast enough.
“I think it’s time for this generation (media leadership) to resign. The industry must create a new corporate culture. The change is slow.” Ms. Kojima said.
“The television industry has long neglected the issue of exploitation and violence and has not properly dealt with the victims. If the root of the problem does not change, the same will happen again.”
BBC News / Stai Akiba
Minori Kitahara says that his wish is never to attend another demo of flowers again
Professor Osawa is suitable that while the change occurs, Japan still has a long way to go. Mainly because of the omnipresent power imbalance in the country’s dominant male society.
She adds that if women have been part of the workforce for decades, they are always considered as “guards” and men as “family supporters” by a society which is still strongly shaped by patriarchal values .
“It’s an important moment … but we don’t know how far attitudes will change.” She said.
Although Ms. Kitahara hopes, she says she is still angry: “Sexual violence never stops.”
“I always meet new survivors in Flower Demo (demonstrations) every month and I learn what happened to them. We had a high school student from another day. When we started the movement (in 2019), she was probably in high school “She said.
“One day, I hope I will never have to protest a demo of flowers again.”
