As suspicions grow that Fuji TV provided sexual favors to famous Japanese entertainer Masahiro Nakai, Fuji TV executives have resigned from their positions.

News 1 quoted NHK as saying, “Fuji TV Chairman Shuji Kano and President Koiji Minato announced their intention to resign at a press conference held on the 27th.”

According to the report, Chairman Shuji Kano said, “I would like to sincerely apologize to the victimized woman for not being able to take sufficient care of her due to a lack of awareness of human rights,” and “I sincerely apologize to the viewers, advertisers, shareholders, performers, production staff, and reporting agencies who have cooperated with us.”

He went on to say, “I believe that management is responsible for causing this situation,” and “I will resign as representative director and chairman of Fuji TV and Fuji Media Holdings as of today.”

President Koiji Minato said, “I feel a deep sense of responsibility and will resign from my position as president of Fuji TV and Fuji Media Holdings.” He resigned from his position as director of Fuji TV Holdings,” saying, “I will cooperate as a subject of the third-party committee investigation and work towards uncovering the truth, preventing a recurrence, and reforming the company.”

Kenji Shimizu, Executive Director of Fuji Media Holdings, is scheduled to be appointed as the president of Fuji TV to succeed former President Koiji Minato.

Earlier, Japanese weekly magazines such as Josei Seven and Shukan Bunshun reported that Masahiro Nakai, who had great influence in the Japanese entertainment industry, had a “women’s issue,” and that he suspected that he had received sexual bribes from Fuji TV.

Quoting statements from Fuji TV announcers and others, Shukan Bunshun reported that the head of Fuji TV’s programming department was involved in the sexual bribery involving Masahiro Nakai. Masahiro Nakai paid 90 million yen (about 840 million won) in settlement money to the victim.

On the 9th, Masahiro Nakai admitted through his personal office‘s official homepage that he had had trouble with the woman.

Masahiro Nakai initially stated that he would continue his entertainment activities without any problems, but the situation continued to worsen as large corporations continued to cancel advertisements. In response, Masahiro Nakai reversed his position on the 23rd and announced that he would retire from the entertainment industry.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba stated at a plenary session of the House of Representatives held that day, “The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is requesting that Fuji TV conduct an investigation through a third-party committee and take appropriate action.” He then announced a stern response, saying, “If a human rights issue is discovered at a Japanese private broadcaster, we are considering measures such as establishing a committee.”

Hong Se-young, Donga.com reporter, projecthong@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.