Nakai, his management agency and the broadcaster have displayed “arrogance” in the way they dismissed the issue, one analyst said, noting that it took foreign influence to bring the scandal to light.
“They tried very hard to keep this quiet, but they failed and all the reports that are emerging now are showing the Japanese public just how lax the governance is within the entertainment business and the way they are able to close ranks to protect those in power and who earn the TV companies so much money,” said Makoto Watanabe, a professor of communications and media at Hokkaido Bunkyo University in Eniwa, Hokkaido.
The woman who was allegedly assaulted by Nakai “has been sacrificed” so the industry could carry on as normal, Watanabe said, adding that “what we are learning is just the tip of what really goes on behind the scenes.”
“And then – and I find this unbelievable – Nakai released a statement saying that the issue with the woman had been ‘solved,’ that he had therefore done nothing wrong and that he would continue to work in the business,” Watanabe told This Week in Asia.
“That arrogance has triggered the Japanese public,” Watanabe said, adding that Nakai had effectively committed “professional suicide” with his statement. “People just do not want to see him any more.”
