Arama! Japan picks the Juiciest Japanese Entertainment Scandals

Over the years, the Japanese entertainment industry has been rocked by numerous scandals. Some including something as simple as a slip of the tongue, and others are as shocking as lecherous pictures of certain body parts and rape allegations.

Japanese netizens recently looked back at their favorites, but all were seemingly tame. At the request of our readers, the contributors to Arama! Japan have compiled a list of the most juicy and shocking scandals of years past, all featuring your favorites idols, singers, actors and celebrities!

Koki Tanaka Firing and “Inappropriate” Pics Scandal
Starting out our juicy scandal picks is the infamous Koki Tanaka. Tanaka had a rather tumultuous time in Johnny’s nearing his firing. He was already in hot water for running a bar and restaurant without the consent of the agency, and his numerous tattoos and piercings weren’t helping him much either. The straw that broke the camel’s back seems to have been pictures of his private parts that were released to a tabloid called Jitsuwa Knuckles. The pictures were sent in by porn star Lisa Coda. The pictures appeared in a full color spread in the magazine. Tanaka was fired the same day that the pictures appeared in the tabloid.
The following pictures were released to the tabloid (NSFW only links will be provided):

http://i.imgur.com/1CE7tIJ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/e016OL2.jpg

Johnny’s Entertainment released the following statement after Tanaka was forced to withdraw from the group:

To whom it may concern,

Due to repeated infractions of agency rules, our agency has terminated the exclusive contract with KAT-TUN’s Koki Tanaka on September 30th. Despite Tanaka’s withdrawal from the group, KAT-TUN will continue activities with the other four remaining members; we would like to humbly request that fans continue to lend them support as always.

2013/10/09
Johnny & Associates

During his time in Johnny’s Tanaka was known to be a rebel of sorts and broke a number of rules on different occasions. Tanaka’s contract termination was made on the grounds of the “breaking of rules repeatedly.” After his contract termination, KAT-TUN managed to continue on successfully as four after losing not one, but two members (more on the other member later!). Where is he now? Needless to say, being kicked out of the company he was a part of for ten years must have came as a shock, regardless of his behaviors up until that point. Not one to be kept down, Tanaka continued working and kept in contact with fans. He opened an official Twitter account and went on to star in an independent movie.

Based on his Twitter account picture, his bad boy ways certainly haven’t changed.

Koda Kumi “Amniotic Fluids”
Back in 2008, a careless remark uttered by Pop Diva Koda Kumi as she hosted the radio show “All Night Nippon” after the topic of her manager’s marriage came up. Her controversial comment regarding when it’s best to have a child had everyone talking and led to a brief halt her entertainment activities.

“When women turn 35, their amniotic fluid goes rotten, so I’d like them to have a child by 35,” she said nonchalantly.

She was quickly replaced by Ami Suzuki on the radio show, promptly removed from her cosmetics deal with KOSE, promo events for her then new album ‘Kingdom’ were cancelled, and she took some time off to reflect on her words. That wasn’t the end of her career and she hasn’t suffered career-wise more than any other of her contemporaries.

Luckily she gave birth to her baby boy back in 2012 at the age of 31 before any “rotting” happened.

Minami Minegishi’s Head Shaving

Back in early 2013, AKB48′s Minami Minegishi was caught by the weekly tabloid Shukan Bunshun breaking the “no dating” rule imposed by the Idol industry.

After being demoted from her full-time member status down to a trainee, a video was then released with Minami sobbing and apologizing, stating that she did not want to leave the group.Why was this video viewed by millions and reported around the world? Had this just been about her staying the night over with her boyfriend, sure it would have been a “scandal” by Asia’s standards, but it’s what she did amidst the controversy is what made this so intriguing. On camera, she made the decision to shave off her long hair to show contrition for her “thoughtless and immature” actions, a traditional way to do so in Japan.

Her shaving wasn’t in vain though, and she was reinstated back into Team 4 and is still a member of the group to this day.

Erika Sawajiri “Bestu ni”

In September 2007, Erika showed up for a press conference for her new film Closed Note. She replied to all the media’s questions simply with a bored expression and a cheap blonde wig, saying “nothing in particular” and “betsu ni (nothing)”. When asked what her favorite scene was, she replied, “I don’t have any”. They asked how she felt while she was baking cookies for the director, and she said, “I didn’t feel anything”.

Everyone was outraged, her contract with Stardust was terminated, and she fled to London to study English or something.

Finally this year, she addressed it and doesn’t want people to worry about her. She has recently enjoyed success starring in Fuji TV’s ‘First Class’ (which was renewed for a second season, the fastest J-drama to do so).

Erika Sawajiri is the true comeback queen.

Jin Akanishi Shotgun Wedding to Meisa Kuroki
After leaving KAT-TUN to embark on his own solo career and even trying to make a breakthrough in the States, Jin Akanishi shocked the public by suddenly getting married to popular actress Meisa Kuroki, who was then two months pregnant with his child.

The two were officially married on February 2, 2012. Akanishi reportedly submitted the paperwork for marriage without informing the higher ups in Johnny’s, which is a big no-no. Fans and haters alike were shocked by the marriage and pregnancy, but none more so than his agency. Jin’s activities were subsequently frozen for a long period of time, leaving him essentially jobless with a pregnant wife.

His daughter Thea was born on September 23, 2012. After he was allowed to resume his activities, Akanishi managed to continue his career with success. In 2013 he released the single “What’s Up?’ and his album, #JUSTJIN. He then made his Hollywood movie debut in “47 Ronin” with Keanu Reeves.

In March of 2014, it was announced that Akanishi would not be renewing his contract with Johnny’s and Associates. He has since then continued to release music.

Kusanagi Tsuyoshi “Hadaka dattara nani ga warui ?!”
At about 3am on April 23, 2009, a drunken and naked Tsuyoshi Kusanagi was seen behaving recklessly in Hinokicho Park in Tokyo.

When police confronted him, he uttered the infamous line “Hadaka dattara nani ga warui?” or “What’s wrong with being naked?”. Kusanagi appeared at a press conference to publicly apologize, then disappeared from the spotlight for a bit. He soon thereafter re-appeared on SMAP’s variety show SMAPxSMAP and gradually resumed activities, albeit sober. This year, he also had his first drink of alcohol since the scandal on the same variety show at the request of Waratte Ii Tomo’s Tamori.

Kusanagi has since put the scandal behind him and has continued activities normally as a member of SMAP.

Mari Yaguchi Extramarital Affair
In 2013, former Morning Musume leader Mari Yaguchi was outed for having cheated her husband, Masaya Nakamura.

Details of how his husband found out are rather embarrassing. One day in February 2013, his husband came home and noticed that the sheets in the bedroom was messed up and it looked like it has just been used for sex. His wife was there pretty much naked and then he found model Kenzo Umeda hiding in their closet naked. Since then, she was living separately with her husband. Everyone was appalled and she got bashed by several celebrities. She got divorced, stopped all her entertainment activities by late 2013 and announced an ‘indefinite hiatus’ citing ‘poor health’.

Aside from some sightings, including one with Umeda, she has not appeared in public since or resumed entertainment activities.

Atsuko Maeda Drunk Night Out
Back in 2012, as soon as Atsuko Maeda graduated from AKB48 and was freed form the shackles of the idol industry’s ‘Love Ban’, she took advantage of it right away.

Within the first week she was photographed drunk off her behind after a long night of group-dating and karaoke with Rurouni Kenshin actor Takeru Sato. She was so gone that she had to be carried home like a princess, in tears. These started to become a little common for the post-AKB48 Maeda, and she was photographed more than once being a drunk mess. While I’m sure it’s normal to see people act like this after a night out, it’s always interesting to see a girl who was viewed as boring or vanilla by some be allowed break free from all the constraints that come with being an Idol and be a woman of her age.

Thinking about that, maybe it says a lot about Idol culture and how something this mundane can be “scandalous”. That’s the true injustice here tbh.

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