Teruyuki Kagawa’s “Toyo Times” dropout raises the name of a “surprising candidate” to replace him.

Actor Teruyuki Kagawa (56) was reported to have sexually assaulted a hostess at a high-class club in Ginza, including stripping off her bra. In response to this, the media companies all moved to take action at once, and it was announced on the 1st that Kagawa had been dropped from the TBS information program “THE TIME,” for which he was the MC, and he apologized in a recorded appearance the next day.

In addition, the sponsors of the commercials in which Kagawa appears announced one after another that they would discontinue the program and would not use her in their next commercials. The decision was taken by Alinamin Pharmaceuticals, Toyo Suisan, Suntory, and a number of other major companies, all of which took Kagawa’s actions seriously.

However, Kagawa has a different “heavy responsibility” from the commercials of other companies. The PR project, which has been running as an owned and operated media outlet since 2007, has appointed Kagawa as its “editor-in-chief” and has also been running a series of articles on its website. However, Kagawa’s term of office is expected to expire at the end of the year.

An advertising agency official said, “‘TOYOTIMES’ is a series of articles about Toyotsu.

Toyo Times” is a project that President Akio Toyoda has been working on for years. Akio, who does not trust the mass media, started the project with the strong intention of ‘sending out information on our own. Although it is presented as Toyota’s own media, it is a ‘Dentsu project,’ and Dentsu employees are deeply involved in its operation.

Toyota tends to observe developments at other companies before making a move, and in the case of Kagawa, each company responded with considerable speed. There was no room to defend the sexual assault, and the companies must have decided that continuing to use him would damage their brand image.

The Toyotimes, which is becoming established as the new axis of Toyota’s brand strategy, was forced to drop its “public face” due to the scandal. The search for Kagawa’s successor has already begun. Who will be in the spotlight? A former TV Asahi announcer, who was a member of the “Kagawa family,” is said to be in the spotlight.

Former TV Asahi announcer Yuta Tomikawa (45) has been mentioned by many people. Tomikawa established his own private office in April of this year, and at the same time announced that he would work as a journalist for Toyota. Although he has not been involved in any significant activities for a full five months since joining Toyota, it is a good time for him to appear on the stage as a “stand-in” journalist.

However, this may not be the case, considering that this is a ‘Dentsu deal’. Dentsu tries to revamp its image at once when a commercial character is dropped or something.

Mr. Tomikawa also has a precedent of being criticized for continuing to appear on “News Station” during his TV Asahi days despite being suspected of having been infected with corona, and it remains to be seen whether he will be able to become a presence that can wipe out the negative image of this case.

When it comes to changing the impression of the company, it is more likely that advertising planners will suggest a big-name female celebrity. It may be a cheap shot, but big names such as Christel Takigawa (44) may be tapped if the “editor-in-chief” framework is retained, and Masami Nagasawa (35) may be tapped if it is completely revamped.

The question of whether TOYOTIMES should continue to exist or not is probably the most vexing issue facing President Akio at the moment.