Which one of you is the guardian? Bargaining” started between Shochiku and Ennosuke Ichikawa’s agency as the “X-Day” nears.

The response to the incident involving kabuki actor Ennosuke Ichikawa has been divided.

On May 23, Ennosuke’s agency, K-Factory, released a statement on its official website regarding the harassment report in the “Josei Seven” magazine. Ennosuke was found collapsed at his home in Meguro, Tokyo, on May 18, along with his father, Danshiro Ichikawa, and his mother.

The parents passed away and Ennosuke was rushed to the emergency room, but has now been discharged from the hospital and is being interviewed by the police. The police are investigating the case as a family suicide attempt by Ennosuke, but there are many puzzling aspects in the motive and the situation at the scene.

The official website describes the series of incidents as follows

The official website explains, “There have been a number of news reports about the incident since the other day, and the authorities are still responding to the situation.

He also explained that the company is working carefully with Shochiku to understand information from various sources. Regarding the reports of harassment

We have interviewed several managers who have been involved with Ennosuke, and no such facts have come to light at any of the workplaces under our jurisdiction.

He denied it. Regarding the circumstances surrounding the visit of the female manager to his home on the 18th, he said, “We have been talking to the mass media in conjunction with the release of the weekly magazine.

We are pleased to inform you that we were planning to accompany her on a trip between her home and the Meijiza Theater in order not to inconvenience the residents in the neighborhood, as we anticipated that the press and media would be visiting her home in time for the release of the weekly magazine.

The press release went on to say.

In a nutshell, the statement emphasized that “there was no harassment” and that the office was handling the situation appropriately. As expected, the Internet was abuzz with comments such as

《Then why did you let this happen?

If it is not true, why don’t you just sue us?

On the other hand, there were a number of opinions that the Kabuki entertainment company was not in the best position to take action against the Kabuki company.

On the other hand, Shochiku Co., Ltd. which operates the Kabuki theater, posted a letter on its official website on March 24. On the other hand, on June 24, Shochiku, which runs the Kabuki-za theater in Tokyo, announced that Ennosuke would be absent from the daytime performance of “Keisei Hangonkou” (June 3-25) and that Nakamura Ichitaro would be cast in the role of Ennosuke.

However, we would like to refrain from commenting on the situation while it is still being clarified, and from explaining the background of our response to the situation.

The company commented, “We are very sorry that we are unable to give you a full explanation of our actions. A person involved in the entertainment industry commented

K-factory is in a position to investigate the truth together with Shochiku. If one side says that there was no harassment and the other side says that it is still under investigation, it may give the wrong impression to the public. I think they should have made their announcements in line with each other.

I think they should have announced their position in line with each other,” he said.

The reason why K-factory clarified its position as soon as possible may have something to do with the issue of “penalty fees” that may arise in the future.

NHK has already cancelled the reruns of the historical drama “Fu-Rin-Kazan” and last year’s “Kamakuradono no 13-nin,” both of which starred Ennosuke, and “Emergency Room the Final” starring Yuki Amami is scheduled to open on June 16, but the incident has begun to affect some of the promotional activities of the film.

The film’s promotion has been affected by the incident. “They have not yet decided whether or not to release the film as scheduled, but if Mr. Ennosuke is arrested, the film will have to be put on hold,” said Mr. Kikuchi. If so, the production cost of about 100 million yen will be lost, and the film itself will become “controversial.

Since the K-factory side stated earlier that ‘there was no harassment in our jurisdiction,’ Shochiku may be held responsible if the harassment is later found in an investigation.

In a statement issued by Shochiku on March 18, Shochiku also stated that Ennosuke “is not in an employment relationship. It is safe to assume that behind the scenes, bargaining has begun over who is to be held responsible for Ennosuke.

The authorities are also concerned about the situation. A reporter from the society section of a national newspaper commented

The police are less forthcoming with information than before. It seems that there is a blur in Mr. Ennosuke’s testimony. If he was a person who tried to kill himself with his own will, I don’t think the area would be so blurred. …… It seems that the Investigation Department is not only looking into Mr. Ennosuke’s statement, but is also investigating the situation at that time from various angles.

He says, “I don’t think that the case itself is being made into a movie.

In fact, the case itself could have been made into a movie.