Unusual Sexual Violence Warning Made by NHK’s Morning Broadcast Receives Criticisms

“Please watch at your own pace. If you feel uncomfortable during the program, please stop watching it.”

The unusual call was made on NHK’s “Asaichi” broadcast on December 6.

 

The voice was led by announcer Nahoko Suzuki of the same station. Next to her were Hakata Kanamaru & Daikichi.

Normally, the audience would be excited by the morning drama reception of “Boogie Woogie,” but this day was different. The reason was that the program featured sexual violence.

The program introduced the cases of victims of sexual violence that had been collected through a questionnaire survey, and again Suzuki spoke. 

“The reason why we decided to feature this project this time is because of the issue of sexual assault by Mr. Johnny Kitagawa. The issue has been frequently reported in weekly magazines, and in 2004, the Tokyo High Court ruled that he had sexually assaulted a minor. We regret that we did not fulfill our role as a media outlet in the face of so many minors being victimized.”

This is not the first time NHK’s morning program has covered sex. Even so, on social networking sites, there were comments such as

“Too heavy in the morning.”
“What is the significance of the content?”
“Why do you have to do it at this time of the day?”

 

 

NHK is the most “aggressive” in its response to the issue of Johnny’s sexual assault, and has announced that it will not use any of the former Johnny’s talents in the program unless compensation work is completed.

For the first time in 44 years, Johnny’s did not appear at the NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen on New Year’s Eve.

“The reason NHK is so adamant is that it is financed by the public’s subscription fees. The issue of Mr. Johnny’s sexual assault is attracting international attention, and as a public broadcaster, it is required to take a firm stand.”

“Unlike commercial broadcasters, NHK does not need to pay attention to its program sponsors. To put it another way, they think that it is inevitable that viewer ratings will worsen by not using former Johnny’s celebrities.” (TV station insider) 

Nevertheless, until this issue arose, NHK had been in close contact with the former Johnny’s office.