<figure id="attachment_356000" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-356000" style="width: 525px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="9ddd6e8e"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/01/f5d86fc8bedf751f4722e064b2788934-5.jpeg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-356000" class="wp-caption-text">Downtown&#8217;s Hitoshi Matsumoto has had a string of &#8220;accused women&#8221; come forward. Yoshimoto Kogyo&#8217;s initial response has been criticized. &#8230;&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
 Yoshimoto Kogyo recognizes that this is an issue that should be handled with the utmost sincerity.
 Yoshimoto Kogyo&#8217;s response to the &#8220;Downtown&#8221; Matsumoto Hitoshi issue has clearly changed.
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 When the &#8220;Shukan Bunshun&#8221; first reported the issue on December 27, 2011, the company stated on its official website
 The article was extremely damaging to the social reputation of the celebrity in question and defamed his reputation.
 and announced that legal action would be considered.
 In the document released on March 24, the company began with an apology for the series of disturbances,
 In the document released on March 24, the company apologized for the series of disturbances and then changed its position, stating, &#8220;Recently, we have come across an article reporting that several women who participated in a meeting allegedly involving our talent have suffered emotional distress, even though it was a private act, and we recognize that this is an issue that we should take seriously.
 The company has now completely changed its view. On top of that
 We are in the process of interviewing the parties involved and confirming the facts.
 The company then went on to say, &#8220;We are in the process of confirming the facts. The company is &#8220;interviewing&#8221; Matsumoto himself as well as the junior comedians who were reportedly involved in gathering women.
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 I have the impression that Yoshimoto has finally realized the gravity of the situation. When the report was released last month, Matsumoto himself was furious, and the company responded in kind. The company responded by declaring legal action in harsh terms.
 Subsequently, Bunshun&#8217;s second and third arrows were released, and the scope of the issue expanded beyond &#8220;whether or not sexual assault occurred&#8221; to include the governance aspect of whether or not Matsumoto had a system for &#8220;paying up&#8221; to women. Yoshimoto has been doing business with the government after the past family turmoil. Next year, there will be an Osaka Expo. Since taxpayers&#8217; money is being invested in the project, the company must have thought that it would be required to be accountable to the government.
 In fact, the document states
 In fact, the document states, &#8220;We have been working to ensure compliance and strengthen governance.
 On the 23rd, in response to the Governance Committee&#8217;s recommendation, the company announced that from now on all employees, including not only the talent but also all group companies, would be required to &#8220;raise awareness of the dignity of the individual&#8221; and to &#8220;strengthen the company&#8217;s daily operations.
 In response to the Governance Committee&#8217;s recommendation on the 23rd, he stressed the need for education and training to raise awareness of the dignity of the individual and to prevent harassment on a daily basis.
 He stressed the need to &#8220;raise awareness of personal dignity and provide education and training to prevent harassment on a daily basis.
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Finally, some accusers with real names..."></div>
Although it is highly questionable how the &#8220;initial mistake&#8221; could have occurred when a governance committee was in place, there is no doubt that Yoshimoto was at least &#8220;on the defensive.
 I think there is a part of Yoshimoto that underestimated Bunshun&#8217;s coverage. According to an insider at Bunshun, they had been working on Matsumoto&#8217;s story for a long time. People around him say it was for sales purposes, but it seems that he put out the story in full force&#8221; (another sports newspaper reporter).
 In the issue released on the 25th, a former TV personality confesses her victimization by Matsumoto, using her real name and face. This woman, who was anonymous in the previous issue, again confesses her real name in the current issue.
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 Some people on the Internet said, &#8220;It&#8217;s a rehash,&#8221; or &#8220;Isn&#8217;t the story dead? However, lawyer Hiroshi Kiyohara, who appeared on the TBS program &#8220;Gogosuma&#8221; on the 25th, said, &#8220;It was 18 years ago.
 &#8220;It was 18 years ago, so it&#8217;s hard to say whether it will be the subject of a trial or not, or whether it will have any impact or not.
 He said, &#8220;I can&#8217;t say whether it will be the subject of a trial or whether it will have any impact.
 &#8220;I think it is a serious thing that they reported it with their real names and faces.
 He also said, &#8220;I think it&#8217;s important that we reported it with his real name and face.
 Currently, Bunshun is reporting the accusations of &#8220;H-ko,&#8221; or as many as eight women. Kiyohara also commented on this.
 Kiyohara also pointed out, &#8220;If there are more cases in the future, I will not be able to say that this is a lie.
 Kiyohara pointed out. A reporter for a sports newspaper followed suit.
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 In order to avoid being called delusional or crazy by the accused women, Bunshun is supplementing its credibility with third-party testimony. For example, in the case of the first accuser, Ako, her boyfriend appeared and explained the situation at the time. In the case of the former celebrity, her own mother testified that her daughter was like this at the time.
 This could be adopted as very strong evidence in court. I am sure they are carefully discussing this with their legal advisors and legal department.&#8221;
 Now that Matsumoto has officially filed the lawsuit, it is likely that stories that will give a tailwind to the lawsuit will be dropped for a while, but according to an insider
 &#8220;Bunshun is not only thinking about Hitoshi Matsumoto.
 However, according to an insider, &#8220;Bunshun is not thinking only about Hitoshi Matsumoto. Is the uproar still &#8220;just the beginning&#8221;? The upheaval in the comedy world is likely to continue.

 Yasuko Sakaguchi

 Downtown's Hitoshi Matsumoto has been hit by "two arrows" and "three arrows" from Bunshun as accusers appear one after another. Yoshimoto Kogyo, the company that was supposed to protect him, has begun to change. ......

The &#8220;Initial Mistake&#8221; of Yoshimoto and the &#8220;Careful Preparation&#8221; of the &#8220;Long Interview&#8221; on the Hitoshi Matsumoto Issue.

The “Initial Mistake” of Yoshimoto and the “Careful Preparation” of the “Long Interview” on the Hitoshi Matsumoto Issue.

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