NHK Announcer Minoru Aoi Transferred to Fuji Station Amidst Troubles, Echoes of Past Issues Spark Concern of a Repeated Patterns
In the past, Aoi has been reported to have been involved in a number of relationships with popular announcers and to have "liked female announcers".
NHK announcer Minoru Aoi, 43, known as the “Prince of NHK,” will soon be leaving the station to become a freelance anchor of Fuji Television’s news program “Live News It! a Fuji Television news program, as a freelance newscaster.
However, Aoi suddenly left “News Watch 9,” where she had been the “face of the night” as an anchor, on January 17, the same day this report came out. A week later, on the 24th, it was reported that Aoi had received a stern warning from NHK in December of last year, and an atmosphere of uneasiness began to emerge.
However, he did not appear on “News Watch 9” from January 18, the next day, and when the media reported his resignation on the night of January 19, a strange atmosphere began to emerge.
Then, on the 24th, SpoNichi wrote specifically that Aoi had been an executive of several companies run by her relatives, and that she had received a stern warning from one of them in December of last year for receiving executive compensation from the company without reporting it to her superiors at the station. Aoi, is he going to be all right? Aoi, is he going to be all right? The fact that negative news about Aoi’s past is coming out at this time suggests that there are people who don’t think well of her,” said an entertainment reporter.
Aoi is a graduate of Keio University and the grandson of Tadaharu Aoi, the founder of the Marui Group, which is known for its department store business. Her brother is the husband of former popular freelance announcer Mai Yamagishi and the current president of a real estate company founded by Tadaharu.
The fact is, however, that he was in violation of the employment regulations, which require reporting. It is indeed bad for the anchor of the station’s flagship news program. It is believed that the fact that he had to deal with this matter in addition to the news that he was going freelance was the reason behind his sudden resignation.
Aoi joined the station in 2003, attracting attention with his 186cm height and handsome looks. After working twice at the Osaka Broadcasting Bureau, he became a newscaster for “News Watch 9” in April 2010. At the Tokyo Announcing Office, he also worked on “English Chat Night” and “Saturday Studio Park”. In her personal life, too, she married TV Tokyo ace Yuka Aiuchi (37) in 2010, although the exact date of their marriage has not been disclosed.
However, the recent revelation that he had been given a stern warning has led some to fear that he will follow the same pattern as his former colleague Junichi Tosaka (52), a freelance announcer known as “NHK’s Maro”.
Tosaka was also an ace NHK announcer, nicknamed “Maro” because of his gray hair and court noble-like speech and appearance, but he left the station in January 2006. Shortly after, it was announced that she would become the main anchor of Fuji Television’s evening news program “Prime News” starting in April of the same year, which caused widespread surprise.
Although there were high expectations for her at Fuji, she later had to unexpectedly withdraw from the program before its start due to reports of her past troubles with women. The station was shocked.
Aoi’s “It! Although her appointment had not yet been officially announced, it was either a “coincidence” or a similar situation to that of the popular NHK male announcer and Fuji Television, and her transfer to the evening news…. There are whispers of concern within the Fuji station that this could turn out to be the same “nightmare” as six years ago.
Aoi is also known as a popular man. In 2010, “Nikkan Gendai” reported Aoi’s alleged intimacy with Yuri Akimoto, then an announcer at Fuji Television Network, and in 2003, “Josei Seven” reported his date with Maki Mori, a former freelance announcer at NTV.
In February of last year, “Josei Seven” reported that NHK’s male announcer had an affair with a popular female announcer. In February of last year, “Josei Seven” reported that Aoi was “famous for liking female announcers. Therefore, after becoming a freelancer, he is likely to face more scrutiny about his “past,” which he does not want to have his past probed.
The concern about Aoi that has arisen within the Fuji station will continue until this spring, when she will successfully transfer to “It! This is a very important issue for Fuji. Currently, Fuji is in the process of discussing “It! (sports newspaper desk reporter).
(Sports paper desk) “Will the super-elite announcer be able to overcome the ‘headwind’ she is facing for the first time? The outcome of this case will determine the success or failure of her transition to a freelance career.
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PHOTO: Tetsuko Takemoto