Tamura Kenji’s Image at Risk After Partner’s Fraud Arrest

While expanding his business, it seems that his “business partner” was involved in suspicious activities.

On July 9, Yoshiaki Ishihara (41), an executive of GC, a company that operates restaurants such as “Lemon Horu Sakaba” and “Yaki Nabe Niku Tamura” produced by comedian Kenji Tamura (51), and Hideaki Fujimoto (60), president of “FUJI Juset,” were arrested..

 

Ishihara is suspected of generating money through dubious means due to financial difficulties.

 

According to the police, the two are suspected of conspiring in 2020 to deceive three leasing companies into believing they were only contracting with them for kitchen equipment like refrigerators, ultimately defrauding them of approximately 87 million yen.

Fujimoto is accused of selling the same equipment, including refrigerators, to three leasing companies, then supplying and installing them at Ishihara’s stores. Ishihara allegedly paid lease fees while receiving kickbacks from Fujimoto, who sold the equipment to the leasing companies.

The scheme was uncovered because Ishihara failed to pay the lease fees. Since February of this year, the three leasing companies have filed criminal complaints.

“Ishihara took over his father’s business in Nagasaki in 2015 and successfully managed Tamura’s yakiniku brand. In 2018, he launched online sales for the restaurant.

While the physical stores suffered during the pandemic, online sales saw a significant boost. Since Tamura is nine years older, Ishihara was seen as a ‘junior’ to him.” (restaurant magazine writer)

For Tamura, who is currently in the U.S., Ishihara would have been a reliable business partner to trust with work.

“Police suspect that Ishihara may have committed similar crimes at other restaurants he managed. There is also a possibility that Tamura’s restaurants might have been involved in fraudulent activities, though this is not confirmed.

However, since Tamura is living in the U.S., it is unlikely that he was directly involved in the case. This news probably came as a complete surprise to him.” (TV industry insider)

Tamura has been under an agent contract with Yoshimoto Kogyo since January 2020. At that time, Yoshimoto officials had been concerned about a certain issue.

“It seems Tamura was dissatisfied with the distribution of his fees at the time, which led to multiple discussions before settling on an agent contract. Yoshimoto has since placed a high priority on anti-social checks and thoroughly investigates business dealings, especially following the ‘dark business’ scandal.

Since Tamura expanded into the food industry, compliance checks became even more crucial. However, by changing to an agent contract, Tamura had to handle these checks personally, which is a challenging task.” (Yoshimoto Kogyo official)

With an arrest among his business partners, Tamura faces inevitable image issues, even though he is not directly involved.

“It has been reported that Tamura Kenji may have orchestrated a situation during a drinking party with Matsumoto Hitoshi, called ‘Tamuken Time,’ where he allegedly tried to arrange for women to be alone with Matsumoto. Tamura has denied ever using the term ‘Tamuken Time’ and has stated on his radio show that he never directed women towards Matsumoto to form couples, rejecting any accusations of wrongdoing. However, with the recent arrest of his business partner, his image might suffer.”(TV station source)

 

Now living in the U.S., one wonders what Tamura thinks of his business partner’s arrest from afar.