<figure id="attachment_407620" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-407620" style="width: 1299px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="ee327039"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/01/24c34a1eafdf6d32b105a972557a42c9.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-407620" class="wp-caption-text">Nakai addressing a press conference on his independence in 2008; his steadfast position as an MC is now long gone. He is said to be emaciated and unable to eat.</figcaption></figure>
<h2> A national star is in hiding with a &#8220;very thin and stubble&#8221; look on his face.</h2>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Why is this happening to me &#8230;&#8230;? Give me a break. &#8230;&#8230;</span></p>
<p> On January 6, late at night, &#8220;The! (NTV) late at night on January 6, Masahiro Nakai, 52, appeared at a policy meeting and bemoaned his exhaustion. The aura of a &#8220;national star&#8221; had completely vanished from his appearance, as he had lost a lot of weight and his stubble had grown uncontrollably.</p>
<p> Following the revelation of Nakai&#8217;s &#8220;90 million yen trouble with a woman,&#8221; a number of his regular TV programs have been postponed or cancelled, and commercials in which he appears have been replaced. The only remaining regular terrestrial program, &#8220;Sekai Ooten News,&#8221; had a meeting at the beginning of the program, and all scenes featuring Nakai were cut from the program. Nakai literally disappeared from TV.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> The series of broadcast postponements and recording cancellations were apparently at Nakai&#8217;s request. All the stations are taking the stance that the next broadcast is undecided, but in effect, it is treated as a resignation, and there is little chance of his return. No sponsor would tolerate sexual trouble. Nakai seems to be mentally ill and has been moving from one apartment to another in Tokyo as if he is hiding in the clouds. I hear that he has been making more and more comments implying that he is going to retire.</span></p>
<p> Criticism is also directed at Mr. A, a senior programming executive who is said to have introduced the victim to Nakai and arranged a dinner party at Nakai&#8217;s home, as well as at Fuji Television Network, where he works.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Fuji Television has categorically denied that &#8216;the said employee was not involved in any way, including the setting up of the meeting,&#8217; but there is no concrete explanation as to whether they confirmed the facts with Nakai. There are fears within the station that this may have been an act of courage to protect Mr. A, who is remembered fondly by President Koichi Minato (72)! Bakusho Hit Parade&#8221; live on air. In front of him, Hikaru Ota (59) of &#8220;Bakusho Mondai&#8221; asked, &#8220;Who is Producer A? Hieda,&#8221; and &#8220;Come out, Hieda! The onsite staff was on edge.</span></p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" A source at a production company said, &quot;When we directly confronted the &#39;Don of Fuji Television,&#39; we found out..."></div>
<h2>Nakai disappeared, and that was it.&#8221;</h2>
<p> In an attempt to get to the bottom of the matter, FRIDAY rang Mr. A&#8217;s cell phone and home phone multiple times, but both calls were simply forwarded to voicemail. We directly contacted Fuji Television&#8217;s Don Hiedahisa Hieda, 87, who was named by Ota, but he was adamant: &#8220;I don&#8217;t know what I don&#8217;t know.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> He said, &#8220;We have already paid a huge settlement, there is no criminal case against us, and we are a person of merit for the TV station. Moreover, all of them call in female announcers and female station employees to entertain VIPs. The stations are not going to pursue Nakai, and they will probably try to settle the matter without punishing the person in charge.</span></p>
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<p> The executive continued, &#8220;Nakai will disappear and that will be the end of it.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> There are unconfirmed reports in the media that there are several other victims and some weekly magazines are already surrounding him, so he is too scared to make new offers. He hasn&#8217;t been active in music or acting for a long time, so there will be no demand for him in that genre. Even if he were to do work related to his life&#8217;s work, professional baseball and Samurai Japan, he has little hope because his sponsors are national clients. According to a person in the entertainment business who is close to Nakai, &#8220;He has a deposit in the ten-figure range,&#8221; so he would have no trouble making a living even if he retired. There is a high possibility that he will &#8220;go out of business.</span></p>
<p> Nakai once said on his radio program, &#8220;I&#8217;m almost 50 years old. Nakai once said on his radio program, &#8220;I&#8217;m almost 50 years old. This future is about to come true in a way he never expected.</p>
<figure id="attachment_407624" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-407624" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="269a0fc5"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/01/651556097c1df7f1be852ee86bddc226.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-407624" class="wp-caption-text"> Fuji Television has not held a press conference, and it is hard to say that they are fulfilling their accountability. A senior executive of an entertainment company pointed out, &#8220;There may have been some optimism that he would be forgotten after the new year.</figcaption></figure>
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<p> From the January 24/31, 2025 issue of FRIDAY</p>
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 Masahiro Nakai has been forced to postpone or cancel regular TV programs and replace commercials in which he appears, following the revelation that he is in trouble with a woman who has paid him 90 million yen in settlement. Criticism has also been directed at Fuji Television Network, which has maintained that it "doesn't know about it...

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