<figure id="attachment_414067" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 5472px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-414067"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="ebbdae82"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/02/18fc2a6a1086d481cf42d92eccd5ac07.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-414067" class="wp-caption-text">Former Fuji TV President Koichi Minato and former Chairman Shuji Kano announcing the establishment of a third-party committee at a press conference.</figcaption></figure>
<h2>The contents of the sexual harassment within the station that he had spoken about 12 years ago</h2>
While Fuji TV is shaken by the ongoing scandal, former announcer Yutaka Hasegawa (49) has been drawing attention.
On February 1, he appeared on businessman Takafumi Horie’s (52) YouTube channel in a video titled &#8220;[Emergency Discussion] &#8216;There is a Tribute Culture at Fuji TV&#8217;—Former Fuji Announcer Yutaka Hasegawa Criticizes the Distorted Structure Created by Hisashi Hieda.&#8221; The video has surpassed 7.2 million views as of February 18.
Hasegawa expressed his gratitude on X:
“7 million views in 10 days—I&#8217;m honored. I sincerely appreciate everyone who watched. Thank you once again, Takafumi Horie, for this valuable opportunity!”
Meanwhile, inside Fuji TV, reactions have been less than welcoming, with voices saying:
&#8220;At a time like this… give us a break.&#8221;
Fuji&#8217;s upper management is reportedly furious about Hasegawa’s one-sided &#8220;revelations.&#8221; Online reactions have also been mixed, with some calling it a publicity stunt and others criticizing him for not speaking up while he was still employed.
However, this is not the first time Hasegawa has criticized his former workplace.
After leaving Fuji in 2013, he exposed the network’s internal sexual harassment issues in an interview with Tokyo Sports, an interview that has now resurfaced in light of recent events.
At the time, a major sexual harassment scandal involving a Nippon TV producer and a female caster had made headlines. According to the July 18, 2013 issue of Tokyo Sports, when asked about Fuji TV&#8217;s situation, Hasegawa immediately responded:
“(Fuji TV) is much worse than that!”
He specifically named a former program producer, referred to as X, and accused him of harassing multiple female announcers, stating:
“He groped their chests all the time.”
Furthermore, he alleged:
“Every female staff member who worked on a program with X was subjected to it.”
“One staff member had his hand slipped under her skirt, then moved up to her chest and groped her.”
Hasegawa&#8217;s past revelations now seem to align with the current Fuji TV scandal, adding further scrutiny to the network’s handling of misconduct allegations.
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="The existence of &quot;sacrifices&quot; assigned to certain departments..."></div>
<h2>The girls are frequently sent out to drink with the executive class</h2>
In a certain department, it is said that every year, an exceptionally cute new employee joins the company.
&#8220;That girl is secretly called a sacrifice and is constantly sent out to entertain clients. The sexual harassment is really awful. Disgusting.&#8221;
Hasegawa&#8217;s testimony&#8217;s truthfulness is unclear, but it is certain that he has been aware of issues with his former company’s corporate culture for at least ten years.
Currently, Fuji is in the midst of an independent investigation conducted by external lawyers. They are widely seeking information from both regular employees and external staff regarding whether any incidents similar to the troubles involving former talent Masahiro Nakai (52) occurred. It is also reported that the second phase of the investigation will examine Fuji’s corporate culture.
&#8220;The external hotline announced on February 10 is, for some reason, limited to incidents from April 2016 onward. If Hasegawa were to provide information, it would be dismissed as past the statute of limitations. Around 2016, Fuji seemed to be in a particularly chaotic state, so I don&#8217;t understand why they specifically set &#8216;April 2016&#8217; as the cutoff. I get the argument that &#8216;there’s no end if we go too far back,&#8217; but the culture that has persisted until now was fostered during that time. There are still doubts about the appropriateness of setting a timeframe, and I believe they should thoroughly investigate even beyond March.&#8221; (Commercial TV network official)
April 2016 coincides with the resignation of announcer Ayako Kato (39), known as &#8220;Kato-pan,&#8221; from Fuji. She stepped down from Mezamashi TV on April 1 of that year and left the company at the end of the month.
A TV industry insider notes:
&#8220;When Kato was with Fuji, I heard that she and other female announcers were frequently taken to drinking parties with executives. Under the current investigation criteria, the drinking parties before 2016, where Kato and others were brought along, would be excluded from the scope of the investigation.&#8221;
The independent committee aims to publish its findings by the end of March, leaving only a month and a half. Given the need to compile, verify, and conduct interviews based on the gathered information, some voices are already raising concerns that &#8220;there isn&#8217;t enough time.&#8221;
A talk show insider warns:
&#8220;A press conference is a must when announcing the results. If the content is too lenient, it could lead to more than 10 hours of intense questioning, just like last time.&#8221;
Fuji TV’s ability to self-regulate is now under scrutiny.

 Kazuhiko NAKAMURA

 The third-party committee set up by Fuji Television aims to announce its investigation at the end of March. The committee will investigate cases similar to the Masahiro Nakai issue as well as corporate culture and other matters, but the deadline for the investigation is April 2016 or later. ......

Yutaka Hasegawa Exposed Workplace Harassment 12 Years Ago—Fuji TV’s Investigation Cutoff Under Fire

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