<figure id="attachment_458022" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1065px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-458022"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="5b615703"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/6936f8860b8186098f8869341f2cef35.jpg" alt=""></a>Suspect Hayato Nakano being sent to prosecutors. He faced forward steadily, showing no change in expression.<figcaption id="caption-attachment-458022" class="wp-caption-text">
<h3 data-start="112" data-end="175">A former visual-kei band member accused of sexual misconduct</h3>
<p data-start="177" data-end="598">At 9 a.m. on February 13, Nakano Hayato (36) appeared at the transport gate of the Mukojima Police Station. Reporters waiting aimed their cameras and relentlessly flashed strobes at him, trying to capture his face and expression. Yet Nakano did not avert his gaze or change his expression, walking straight ahead. His bare, makeup-free face was starkly different from the image of him on stage or in promotional photos.</p>
<p data-start="600" data-end="822">The Mukojima Police announced on the 12th that Nakano, a former visual-kei band vocalist from Nishinomiya, Hyogo, now unemployed, had been arrested on suspicion of demanding obscene images and non-consensual sexual acts.</p>
<p data-start="600" data-end="822"><strong>“In September 2025, Nakano allegedly sent a message via SNS saying ‘I support you’ to a 14-year-old girl living in Tokyo. He allegedly asked her to exchange contact information on the condition that she would ‘send explicit photos showing your face every day.’ Knowing she was a minor, he allegedly made her send 3–5 nude images. In October, he is also suspected of committing lewd acts at a karaoke venue in Koto Ward. The case came to light when the girl and her mother consulted the police that same month.</strong></p>
<p data-start="600" data-end="822"><strong>Nakano partially denies the allegations, claiming he thought she was a high school or college student. Regarding making her send images, he stated, ‘As a band member, I am more well-known than the average person, and I didn’t want my personal information exposed, so that was the condition for exchanging contacts.’”</strong> (National newspaper social affairs reporter)</p>
<p data-start="1706" data-end="1909" data-is-last-node="" data-is-only-node="">Nakano was reportedly the vocalist “Sui” of the visual-kei band Gozen Reiji. The stark difference between his on-stage persona and his bare-faced appearance after arrest surprised many on social media.</p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="The band ended its activities five years ago."></div>
<h3>Supported by core fans</h3>
<p data-start="26" data-end="412">Online, Nakano’s claim of being more famous than ordinary people also drew criticism, with comments like, <strong>“Your fame level is F at best.”</strong> A veteran band member in the visual-kei scene reportedly dismissed him bluntly, saying, <strong>“’More famous than ordinary people’? Nobody even knows who you are,”</strong> according to Tokyo Sports Web. So what kind of activities was Nakano involved in?</p>
<p data-start="26" data-end="412"><strong>“The predecessor to Gozen Reiji. was a band called Shinitagari, active for a limited 103 days starting May 23, 2018. At a live performance on September 2 of that year, marked as the band’s anniversary of death, the launch of Gozen Reiji. was announced.</strong></p>
<p data-start="26" data-end="412"><strong>The concept, created by Sui—who had been diagnosed with a mental disorder—was a realistic depiction of modern darkness, with a visual image featuring a bloodied girl illustration. The music video for the song Ayashite?, released September 23, came with a warning: “The following content may include topics of suicide or self-harm.” Despite this, it reached 100,000 views in three months, indicating a core fanbase.</strong></p>
<p data-start="26" data-end="412"><strong>They performed live in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and other cities, but activities were suspended on March 31, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The band never resumed and officially announced its end on April 11, 2021.”</strong> (Music industry source)</p>
<p data-start="1353" data-end="1585">Most live shows were in venues with around 200-capacity, supported by passionate fans. Had the band continued longer, it might have attracted a larger following. What was Nakano doing in the nearly five years since the band ended?</p>
<p data-start="1353" data-end="1585"><strong>“It seems he continued activities as a singer, but details are unclear. According to online boards, he also streamed on TwitCasting, asking for tips in a domineering tone and selling Polaroid photos. Many fans were young and had little money, so he probably didn’t earn much.”</strong> (Same source)</p>
<p data-start="1883" data-end="2076">Online forums reportedly included many posts expressing frustration at Sui—Nakano—not resuming his activities. With this recent incident, the day of any resumption is now even farther away.</p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="[Image] Nakano, a suspect who has changed drastically since his Visualkei days"></div>
<figure id="attachment_458024" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1065px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-458024"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="49835c5e"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/934fbb841524e2dc345d5360918a9a1d.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-458024" class="wp-caption-text">Bare-faced appearance at the time of being sent for prosecution. The drastic change from his visual-kei band persona “Sui” became a topic of discussion.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_458026" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1065px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-458026"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="24381a07"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/87b892c161c43e5ebe6de027b0be7e3f.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-458026" class="wp-caption-text">Reportedly had a domineering style on TwitCasting.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_458027" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1065px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-458027"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="d14d90e1"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/a25b788f5edbda20595c3f01cf2fdf2c.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-458027" class="wp-caption-text">Suspected of demanding obscene photos from a female fan.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_458023" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1366px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-458023"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="3ff89856"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/93c1e71b0d013e82cd389feb9ac24b17.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-458023" class="wp-caption-text">“Sui” from Gozen Reiji.—a dark character reportedly diagnosed with a mental illness by a doctor (from Gozen Reiji.official X).</figcaption></figure>


 Shinji Hasuo

 On January 12, a 36-year-old man was arrested on charges of demanding that a 14-year-old junior high school girl send him indecent images and having non-consensual sexual intercourse with her. He was the former vocalist of a visual-kei band.

Ex-Visual Kei Singer Demands Sexy Photos from 14-Year-Old Girl

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