Why Ai Hashimoto Chose to Speak Out About Her Past Harassment Experience Despite Facing Mixed Reactions

Jiro Sato’s Counterattack

The harassment controversy involving actress Ai Hashimoto (30) and Jiro Sato (57) is becoming increasingly complicated.

As widely known, the incident began during the filming of the April-season drama “Fufu Betsusei Keiji (Married Couple Separate Surnames Detective,” Fuji TV), when Sato touched Hashimoto’s chin as part of an improvisational performance.

Afterward, Sato was informed that Hashimoto had placed restrictions on physical contact due to past experiences of harassment. He visited her dressing room twice and told her directly:

“If physical contact is not allowed, you should not have accepted the role of a married couple.”

“You should not continue being an actor.”

“Bunshun Online” and “Weekly Bunshun” reported that a lawyer in charge of compliance at Fuji TV judged those remarks to constitute serious harassment. However, Sato, who was dissatisfied with that assessment, revealed details of his exchanges with Hashimoto’s side and criticized Fuji TV’s poor handling of the situation in the July 9 issue of “Weekly Shincho.” The dispute has now taken on the appearance of a bitter public feud.

Public opinion regarding the controversy is broadly divided into four camps.

The first is the view that, considering the fact that Sato entered her dressing room without an appointment and made remarks denying her career,

“It is only natural that this should be recognized as harassment.”

The second is the opinion that Hashimoto’s reaction was excessive.

The third is criticism of Fuji TV for a failure of supervision.

Finally, the fourth concerns questions about Hashimoto’s agency. Although the agency informed Fuji TV about her restrictions on physical contact before filming began, it left the decision of whether to tell Sato up to Fuji. After discussions between Sato’s manager and Fuji TV, they decided not to inform Sato himself. Critics have pointed out, “This was an important matter, so it should not have been completely left to Fuji TV.” Some people connected to Sato’s agency have also expressed the view that he should have been told directly.

“Various opinions are still circulating on social media. Among them, the abuse directed at Hashimoto on her Instagram has been particularly severe, forcing her to close the comment section,” said an entertainment reporter for a sports newspaper.

Amid all this, one thing that is easy to overlook is the background behind the emergence of these reports.

Hashimoto’s point about the General Divide

As mentioned earlier, the first reports came from “Bunshun Online and Weekly Bunshun.” Hashimoto writes a book review column for the magazine, but she has been taking a break from the column around the time of the harassment reports. A person connected to an entertainment agency explains:

“It would be impossible for ‘Bunshun’ to report on this without Hashimoto’s side knowing, given that she has a regular column with them. They likely followed proper procedures and had the necessary discussions before publication. What emerged as a result was Hashimoto’s past experiences with harassment, which she had never made public before. She gave the approval to proceed with the article despite knowing that it would become known to the public. I feel people are overlooking how significant that decision was for Hashimoto’s side.”

The person suggests that it would have been possible to report on the controversy without revealing Hashimoto’s past experiences with harassment, and that her willingness to make them public demonstrates her resolve.

In September 2022, when Hashimoto served as an ambassador for the 35th Tokyo International Film Festival, she spoke about the Japanese film industry as follows:

“The biggest issues are harassment and working environment problems. Having experienced many film sets myself, there are many things I have thought about. The thing I feel most strongly is the generational divide. I think it is wonderful that older generations value and protect what they have built over the years, take pride in their achievements, and approach filmmaking with dedication. However, at the same time, there is a lack of willingness to properly listen to the voices of younger people. I think it is important for both sides to make a greater effort to listen to each other.”

This time, Sato has acknowledged making the remark that Hashimoto should not continue being an actor, while also expressing consideration for her past experiences. This very statement reflects the values of the older generation and conflicts with the kind of environment Hashimoto hopes to create.

According to Fuji TV’s second statement, Sato had expressed an intention to apologize, but that opportunity was overtaken by the “Bunshun” report that emerged just as he was preparing to do so. The entertainment industry source mentioned earlier lamented:

“Mr. Sato’s side has still not withdrawn the statement or issued an apology. I don’t think anything good will come from this escalating further.”

When will this controversy finally come to an end?—