Jiro Sato’s Block Becomes New “Fuel”… Social Media “Battle Outside the Ring” Heats Up Over “Harassment Scandal” with Ai Hashimoto

Jiro Sato’s “Block”

The “harassment scandal” involving actor Jiro Sato (57) and actress Ai Hashimoto (30) continues to spread. While the incident itself appears to be dying down, there is no sign that the “ideological battle” waged by bystanders will subside.

It all began on the set of Fuji TV’s Monday 9 p.m. drama *Detective: Married Couples with Different Surnames*, when Sato casually touched Hashimoto’s chin while ad-libbing. In fact, Hashimoto was an actress with restrictions on physical contact.

Upon learning this later, Sato stormed into Hashimoto’s dressing room. Because he made remarks urging her to retire from acting, Fuji TV deemed it “harassment.” The sequence of events was reported by *Shukan Bunshun*, and subsequently, *Shukan Shincho* published an interview in which Sato presented his counterarguments.

It has been a little over a month since the scandal broke.

While the story has completely disappeared from talk shows and related media coverage has plummeted, unusual developments continue to unfold on social media. According to a sports newspaper reporter covering the entertainment industry:

“People have been analyzing Ms. Hashimoto’s past comments on LGBT issues and have labeled her a ‘feminist.’ In contrast, anti-feminist groups have rallied to support Ms. Sato, and a battle is unfolding where they clash over their ideologies—all without the two women even being aware of it.”

Roughly speaking, the dynamic is “Sato = right” and “Hashimoto = left.” Furthermore, it has recently come to light that Sato herself blocked writer and columnist Seira Fujii on X, adding new fuel to the fire in that “circle.”

On July 19, Ms. Fujii posted on X:

“Jiro Sato, are you serious? I read your monologue interview in *Weekly Shincho* and wrote an article based on its content,”

. The screenshot of Sato’s account profile that she attached clearly shows that he has blocked her. The following day, July 20, Fujii posted on X:

“While the initial ad-libbed chin-touch might have been unavoidable, the two subsequent unannounced visits to the dressing room were a no-go. I wrote an article suggesting that the post hinting at 160 million views might have served as a ‘dog whistle’ for Ai Hashimoto,”

It appears that in response to this article, Sato blocked Fujii, the author.

I did a search for my own name,

This is where it gets complicated.

“People supporting Ms. Sato are exposing Mr. Fujii’s background and past statements on political issues, cheering her on with comments like, ‘It’s only natural to block him’ and ‘Ms. Sato, you’re the best.’ On the other hand, there are also opinions questioning whether Ms. Sato’s tendency to block people so readily is appropriate,”

said the sports newspaper reporter mentioned earlier.

Sato has over 2.2 million followers and wields significant influence. While this might be acceptable under normal circumstances, he is currently at the center of a storm due to the incident with Hashimoto. In response to Fuji TV’s cold treatment of him amid the uproar, he posted on X:

“Why does Fuji TV side so heavily with just one party? It’s disappointing,”

“I truly don’t want anything to do with Fuji anymore,”

. The next day, he apologized for some of his remarks, issued a correction, and declared on X, “This will be my last post,” announcing his departure from the platform—though he has effectively resumed posting.

In an interview with this site, a television industry insider commented:

“Mr. Sato has been doing ego-searches for some time now; he’s the type who cares about how he’s perceived online. Even during this recent controversy, his emotional posts stood out. While there were voices questioning his digital literacy and people advising him to ‘step away from social media for a while,’ he never let go of it,”

Sato’s on-set manager is young, and his agency reportedly does not pre-screen his posts.

Before he knew it, Sato had come to be treated as a sort of “standard-bearer” for anti-feminism. While that in itself seems likely to affect his image as an actor…

The “battle outside the ring” stemming from the dispute with Hashimoto shows no signs of settling down anytime soon.