“I Never Thought He’d Screw Up Right from the Start…” The “Crisis Management Myth” of “timelesz” Member Shuto Inomata, Shattered by a Sudden Arrest

To hide the members’ contact information…

Shuto Inomata (25), who joined “timelesz” last February, was arrested on suspicion of assault for hitting a female acquaintance and causing her injuries. As of September 28, details remain unclear, and concern is spreading among fans.

“The incident occurred around 10:30 p.m. on September 18. He is suspected of striking a female acquaintance (26) in the face multiple times with his hand inside a car parked in the parking lot of a convenience store in Tatsumi 3-chome, Koto Ward, Tokyo, causing her injuries.The woman sought help from a convenience store clerk, and Inomata, who was arrested by police officers who rushed to the scene, stated, ‘We got into an argument, and I panicked. I might have hit her with my hand.’ Following the arrest, STARTO ENTERTAINMENT announced that Inomata would be suspending his activities.” (Social Affairs Reporter, National Newspaper)

Inomata joined the group “timelesz” after participating in the new member recruitment audition program “timelesz project -AUDITION-” (exclusively streamed on Netflix, commonly known as “Type-Ro”). Her “airheaded” persona was beloved by both members and viewers.

On the other hand, there were also voices praising Inomata’s crisis management skills.Last summer, during a live Instagram broadcast, it was revealed that Inomata had added the prefix “wa” to the beginning of her members’ names when saving them in her phone contacts. When she explained, “That way they appear at the very bottom of my contacts, so they’re easy to find,” Fuma Kikuchi (31) pointed out that “a” would suffice.

Inomata countered, explaining that if she used “A,” the contact information for the “timelesz” members would be immediately visible to others when she opened her phone book.

He was even self-conscious about walking with a relative of the opposite sex

“When previously unseen footage from the variety show *Nika Game* (TV Asahi), in which Inomata is a regular cast member, was released online, his exceptional ‘crisis management skills’ became a hot topic.After joining the group, the conversation turned to whether he’d heard from people he hadn’t been in touch with before, and Inomata confessed, ‘When I started auditioning, I changed all my contact information.I changed all my phone numbers, too.” He added, “It was a matter of being mentally prepared, I guess, to take the auditions…” Takashi Nikaido (36) of *Kis-My-Ft2*, a senior at the agency, was thoroughly impressed, saying, ‘That’s amazing~’” (ibid.)

“In a group discussion featuring new members Daiki Shinozuka (24) and Masaki Hashimoto (26), published in *Nikkei Entertainment!” (Nikkei BP, January 2026 issue), Inomata expressed his determination, saying, “I don’t want to disappoint the people who support me, and I don’t want them to get the wrong idea.”

For example, he said he fears being photographed in a “couple-like” pose with a woman who happens to be walking next to him when he’s out alone. He revealed that while he used to get along well with his cousin and often went to shopping malls with her, he’s recently become afraid to even meet her, and even when going out with his mother, he finds himself wondering, “Will this be okay?”

That’s precisely why on social media,

“Shuto, who deleted his contact information, thought about risk management, and was even careful about walking with female relatives—and yet he ended up committing an assault against a woman…”
〈Who would have thought that Shuto, who took such proactive steps to manage his own safety, would be the first to mess up…〉
“He was so thorough with risk management—he even deleted all his contacts before appearing on ‘Type-R’—and he must have truly cherished the group. This is a far cry from how he appeared to his fans,”

Fans were left bewildered.

On the evening of September 25, Inomata was released from the Tokyo Bay Area Police Station and bowed his head before the press, saying, “I am truly sorry for what has happened.” Will the day ever come when the full truth of the incident is revealed?