Houka Kinoshita Keeping His Silence About His Sexual Assault Scandal and is Greatly Affecting His Agency

One of Japan’s best-known playwrights is in a “crisis of life” as an actor.

The March 24 issue of Shukan Bunshun reported accusations by two actresses that they were sexually victimized by Hoka Kinoshita.

The story began with Bunshun’s earlier report on the “sexual assault” of actor and film director Hideo Sakaki. Bunshun reported that there were a total of nine women, from A to I, who claimed to have been victimized by Sakaki. After interviewing Ms. H and Ms. I, it was learned that they had also been sexually abused by Kinoshita.

Mr. Sakaki and Kinoshita have a close friendship, and Kinoshita has appeared in seven of Sakaki’s movies and dramas. It is suspected that he shared a woman with one of his “friends.

Kinoshita would call Ms. H and Mr. I to his home and force them to have sexual relations with him on the pretext that he would give them acting lessons or introduce them to famous directors. Kinoshita allegedly targeted actresses in their twenties and forced them to have sexual intercourse with him.

Bunshun and other media have contacted Kinoshita’s office to confirm the facts, but they have not received a single reply. There has been no response or apology, so it is a state of “nothing. However, it seems that the people at the office were concerned about how the Bunshun report would be handled by those in the TV industry who were close to them. There is no doubt that they are aware of the flood of inquiries from the media and are daring to ignore them.

Is it the right response to continue to keep silent despite the fact that a well-known actor who has appeared in morning dramas and historical dramas has been named as a “sexual assailant”?

A source involved in the entertainment industry says that the “stand-still” strategy of the agency is a “double-edged sword.

If the person himself neither denies nor confirms, we cannot confirm the fact, so the sports papers and television broadcasters cannot report the news properly because they do not have enough background. In a sense, the damage has been minimized because many people do not read online articles.

But that is only in the immediate future. If she continues to not even deny it, Ms. Kinoshita’s image will be damaged, and her future work will certainly be affected. Many TV stations and people involved in the industry are “thinking twice” about associating with a talent or agency that ignores such a situation. When the heat dies down, there is no place for them to return to.

Overseas, the “#MeToo” movement has erupted after a 23-year prison sentence for sexual assault by a film producer and others. Women who had cried themselves to sleep because of the sensitivity of the issue rose up one after another and filed lawsuits.

Sexual assault and sexual harassment are global social problems. If Ms. Kinoshita, whose face is well known by many people from children to the elderly, is facing such allegations, she needs to take action immediately, such as holding a press conference or making a comment. Deciding to ignore them is not the way to go about it.

If it is the agency that is taking the lead, I wonder what they think of their “social responsibility” for appearing on TV as entertainers… They may be in the process of interviewing people right now, but I still wonder if they will take any action. We should send out some kind of message.

The Sakaki and Kinoshita cases can truly be called Japan’s version of the #MeToo movement. There is a possibility that the number of victims’ reports will continue to grow in the future. If there is something to deny, something should be done before that happens.