<figure id="attachment_260130" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-260130" style="width: 2374px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="d4226e3f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/08/aflo_149290750.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-260130" class="wp-caption-text">Hikaru Ota of &#8220;Bakusho Mondai,&#8221; whose comments about the &#8220;Unification Church&#8221; are causing controversy.</figcaption></figure>
 It was a talk of contrasts.
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 The &#8220;Unification Church issue&#8221; seems to have been unleashed on the world at large following the shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe by suspect Tetsuya Yamagami. Many entertainers and cultural figures have touched on this issue in their information programs, but two major celebrities presented different views on an information program broadcast on August 14, and the topic has become a hot topic.
 One was singer-songwriter Shigeru Izumiya.
 He appeared on Fuji Television&#8217;s &#8220;Wide Na Show. Although Prime Minister Fumio Kishida replaced seven ministers who had ties to the former Unification Church, seven new ministers in the reshuffled cabinet were revealed to have ties to the cult. Izumitani responded to this by saying
 These guys must be idiots. Their boss was killed, so why don&#8217;t they show their regret? It&#8217;s not just a matter of removing the people who were involved when the top boss was killed. There are a lot of people in trouble.
 He went on to expand on his own theory.
 In response to the heated media coverage of the former Unification Church, sociologist Kenju Furuichi said
 &#8220;If things get too heated, it will turn out the way Yamagami wants it to.
 In response, sociologist Kenju Furuichi said on TV
 What is this guy talking about? What the hell is he talking about?
 Izumitani said, &#8220;I don&#8217;t get it. Izumitani said.
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 Izumitani said, &#8220;It&#8217;s better to get heated up. You have to. We should make a fuss this time.
 He stressed, &#8220;We should make a fuss this time.
 We should make a fuss this time. Izumitani&#8217;s assertion was met with a lot of criticism on the Internet.
 If we don&#8217;t make a fuss now, when will we make a fuss? 
 &#8220;By making a fuss, it will also serve as a deterrent.
 The question is, if we don&#8217;t make a fuss now, when will we make a fuss?
 One person who is compared to Izumitani is Hikaru Ota, the &#8220;Bakusho Mondai&#8221; of TBS&#8217;s &#8220;Sunday Japon,&#8221; which is aired directly behind the &#8220;Wide Nasho. Ota was the subject of controversy for the following statement he made on the July 31 broadcast.
 The people of the bar association and Mr. Eight (Suzuki) have been saying that the use of force is not allowed. They have done this with words, but the suspect Yamakami used force and trampled on the actions of Mr. Eight and the people of the bar association over the past 30 years. Can we use what he did as a trigger?
 The media should be a little more aware of the fact that the trigger for this was terrorism. In short, people who are potentially dissatisfied with society are probably looking at this movement as if terrorism is effective.
 Although this theory is similar to that of Furuichi, Ota&#8217;s statement was criticized on the Internet as a &#8220;switch of argument. In response, he explained his true intentions in a broadcast on January 14.
 He said, &#8220;I didn&#8217;t say that we should stop discussing this, but that the lawyers must be very conflicted. This is just my guess, but I think the violence was the trigger, and it would have been better if it wasn&#8217;t.&#8221;
 I feel that the media and TV are doing this without hesitation. I feel that the media and TV are doing this without hesitation. We need to pursue this issue and at the same time convey with the same passion that Yamagami&#8217;s actions were not effective.
 Ota also appealed to the audience.
 Ota also spoke on TBS radio&#8217;s &#8220;Bakusho Mondai no Sunday&#8221; broadcast on January 14.
 Ota also spoke about religion and politics, or cults and general religions among religions. We have not had a chance to think about it. How should we separate the two?
 We have to think about what religion is from the very beginning, taking into account all the historical aspects. Something that is not generally black and white.&#8221;
 He was not as crisp as ever.
 Although Ota is known for his blunt remarks, he is actually known as a surprisingly serious man. An entertainment industry insider who knows Bakusho said
 Yuji Tanaka, his partner, is the one with the quirks. When interviewing people, Mr. Ota thinks about what the interviewee is looking for and makes usable comments in an instant.
 Mr. Tanaka&#8217;s comments depend on how excited he is on the day of the interview (laughs). Mr. Ota thought seriously about the old Unification Church issue, studied it seriously, and&#8230;I think that&#8217;s how he got into the thick of it.&#8221;
 He reveals, &#8220;I think that&#8217;s why he fell into a ditch.
 In a recent special program on the Upper House election, Ota shifted gears after being criticized for his radical words and actions in the last Lower House election. His tongue-in-cheek style has gone downhill, and he discussed politics with the candidates of each party in a rather straightforward manner.
 He said, &#8220;That&#8217;s exactly how Ota-san&#8217;s character is. If this one didn&#8217;t work, he tried that one. He is very serious.
 Most of the public was surprised at the unusual nature of the former Unification Church, which was the motive, not to mention the brutality of the Yamagami suspect, and were shocked to learn that he was deeply involved in the LDP, the largest ruling party in Japan. From this, a certain sense of crisis developed, leading in part to the current bashing of the former Unification Church.
 Izumitani expressed this area straightforwardly. Which position will Ota take as an MC for an information program? It would not be interesting if he were to take the same stance as others, but it would also be bad if he were to take an outlandish stance.
 The program also had to be fair. The position of Izumitani, a commentator, is different from that of the others. He may have decided on his position after much trial and error, but he is probably most embarrassed by the unexpected headwind&#8230;.

 Pasya/Afro

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