TOKYO, Jan 23, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - One of Japan's biggest pop stars and best-
known TV hosts, Masahiro Nakai, announced his retirement Thursday over sexual 
misconduct allegations, reports said, in the latest scandal to rock Japan's 
entertainment industry.

Nakai's announcement comes after now-defunct boy band empire Johnny & 
Associates admitted in 2023 that its late founder Johnny Kitagawa for decades 
sexually assaulted teenage boys and young men.

Nakai was a member of the now-disbanded SMAP -- part of Johnny & Associates's 
lucrative stable -- that swept the charts in Japan and across Asia during the 
band's nearly 30 years of fame.

Reports emerged last month that Nakai, 52, who since the demise of SMAP has 
become a successful television host, had paid an unnamed woman a lump sum of 
90 million yen ($570,000).

The allegations concern a 2023 encounter with the woman that leading tabloid 
magazine Shukan Bunshun said involved a closed-door setting and a "sexual act 
against her will".

This month, Fuji Television suspended a weekly show hosted by Nakai while 
other major networks also dropped the presenter.

On Thursday local media quoted a statement from Nakai to his paid fan club 
saying he was stepping back from show business altogether.

Nakai said he had "completed all discussions with TV stations, radio 
broadcasters and sponsors regarding my termination, cancellation, removal and 
contract annulment," the Mainichi newspaper said.

"I will continue to face up to all problems sincerely and respond in a 
wholehearted manner. I alone am responsible for everything," Nakai reportedly 
said.

AFP was not immediately able to confirm the announcement with Nakai's agency, 
and the star's website was overwhelmed with visitors.

- 'Outraged' –

Nakai issued a statement published in local media earlier this month 
apologising for "causing trouble" and saying some of what had been reported 
was "different from the facts".

He said then he had been quiet on the matter so far due to confidentiality 
obligations but acknowledged that a settlement had been reached "through the 
agents of both sides".

Fuji Television has also come under fire over its handling of the affair, 
with dozens of top brands including Toyota and McDonald's pulling their 
adverts from the broadcaster.

On Thursday its shares were down 7.8 percent.

Shukan Bunshun and other outlets have alleged a Fuji TV executive was 
involved in organising Nakai's meeting with the woman.

Fuji TV has denied those claims but said last week it was probing the matter 
after a US activist investor said it was "outraged" by the company's lack of 
transparency.

Fuji's president Koichi Minato held a press conference on Friday but declined 
to discuss details of the allegation.

The news conference drew additional criticism because only a small number of 
media were invited and no video was allowed.

Minato also drew ire by only announcing an internal probe to be carried out 
by a committee that was yet to be formed.

Other TV channels have announced their own investigations into whether 
similar events between celebrities and women had been organised.

On Tuesday Nippon TV said that it would look into "whether there were any 
'inappropriate sexual contact during meals, etc' at production sites and 
elsewhere".

TV Asahi on Wednesday said it has conducted interviews and concluded there 
were no instances of "inappropriate conduct".

- Denunciations –

Music mogul Kitagawa, who died aged 87 in 2019, had for decades sexually 
assaulted teenage boys and young men seeking stardom, his agency finally 
acknowledged in 2023.

Allegations about Kitagawa swirled for decades but it was not until that year 
that they ignited calls for compensation following a BBC documentary and 
denunciations by victims.

Japan's showbiz industry was then rocked by another bombshell sexual assault 
scandal involving Hitoshi Matsumoto, one of the country's most popular 
comedians.

In November, Matsumoto said he was withdrawing a libel case against the 
Shukan Bunshun magazine that published the allegations, including that he 
forced oral sex on one woman, and forcibly kissed another.