Iconic Japanese filmmaker and comedian Takeshi Kitano says the country's entertainment industry has always tended to treat performers as commodities, with its traditional hierarchical structure often facilitating abuse of power.
Japan's public broadcaster NHK announces a list of singers who will perform in its year-end live music show, omitting artists from what used to be Johnny & Associates Inc. after the male talent agency admitted to decades of sexual abuse by its late founder.
The public relations firm that organized a press conference for scandal-hit male talent agency Johnny & Associates Inc. admits that it had drawn up a "blacklist" of certain journalists not to be called on to ask questions.