He tearfully said, ‘I’m sorry,’ and ‘I’m glad we met.'”
NTV has been refusing to allow TV personality Taichi Kokubun (51) to hold a press conference to seek “answers” for his noncompliance. The one who reached out to him was Masahiro Matsuoka (48). The friend with whom he has shared many hardships reveals for the first time his complicated feelings toward Kokubun and NTV. …… Exclusive photos] Losing weight and growing gray long hair… The drastically changed appearance of “Mr. Masahiro Nakai” ****.
I had been communicating with Mr. Kokubu frequently by remote, but I felt there was a limit to what we could do remotely, so I told him, ‘Let’s talk over dinner at my place. He refused, saying that it might bother him, but I thought it was not the time to say such a thing. So we talked about various things at my home while he ate my home-cooked food, such as stir-fried vegetables. I told him that I was sincerely sorry for what had happened and that he had no choice but to accept it. He must also create his own path from now on–that’s what we talked about. I guess he felt relieved after meeting me in person, because he tearfully said, ‘I’m sorry and thank you,’ and I was glad that I met him. It all started on June 20 of this year, when Nittele President Hiroyuki Fukuda (64) held an emergency press conference. He claimed that Kokubu had committed several compliance problems, and that he had been involved in the “TOKIO” flagship program “The! DASH! DASH! However, the specifics of the compliance violations were not disclosed, and Kokubu was stuck with the situation and lost all of his regular TV programs. As reported in this magazine (“Shukan Shincho”), Kokubu, who was cornered, later submitted a “petition for human rights relief” to the Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA). Furthermore, on November 26, Kokubu himself called a press conference to demand that Nittele “answer” the allegations of compliance violations, but Nittele did not change its stubborn stance, and at a regular press conference on December 1, President Fukuda coldly stated, “There is no need to answer the question. At the press conference, I think he also said that ‘Shigeru Jojima and Matsuoka-san will continue to appear in “Tetsuwan DASH. Since President Fukuda’s press conference on June 20, neither Jojima nor I have received any explanation from NTV. In the midst of all this, they said, “You will continue to appear in the program. Of course, we are very grateful. However, I cannot help but wonder whether or not NTV has anything to do with our decision to appear or not. If they are going to ask us to continue to appear in the show, it would be normal for them to give us some kind of explanation as far as they can, but they have not done so, and the filming is continuing.