Shukan Bunshun Corrects Article on Nakai Scandal, Offers Apology

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:35 JST, January 29, 2025

The editorial department of Shukan Bunshun, a weekly magazine, has published a correction online for an article that appeared in its Dec. 26 issue. The article said that an employee of Fuji Television Network, Inc. played a role in a scandal involving former TV personality Masahiro Nakai and a woman.

The woman, referred to as Ms. X, was originally reported to have been invited to a dinner by a Fuji TV employee, referred to as Mr. A. However, the correction offered a different story.

“Subsequent investigation found that Ms. X was invited [to the dinner] by Mr. Nakai and that she understood this as an ‘extension’ of [another] party that Mr. A had arranged,” the correction read. “We apologize for the error and amend our previous reporting.”

The online article adds that “immediately before the incident, Mr. A took Ms. X to a barbecue at Mr. Nakai’s home,” and says “The fact that Mr. A was involved in the incident remains unchanged.”

On Tuesday, Fuji TV’s public relations department released the following statement: “Since the article was first published, we have consistently maintained that the employee in question was in no way involved in the dinner party during which the incident was reported to have occurred, including in the arrangement of the party, that he was not even aware of the party’s existence, and that it is not true that the employee had a sudden absence on the day. We have informed the publisher of these facts.”

The statement went on to say, “We’ll leave the matter to the investigation that will be carried out by a third-party committee.”