The Enka Singers And The Gangsters

[Mulboyne]

The weekly magazine Shukan Shinchou recently reported that a group of enka singers, named as Takashi Hosokawa, Nobue Matsubara, Hiroshi Kadokawa, Kiyoshi Nakajo and Akira Kobayashi, took part in a golf competition in the company of gang members. NHK has just announced that it intends to suspend any programming it has scheduled with the singers. The broadcaster hasn't indicated how long it intends to maintain the suspension but the Asahi speculates that the singers may not be invited to perform at the high profile Kohaku song special. One of the group, Hosokawa, has already appeared 32 times on the show. The golf party took place last month in Shizuoka prefecture and was held to celebrate the birthday of a gang boss. Four of the singers went on to attend a party held after the competition. Kobayashi has said that he received no money but recognizes that, as a public figure, it was inappropriate to attend and so he will also be suspending appearances. Matsubara has also confirmed taht he has cancelled upcoming engagements.

[kurohinge1]

The weekly magazine Shukan Shinchou recently reported that a group of enka singers . . . took part in a golf competition in the company of gang members. NHK has just announced that it intends to suspend any programming it has scheduled with the singers. The broadcaster hasn't indicated how long it intends to maintain the suspension . . .

Not being a fan of enka, or gangs, this really is a win-win situation.

[Greji]

TThe broadcaster hasn't indicated how long it intends to maintain the suspension but the Asahi speculates that the singers may not be invited to perform at the high profile Kohaku song special.

Unless, there is some unannounced reason, this probably will not be a long suspension. These type of yakuza/entertainer events occur all of the time. The usual excuse used by the entertainer is that "my agency arranged it and I had no idea who would be there, although I did find it strange that they all had tattoos and no little fingers".....

The yak's pay big time for famous entertainers, sports figures and any famous public figures to attend or perform at their events, so even though they make big news headlines, the average Hashimoto Swartz on the street doesn't pay a lot of attention to it. The Japanese pro baseball record for the highest number of times caught at Yak sponsor events/golf matches has to be held by Kiyohara, who used to hit the weeklies about once a month for a Yak golf event, or "seen exiting a love hotel" shot.

[Takechanpoo]

to celebrate the birthday of a gang boss

This boss is Goto Oyabun, who was operated in UCLA.

Kobayashi Akira got married with Misora Hibari by order from Yamaguchi-gumi 3rd Oyabun Taoka Kazuo.
Kitajima Saburo, who live in Hachioji, have thick link to Yamaguchi-gumi, too.
These things is not susprising to most of Japanese.
Because the relation between Enka industry and Yakuza is a public secret.

[bolt_krank]

Am I the only person that doesn't give a shit.
What did they actually do that was bad ?

[Yokohammer]

Am I the only person that doesn't give a shit.
What did they actually do that was bad ?

Associating with the underworld is a big social no-no.
Even though politicians do it, and the police do it ... but it's always the entertainers that get shafted for doing it.

[kurohinge1]

. . . What did they actually do that was bad ?

Crimes against humanity

(for the enka).

[Greji]

Am I the only person that doesn't give a shit.
What did they actually do that was bad ?

When they passed the so-called ominbus crime bill about 15 years ago, it was supposed to control the gangsters access to certain public areas. That brought us the no tattoo rules for the public baths and so forth, but over than bathing it is still pretty much business as usual for the yaks.

[TFG]

Enka, conservative Japanese Alien Shit.
Hang en All!

[Mulboyne]

Enka, conservative Japanese Alien Shit.

I'd love to see a photo of Jero teeing off with the kumicho.

[Iraira]

Unless, there is some unannounced reason, this probably will not be a long suspension. These type of yakuza/entertainer events occur all of the time. The usual excuse used by the entertainer is that "my agency arranged it and I had no idea who would be there, although I did find it strange that they all had tattoos and no little fingers".....

The yak's pay big time for famous entertainers, sports figures and any famous public figures to attend or perform at their events, so even though they make big news headlines, the average Hashimoto Swartz on the street doesn't pay a lot of attention to it. The Japanese pro baseball record for the highest number of times caught at Yak sponsor events/golf matches has to be held by Kiyohara, who used to hit the weeklies about once a month for a Yak golf event, or "seen exiting a love hotel" shot.

Completely agress with what you said, but he spells his name "Hashimoto Schwartz"

[Greji]

Completely agress with what you said, but he spells his name "Hashimoto Schwartz"

Oi vay! Don't tell me that it's him too?.......

[Behan]

But does NHK have the right to take the high moral ground?

[Mulboyne]

Japan Zone:

...According to Jake Adelstein, a former police reporter who has also written for Shukan Shincho and does consultation work for foreign firms in Japan, the kumi-cho in question is Goto Tadamasa (photo left, courtesy of japansubculture.com), head of the Goto-gumi, a Yamaguchi-gumi organized crime group with over nine hundred and fifty members. Goto is considered to be the wealthiest and second most powerful boss in the Yamaguchi-gumi, which with 40,000 members (National Police Agency [NPA] figures) is the largest organized crime group in Japan. He also obtained a liver transplant at UCLA in 2001, after making a deal with the FBI to share information in exchange for a visa.

Goto's connections to the entertainment industry are well-known. In 2007, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department accidentally leaked onto a file sharing network a list of Goto-gumi's front companies. Included in the list was Burning Productions, one of Japan's biggest talent agencies and production companies. In December 2007, the NPA and the Organized Crime Control Bureau Section Three of the TMPD asked the National Association of Commercial Broadcasters to cease and desist relationships with organized crime members and affiliated entities. Burning Productions was not listed in the letter that was sent to the association but detectives in the TMPD assert that this was understood.

"NHK's ban on singers who have associations with organized crime members represents a major change in the Japanese public's attitude toward organized crime. NHK is a quasi-public entity, and the decision may also reflect the Japanese government taking more of a non-tolerance policy towards the yakuza and those that associate with them," says Adelstein. Adelstein has posted an English translation of a NPA file which discusses Goto's entertainment industry connections, on his site.

I think it is true that the media is becoming less tolerant to gang connections but NHK has suspended performers before as Greji mentions above.

[Mulboyne]

Japan Zone: Kobayashi Akira Kicked Out of PGA for Yakuza Links

Actor and singer Kobayashi Akira (69) has been kicked off the Japanese pro golf tour following his recent partying with an organized crime boss. As reported here earlier this month, Kobayashi and four other top enka singers were revealed to have taken part in a golf event to celebrate the birthday of Goto Tadamasa, a top yakuza gang boss, and attended a party afterwards. The five have already been banned from appearing on public broadcast network NHK, and it seems the media are finally clamping down on the ties between celebrities and gangsters that have been known for decades but rarely mentioned. Kobayashi, a keen golfer for many years, was given an honorary PGA membership and officially became a pro on the senior tour last autumn. He took part in four events, but will not be allowed to do so anymore