Japanese newscaster involved in another scandal
Well, I say “another” but in the sense that this woman has form with this particular thing! Various news feeds are reporting that Norwegian/Japanese newscaster and tarento, Mona Yamamoto (see below), has been caught at a love hotel with Yomiuri Giants baseball player Tomohiro Nioka over this past weekend. The problem is that Mr Nioka is married and with a 1-year old son. Back in 2006, Miss Yamamoto was dropped by TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System) back in 2006 when she was found to be having an affair with DPJ politician, Goshi Hosono. She managed to salvage her career but it will be interesting to see what comes of her after this setback. Amusingly, one of the employees of the love hotel has told Asahi News that Miss Yamamoto is apparently a regular customer there! Well, when you find one good love hotel I guess you just keep going back…
Last night her co-presenter, Toshihiro Ito, gave the following announcement on their show:
“We have made a decision to let Mona Yamamoto leave the program temporarily after receiving a request from Yamamoto herself and her agent Office Kitano. We believe this is a reasonable decision. Although we started Sakiyomi last week with high expectations, we feel embarrassed by such a scandal. We will make efforts to make a better program which is credible for our audience.”
This story initially caught my eye for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I’m surprised she wasn’t disbanded by the production company immediately after something like that happened, a la Kago Ai. Not that I’m saying she deserved it; her job as a TV announcer and her private life are 2 completely separate (as they are with everyone) as far 
as I’m concerned. It’s certainly not going to affect her work as a TV announcer. Secondly though, all of the emphasis has been put upon Miss Yamamoto. Granted, as I said, she does have form in liking attached men. Last night they showed a re-run of an episode of the very amusing and sometimes controversial (well as much as Japanese TV gets) show, London Hearts. She was a guest on the show and commented that she liked, “dangerous men or men that play around”. Indeed! But I am digressing. Absolutely nothing else has been said of Nioka and the responsibility for what has happened is being placed solely with Yamamoto. Now I am sure this is partly because the Yomiuri Giants PR machine has been called into action to deflect everything away from their players. It should be noted that the Japanese baseball players in the Japanese baseball league are viewed in very high regard and I don’t recall any scandal concerning one of them to have been extensively reported in the mainstream media here in Japan. But with any scandal like this, in Japan the blame will invariably be placed on the woman involved, whether she is the single one, or the one who is married. I am sure this is just in keeping with the male-dominated society and hierarchy that still continues in Japan. It’s getting a little better here, but I think they are still 15-20 years behind most Western countries with regards to sexual equality in this nature. I remember back to the David Beckham/Rebecca Loos alleged scandal a fair few years back now and the flak that Beckham had to take from people.
Just thought I’d share another story from here in Japan with you to pass the time.
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