After TOKIO’s sudden disbandment on 25 June 2025 following Kokubun Taichi’s indefinite hiatus from 20 June due to reported compliance violations, Matsuoka Masahiro faced the press for the first time on 27 June 2025 and answered their questions for about 20 minutes. This was done outside the Tokai City Arts Theater after his rehearsal for the stage play “Kaseifu no Mitazono THE STAGE Les Mizera Furo” which will be held on 28 and 29 June.
Matsuoka was the first ex-TOKIO member to speak out openly on these issues and here are the key points as gathered from various sources:
- Matsuoka was dressed in a black T-shirt and brown pants and wore a cap and glasses.
- He started off by apologising again to sponsors, everyone in Fukushima Prefecture, fans who had been supporting TOKIO for the past 31 years and all associates who they worked with in various programmes for the situation. With the liquidation of Kabushikigaisha TOKIO, they are in the midst of settling contracts with sponsors and various work parties following the disbanding of the band. Once everything is settled, the company will be officially shut down.
- With regard to why the decision was made to disband in just 5 days after Kokubun’s issue came to light, this move was made to limit the impact and inconvenience caused to their work associates and fans to the minimum. Matsuoka and Joshima Shigeru i.e. Leader met up in person on 24 June to reach the decision and called Kokubun on the spot to convey this.
- Matsuoka admitted that when he and Leader saw the NTV press conference which exposed Kokubun’s issue, they came to the realisation that they wouldn’t be able to protect TOKIO nor work using this name anymore. Honestly speaking, Matsuoka’s first thought was “not again, how many times has this been?” and also felt embarrassed because the band already had two members leave due to different reasons. In fact, when they set up Kabushikigaisha TOKIO, that was done with the understanding that if ever any one of the trio had to leave for any reason, that would mark the end of TOKIO. While it was a painful decision to make, this was a move which could not be avoided given the circumstances. While it was a cowardly and shameful manner of how TOKIO came to an end and they all felt really sorry to their fans, he stressed that this was something that they didn’t want to do but had to go ahead with it.
- When asked if there is a possibility that Matsuoka and Leader could meet fans again in person via other formats in future, Matsuoka said that assuming if they are forgiven for what happened in the future, they might be able to do something. However, at this stage, there is nothing they can really do and it is not in their position right now to even think about sounding fans on how they feel towards this kind of proposition.
- As for the current condition of Kokubun, Matsuoka revealed that he was in the doldrums and feeling remorseful for what happened. He also felt that Kokubun himself would have wanted more than anyone else to talk about what happened in front of the media because the latter is a man with a strong sense of responsibility. However, it was unlikely that Kokubun would be able to say anything even if he appeared in public given the confidentiality restriction so Matsuoka decided to be the one speaking up instead. This was also because Matsuoka was the PR director for their company.
- Although Kokubun kept apologising to him and Leader, Matsuoka didn’t think that this wasn’t an issue which could be brushed off easily. When he and Leader told Kokubun about the decision to disband TOKIO over the phone, all Kokubun could do was to apologise repeatedly. Considering that they had spent 36 years of their lives together, Matsuoka recounted that he had never heard Kokubun sound like that before. And since they are no longer band mates, he doesn’t think that whatever he says now would matter to Kokubun anymore.
- When asked about the relationships between the 5 ex-TOKIO members including Nagase Tomoya and Yamaguchi Tatsuya who left for their own reasons, Matsuoka felt that they each had their own ways of showing their love for the band. While they have not spoken to one another on this matter, he believed that Nagase and Yamaguchi would both have their own perspectives on this situation. Matsuoka and Leader did not contact Nagase and Yamaguchi on this and vice versa.
- As for his relationship with Kokubun going forward, Matsuoka said that although they have become ex-band mates now, he doesn’t think that this will mean the end of their longtime friendship even though he knows very well that there may be people who won’t look on this favourably. He and Leader are still contacting Kokubun time to time recently for business matters only.
- As for the question whether Matsuoka knew what Kokubun had done, he said that it was meaningless to pursue the reason for what led to this state of things. If asking for the answer to what Kokubun did would help salvage the situation, Matsuoka would do so but to him, dealing with the present situation matters more than delving into what caused it.
- Due to the privacy protection measures, nobody including Leader and him and their staff members knew what had exactly happened and when the problematic actions took place. However, in response to media rumours that this may be related to DASH-mura, Matsuoka said that this was untrue.
- With regard to recent media reports suggesting that Kokubun had engaged in bullying of fellow TOKIO members, Matsuoka denied this vehemently and stressed that there was absolutely no bullying within the group. He said that he was bewildered when he heard about such media reports and lamented how the unfounded rumours of late have been fueling lots of ridiculous theories that are going around.
- When asked if Leader and Matsuoka would continue visiting and interacting with Fukushima Prefecture which had deep and longtime ties with TOKIO, he said that they would definitely do so.
- As for the individual career plans of him and Leader, Matsuoka said that they are focusing on their respective projects on hand and the procedures to end their company for now. After the dust has settled and they take time to consider their options, they will then announce that in due course. The two of them will also be speaking to their 4 employees to find out their preferences and take the responsibility to secure re-employment for them if they wish.
Sources:
Sponichi Annex
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/a6d7cfd2fa3c7d722cb9333bc41c124ece0d56fe
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/cfcbd95946174ec9c162c4c3422a902e414da068
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/0f45db33fd028ec35e4f62684bbe9a7f4f860ad9
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/0f45db33fd028ec35e4f62684bbe9a7f4f860ad9
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/40625553bb52f66f7bbd28356699e698592b53e7
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/037d6dbc428b96cec81236178ed58934c294ced2
TV Asahi News
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/d040ed97ce97e6166c990214a65c61cb3bd90586
NTV News
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/4f4ffae8bad555bf49ed24ac56f1a7c414754c8f
Daily
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/2ea07d3097d296b46bfea42088559bfe8f4f68c4
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/b62d0e57b684559b89086d324e62d6844d958990
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/e51140f4dba2b604f49eb42e5123f04a88cb107b
Tokyo Sports
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/8816f08545c58604ff77e1a5d67bb9305b477971
2 comments:
It's so weird the station don't publish the violation. And Matsuoka didn't condemn Kokubun like how he did with Yamaguchi.
That's made me think that things maynot what it seems.
The so-called privacy restriction - who does it benefit anyway? Kokubun, the victim(s) - assuming there are victims, the other parties involved in this matter or NTV itself? If Mabo and Leader who are the ones suffering from the bulk of the negative impact due to Kokubun's actions can't even be told about what happened, it makes me wonder why.
I wouldn't say that Mabo did not condemn Kokubun in the same way as Yamaguchi. Rather, if he did not understand the nature of the situation and the extent of what Kokubun did, how could he have reacted in the same manner? However, with Yamaguchi, the TOKIO members all knew that he had a drinking issue and whatever he did back then was a criminal act so it was a clear-cut issue of wrongdoing.
Post a Comment