Taichi Kokubun of TOKIO is going on indefinite hiatus effective as of today, according to a statement released by his management company TOKIO Inc. The reason for this action is due to a compliance violation, with the actual violation not being disclosed.
Taichi’s bandmate and company president Shigeru Joshima said in the statement, “We have discovered that Taichi Kokubun, one of our talents, has violated compliance regulations, and after discussing this with him, we have decided to suspend all activities indefinitely, effective June 20, in order to encourage him to reflect deeply on his actions.” He added that there is no end date for this hiatus at this time.
Taichi apologized for his actions, saying, “I would like to sincerely apologize for the great inconvenience caused to all those involved and to the fans who continue to support me regarding this matter. The cause of all this is a lack of awareness of the position that I am in after many years of activity, my naivete, and complacency, as well as my inadequacy in my actions. I will be suspending all activities indefinitely and taking time to reflect on myself. Once again, I would like to apologize for the inconvenience caused.”
STARTO ENTERTAINMENT, which has a contract with Taichi via TOKIO Inc., said that they received a request to suspend his activities as of today.
Earlier today, it was announced that he would be stepping down from hosting the Nippon TV variety show “The! Tetsuwan! DASH!!”, which resulted in network president Fukuda Hiroyuki holding an emergency press conference on the matter. Nippon TV didn’t comment on Taichi’s actions which caused this situation in an effort to protect his privacy.
