Kazunari Ninomiya recently attended a press conference in Tokyo for his first new book, "Dokudan to Biyon" (Shueisha), which will be released on June 17th. Ninomiya, who will be going independent in the fall of 2023 and starting his own agency, explained why he mentioned the late Johnny Kitagawa in the book.
"Doctrine and Prejudice" is a book in which Ninomiya, now in his 40s, talks freely about what he has thought up until now and what he is thinking now. His longtime friend and editor, Nozomi Noro, conducted the interview, and he faced a total of 100 questions on the theme of 10 four-character idioms.
In the book, Ninomiya was asked "Who would you most like to meet right now?" and he named Johnny Kitagawa, referring to the series of problems with Johnny & Associates, saying that he "wants him to sincerely apologize" for ruining the agency. When asked why, he revealed, "Basically, most of the people I want to meet are no longer in this world. If they were still in existence, I think I'd be able to meet them somewhere, so when I wondered who it might be, he (came to mind)."
"I wouldn't go so far as to say he was the reason I wrote this book, but he was at the root of it all. If he had been able to live without causing trouble to others, the agency I had been with for so long would not have gone under, and I would never have taken this path (independence). I thought of him on a different level to what people say in the world, like 'He never says anything, I wonder why,' or 'He's never apologized to me.' Even when he was alive, I was the type to fight, argue, and speak freely, so I think that's why I started saying 'I want him to apologize.'"
He added, "This is just my own complete prejudice, but I think there were probably a lot of celebrities who wanted them to apologize. But there are also people who can't say anything, and people who don't want to say anything, so I thought it was a sensitive issue, but the issue wasn't that sensitive for me, so when I was asked, I answered, 'I want them to apologize.'"
When asked, "How do you think Johnny would react if you actually met him?" he replied, "I think they would apologise. I would like those who are able to apologise to do so, and I think it is precisely because of that kind of purity that the company and its talents have grown. I am currently affiliated with the company in a strange way, but I think the company culture gives that kind of freedom."
"I would like him to apologize for the issues that people are saying about, and I think everyone feels the same way. However, I would rather talk to him as a person, one-on-one, and not about his position. Of course, he will take on his position and deal with the situation after that, but before that, I would like to be able to talk about that one-on-one, with everything removed. Since he's dead, I can't say for sure, but that was what I meant."
"Doctrine and Prejudice" is a paperback book with 192 pages. The price is 1,100 yen.
