a post-blog
As we all should know by now, pop idol Suzuki Ami was blacklisted from the entertainment industry from 2001 until this year for attempting to leave her management company, AG Communications. Her impedance for leaving was that the head of her artist jimusho was arrested for tax-evasion. Now, very mysteriously, as far as I've seen, not a single news source or even internet gossip site will name the CEO of AG Communications. When most company heads are arrested, the press can easily figure out whom exactly has been arrested, seeing that most firms are open about their head employee. As far as I can tell, Suzuki's management company never had a public outlet for information, such as a website, so there is no easy way to verify the identity of Suzuki's boss.
Now, why won't anyone simply release the name of the mysterious arrested CEO?
Update: According to this Cyzo article, the AG Comm boss was not Taira Tetsuo, whom earlier I had earlier fingered as a possible suspect in an irresponsible blog-like manner. Cyzo just calls the boss "Y-shi" - probably because the media is legally required to not name names in cases like this. (But why is it then that they could talk openly about Taira from Rising?)
However, a little research on "AG" (you have to spell it correctly in katakana) easily directs one to the name "Yamada Eiji" - an ex-producer for the TV show Asayan - as the ex-head of Ami's company. Mystery solved.
Posted by marxy at May 12, 2005 1:06 AM"Mixed into the concrete of this highway are thought to be the mortal remains of Marxy, a blogger who messed with the pros. On a lighter note, follow me down the path to the koi pond..."
Posted by: Momus at May 12, 2005 1:14 AMi would rather go down fighting. then pretend the problem isn't there. i don't think ignoring issue's is a viable solution. well, atleast these are the feelings i am getting from momus blog and posts. that it's better to just ignore the problem and only look at the good things. [not japan specific]
Posted by: trevor at May 12, 2005 4:50 AMWell, maybe the Japanese are the world's longest-living people precisely because they manage not to get stressed up about such things. But of course it's fun to be Tintin the Boy Reporter.
Posted by: Momus at May 12, 2005 5:43 AMyeah ... it's not a 'watergate' or smth ... was this Suzuki girl at least hot? ;]
Posted by: porandojin at May 12, 2005 6:53 AMHey, check out Garnier's website for their new "Manga Head" styling gel-- it features a "manga story" about Japan you might find interesting, romanticizing the place as "a world where everything is made up of bright colours and bubbles" http://www.garnierbeautybar.co.uk/
Posted by: graham kolbeins at May 12, 2005 8:51 AMi'm somewhere between nick and marxy on this one. of course, there is rampant collusion in the media in japan, and of course, the koi pond IS pretty. as long as i have time to check out both of them, i'll be happy.
Posted by: r. at May 12, 2005 12:23 PM
there is rampant collusion in the media in japan, and of course, the koi pond IS pretty.
connecting these threads, i once heard that certain koi are so expensive that only high level gangsters and corrupt politicians can afford them. indeed, same source indicated that expensive koi were used as currency in some under-the-table dealings. has anyone else heard this, or is this the stuff of which legends are made?
Sparklig, if Marxy discovers this piece of information, he won't have his body thrown into concret but will more likely have his head preserved as a prize at a Yakuza branch in Kabukicho or Kobe.
Posted by: dzima at May 12, 2005 2:06 PMNice to have you back, sparklig.
i once heard that certain koi are so expensive that only high level gangsters and corrupt politicians can afford them
I don't know about that, but the calico-colored one (white, red, black) is the ultimate symbol of being nouveau riche.
Posted by: marxy at May 12, 2005 10:23 PM
The person who put these notions about koi into my head is a senior academic at a top technical university in the eastern usa. Said university is well known to be a cia techie recruiting ground (but I won't be more specific than that) and this dude has relatives in high places in dc, which leads one to speculate.
He himself collects koi and has his own koi pond back in the usa. won't say which state it is but it's not MA or CT which will narrow things down sufficiently for people in the know.
I suspect he was just "fucking with my brain" when he dropped these hints about koi to me. He's a bit of joker that way.
Straight out of "Dr. No" wouldn't you say, r.?
yes, dr. yes, this is straight out of dr. no.
yours,
dr. tabun