Society

Agency Bosses Busted for Allowing 'Underground Idol' Grope Female Fan

TOKYO, Jan 16 (News On Japan) - The president and an executive of a talent agency have been arrested on suspicion of allowing a male 'idol' of touch the body of a female fan.

Ryunosuke Kurita (32), the president of NA Promotion, and executive Takuya Hatanaka (42) are suspected of making a male idol touch a 17-year-old girl's breast during a photo session held in 2023 in Shibuya, Tokyo.

According to Tokyo police, the agency regularly engaged in acts such as putting hands inside the underwear of female fans at photo sessions. The 17-year-old girl had reportedly spent 2.5 million yen earned through "papakatsu" (sugar-daddy dating) on these events.

The alleged groping was at a post-live event photo session called "Cheki-kai," where fans could purchase a minute of "alone time" with an idol for 1,000 yen per photo.

At the actual "Cheki-kai," female fans were seen sitting on the idols' laps and hugging them.

A former fan shared her experience: "It was very intimate, like sitting on their laps, wall-slams, almost zero distance. Girls would lie down on the floor, and the guys would lean over them."

The "Cheki-kai" system allows for extended time with the idols for an increased number of purchased photos. Some fans, who earned money through "papakatsu," contributed large sums.

Kurita and Hatanaka have denied the allegations.

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