Will Timelesz singer do time?Tokyo’s idol assembly line prefers its scandals to stay backstage, preferably with a tearful press conference and a six-month "health hiatus" but Shuto Inomata, 25, has instead delivered something far less photogenic: an alleged punch-up inside a parked car at a convenience-store lot.
According to city police, the newest cog in the the eight-man Timelesz machine was arrested after an incident in which a 26-year-old woman suffered a bloody nose and facial bruising after being struck in the face more than once. The altercation occurred in Tatsumi 3-chome, Koto Ward, around 10:30 pm on Friday.
Described variously as an "acquaintance" or "girlfriend," the woman was apparently struck in the face more than once by Shuto before running into the FamilyMart konbini, where a customer dialled 110 on her behalf.
Scene of the crimeFollowing his arrest, Inomata offered the classic defence: just a silly argument, a hand that "might have" connected by accident, etc, etc. Investigators, less gullibly, are treating it as repeated blows.
Rumour has already gone to work with a wide range of speculations and whispers none of them proven.
Was she in the "family way" outside Family Mart? Or was Shuto under strict boyband orders to break up with the chick in order to preserve his "still single" appeal to the parasocial hordes of Timelesz fans pointlessly dreaming of one day marrying their idol as the country's birth rates continue to plummet?
Tatsumi, the site of what we can safely call "the assault," is not a nightlife hotspot, but instead a piece of drab, reclaimed land on Tokyo's waterfront with logistics warehouses intermingled with dingy apartment buildings.
The band's management Starto Entertainment is in hyper damage limitation mode, and has already suspended Shuto and issued the obligatory apology to the victim, while waiting to see what the prosecutors decide.
Whether Inomata actually does "time" for his crime or escapes timeless, will depend on injury assessments, the victim's statement, and how loudly the public decides to stay angry.
In the meantime the rumours will do what they always do in this city: fill the gaps the official statements leave wide open.
From Tokyo Metropolis
From Tokyo Metropolis
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