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The story
Former AKB48 member Tomomi Itano apologized on September 5 after social media users pointed out that she had filmed inside the changing room of the communal bath at The Ritz-Carlton Nikko, in Tochigi, for a YouTube video documenting a family trip. Itano explained that she had “received special filming permission from the hotel,” but since the changing room is a space shared by all guests, a thread on 5ch’s Geinou/Sports News Plus board split between users questioning whether “a luxury hotel would never grant permission like that” and those who suspected “maybe it was booked out exclusively.” Some posters even claimed to have contacted the hotel directly, and debate over what really happened continued.
Sat, Sep 5, 8:50 PM
Former AKB48 member and TV personality Tomomi Itano updated her account on X (formerly Twitter) on September 5. In response to criticism on social media over her YouTube filming, she apologized and explained what had happened.
On September 3, Itano had posted a video titled “【Summer Vacation】A Family Trip to Nikko With Just the Three of Us After a While 【vlog】,” showing her family of three spending time at The Ritz-Carlton Nikko. The footage sparked controversy online for showing her filming in the changing room of the communal bath, a shared area of the hotel.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Was it booked out exclusively?
If not, letting someone roll camera in the changing room is wild — what an outrageous hotel the Ritz-Carlton would be.
Yeah, it's a shared space, and on top of that it's a changing room where people get naked…
If this is real, other streamers are going to start seeking the same permission, and hotels of that caliber are about to get flooded with phone calls.
It's not like it's some no-name hotel.
Did the Ritz-Carlton actually put up a notice like, 'Filming is currently taking place in the changing room, please avoid using it if this concerns you'?
Something about this whole story doesn't add up.
Ah, I see —
so the takeaway is the Ritz-Carlton's changing room might have someone secretly filming you.
If it's true, that's a serious problem.
Uh, she's Tomochin, one of the 'Divine Seven' (Kami 7, AKB48's top-ranked members)?
Is this actually true?
If so, it reeks of a flame war brewing on multiple levels.
…yikes.
That'd be Aya Ueto.
You don't know Ami Suzuki?
The true original is Eikichi Yazawa.
I used to go every month, but I'm done with it now.
If it really was booked out exclusively, I'd think she'd have just said so, no?
She wouldn't say that outright —
remember when she mentioned paying 2 million yen a month in rent and got roasted with jealous howls of 'gyaon gyaon'?
We need to ask the authorities whether a hotel that grants
this kind of permission should even be allowed to operate.
This touches on privacy and human dignity,
so it's a serious matter.
Hotels are supposed to be thorough about trust and privacy protection —
the more first-class the hotel, the more that should hold true.
The old dudes on 5ch these days are really useless —
nothing but airheaded, brain-dead pushovers.
Yeah, no —
that'd get you done for obstruction of business.
The hotel's reputation just took a hit.
When you're dealing with the super-rich, this is standard practice everywhere —
there was even a case of someone booking out the whole Hotel Okura Tokyo in Toranomon.
Poor thing.
Same as Takuya Kimura — no matter what she does, people find something to nitpick and complain about.
Kimura wouldn't tell such a dumb lie though lol
The Ritz-Carlton Nikko directly and is waiting on a reply lol
I bet they'll just say something like, 'We received a prior request and arranged things
so as not to inconvenience other guests' lol
The fact that the hotel gave filming permission in the communal bath changing room to a mere YouTuber is insane lol
I don't want to stay at a hotel like that.
You only ever stay at Toyoko Inn anyway lol
Background and Key Points of Debate
At luxury hotels, communal bath changing rooms are generally subject to prior approval and restrictions on filming — even personal filming — in order to protect the privacy of fellow guests, and the main point of contention here was whether Itano’s explanation squared with that standard practice. Within the thread, opinions split between those who suspected “it must have been booked out exclusively” and those who, judging from how the footage looked, argued it “doesn’t look like an exclusive booking” — but neither view has been confirmed by Itano herself or by the hotel. As of September 5, The Ritz-Carlton Nikko has issued no official explanation regarding the circumstances of the filming permission, and it’s easy to overlook that Itano’s claim in her apology of having “received special permission” remains unverified.
※This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News Plus) thread “Tomomi Itano Apologizes Over Criticism of YouTube Filming — Controversy After Rolling Camera in Communal Bath Changing Room, “Received Special Filming Permission From the Hotel”.”
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