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The story
Timelesz member Shuto Inomata, who was arrested on September 18 for punching a female acquaintance in the face and injuring her in a convenience store parking lot in Tokyo’s Koto Ward, was released from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Tokyo Bay (Wangan) Police Station on the afternoon of September 25. Inomata bowed deeply outside the station and apologized, saying, “I am truly, deeply sorry for what happened,” and investigators say a settlement has been reached with the woman. On 5ch, opinions split between those who expect the case to proceed to non-indictment and a return to activities before year’s end after further at-home investigation, and those who point to past cases of idols who left their groups after scandals to argue that “leaving the group would be the appropriate outcome.” Attention is also focused on how the agency will explain the situation going forward.
Shuto Inomata, a member of the popular idol group “Timelesz” who was arrested on suspicion of punching a female acquaintance in the face and injuring her, was released a short time ago.
At around 4:30 p.m., Inomata was released and left the Metropolitan Police Department’s Tokyo Bay Police Station after bowing deeply and apologizing in front of it, saying, “I am truly, deeply sorry for what happened.”
Inomata had been arrested on suspicion of punching a female acquaintance in the face multiple times, injuring her, in the parking lot of a convenience store in Tokyo’s Koto Ward on September 18.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Because he caused the incident in Koto Ward.
Might be back in the group before the year's out.
Normally he'd just leave the group, like Richard did. (nickname referencing a past idol who quit after a scandal)
If your heart is truly overflowing…
with genuine, can't-take-it-back remorse…!
You should be able to prostrate yourself anywhere…!
Even if that means…
Searing the flesh…
Charring the bone…
right there on the hot iron plate…! (parody of over-the-top cooking-manga narration)
Wasn't that former KAT-TUN's Taguchi?
Come to think of it, I recently saw news about Taguchi getting married and Tanaka getting out of prison as a model inmate lol
Taguchi's incident happened years after he'd already left both the group and the agency — he was just a private citizen by then.
But Inomata is still an active member of Timelesz.
count as "injury" — it'd barely qualify as assault
He'd lose in court, so of course he caved and settled.
Convenience store employee: "She was bleeding from the nose and had a bruise."
Yeah, that's a wrap for him…
Appearing outside Wangan Police Station, Inomata bowed deeply for about 20 seconds, saying, "I am truly, deeply sorry for what happened." He was arrested on suspicion of punching a woman in the face inside a car in a convenience store parking lot in Koto Ward, Tokyo, around 10:30 p.m. on Friday, September 18.
https://imgur.com/Rg9NLQn.jpeg
They write "he bowed his head,"
then post a photo where he's clearly not bowing.
Passing the audition just made him sound impressive and made him seem to shine, but once something like this happens he comes off as less than an ordinary person — no star quality at all.
Can't imagine the police gave him time to put on makeup, though.
Snow Man's Iwamoto also beat up a fan who'd turned into a stalker, but he never got arrested for it.
He's basically just a regular guy who passed an audition.
Totally different mentality from the ones who paid their dues as Juniors for years before debuting.
> Going forward, the investigation will continue with him not in custody.
So far only Nippon TV is reporting this.
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/937d12d2c5746054176b694938e1fd4fd99597c2
NON-INDICTMENT INCOMIIING━━━━(°∀°)━━━━!! (2ch-style excitement face)
But wait, why's he wearing makeup??
he'll easily be back in action before the year ends.
The original members who stuck around, sure, but the audition group gets favored too? Ugh.
If he's bowing you probably couldn't even tell who it is.
Even looking at this photo, what percentage of average people could actually name him?
lol
Being held for a whole week is pretty serious in itself.
I panicked and called it in right away."
There's no way he's coming back after that…
If they bring him back after this, it'll make the agency look terrible.
Do they announce it in advance or something?
The media wants to get the shot, so of course they ask in advance.
Nah, this has been going on for more than 10 years.
Actually, even longer — maybe 20 years. Though even "20 years ago" would already be 2006.
Convenience store clerk: "The injuries were so severe
I frantically called it in."
No way the sponsors let this slide.
Handle it wrong and the whole group could end up getting the cold shoulder from the public.
It probably won't turn into a heartwarming story,
but I bet it gets reduced to something like "he swung his arm away and accidentally hit her."
There's likely also a decent settlement payment attached, on condition she stays quiet about what happened.
The convenience store clerk already gave an interview, lol
Testimony was that the injuries were so bad they called it in immediately
Are they gonna buy that off too?
If the clerk had just kept quiet, they could've pocketed a few million yen.
The real question is whether he's valuable enough to the agency to be worth protecting.
If the agency's punishment ends up being harsher than expected, that means they've decided he's not worth it.
Wonder how it'll go for an idol.
If he were an NHK announcer, he could kick someone from the back seat of a taxi and still make a comeback.
Once it gets to the point of arrest, it's probably over for him, right?
Well, there's Beat Takeshi…
but that was the Showa era.
Background and Key Points of This Topic
Even if a settlement is reached after an arrest on suspicion of assault, that doesn’t automatically guarantee a non-indictment — assault is not a crime that requires the victim’s complaint to prosecute, so prosecutors can independently decide whether to press charges. In this case, reports say the “investigation will continue with him not in custody,” meaning his release from custody does not signal the end of the investigation. Opinion on the thread split between those who treat a “comeback before year’s end” as a foregone conclusion based on the settlement, and more cautious voices who pointed to differences from cases like Junnosuke Taguchi’s or former Snow Man member Iwamoto’s (differences in their affiliation status at the time, and whether they were actually arrested) to argue that “an arrest while still an active member is serious” and that “leaving the group would be the appropriate outcome.” It’s also easy to overlook that bowing and apologizing in front of a police station is essentially a PR performance with no direct bearing on the severity of any actual punishment. Going forward, the focus will be both on the prosecutors’ decision and on how the agency chooses to explain and respond to the situation as a group.
*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Breaking] Timelesz member Shuto Inomata released [Ailuropoda melanoleuca★].”
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