Singer Kondo Masahiko (62) told reporters before a concert in Tottori City on September 23 that the case of timelesz member Shuto Inomata (25), arrested on suspicion of assault, “cannot be forgiven.” While touching on his own years of paying his dues as a young performer and saying he himself stays mindful of compliance, Kondo’s comments drew less sympathy than mockery on 5ch, where posters pointed to his own 1989 breakup press conference with Akina Nakamori and the sexual abuse scandal involving former Johnny’s boss Johnny Kitagawa, jeering “look who’s talking” (omaeiu).
September 24, 2026, 4:00 AM
Singer Kondo Masahiko (62) performed live at Tottori’s Ace Pac Mirai Chuo Main Hall on the 23rd. The show, part of a 16-city tour, marked his first-ever concert in the prefecture.
Speaking to reporters before the show, Kondo also addressed the case of Shuto Inomata (25) — a member of “timelesz,” a group of younger talents from the former Johnny’s agency Kondo himself once belonged to — who was arrested on suspicion of assault.
Source: sponichi.co.jp / Original article here
Very human of him
Look who's talking
Look who's talking
Look who's talking
Look who's talking, you coward
Even in the Yahoo comments, Toshichan (Toshihiko Tahara) gets a lot of sympathy, but this guy's getting absolutely dogpiled
The 'agency's massive power' came FROM the Tanokin Trio (the idol trio Kondo was part of) in the first place
Do some homework on the history, it's embarrassing
Well, this guy's image is bad in a lot of ways
Toshihiko Tahara went independent early instead of leaning on that massive power
Kondo never went independent — stayed protected by the agency and cared more about auto racing than showbiz
You're the one who needs a history lesson, old man
It's precisely BECAUSE the Tanokin Trio created that 'massive power'
that Matchy got to stay in a privileged position inside the agency
It's the whole 'what's wrong with spending money I earned myself?' mentality
Matchy's a victim too
The way you said that makes it sound like today's Johnny's guys don't have that problem lol
Why would he go out of his way to make an enemy
Actually it's the opposite
He was pushed out the moment Johnny died
The leak about Matchy's affair came from inside — someone connected to Higashiyama, Mary, or Takki's camp
Then another power struggle made a mess of things, and that's how the current Starto Entertainment agency came to be
Before that he'd already quit, saying he didn't want his affair causing trouble for others — so it's unrelated
A true star with luck on his side too
When Higashiyama had his own affair, Tahara joked to his senpai, 'my, aren't you all grown up talking back like that,' while still defending him — the guy's earned people's respect too
Well, success on variety shows didn't really happen until SMAP
before that he had no track record, so there was nothing to respect him for
I still haven't forgotten the scene where Akina alone bowed her head and apologized
Matchy
She attempted suicide in Matchy's room and caused HIM the trouble — there's no reason for Matchy to apologize
They say the gold folding screen was just the venue jumping the gun after hearing only that Akina and Matchy would hold a press conference
If it were just a breakup, thinking that wouldn't be strange
but there were money problems and other-women problems too, so given Akina's personality maybe that was the only way it could've gone
Mary really did what she had to do — stripping Ken-On (Akina's backing agency) away from her and moving her to an agency under Johnny's influence
It just leaves you with the impression that Johnny's was truly terrifying
For real?
That's terrifying!
did he comment on each of those guys too?
Background and Talking Points
Kondo’s remarks about timelesz’s Inomata, arrested on suspicion of assault, were reported as coming from his position as a senior figure from the former Johnny’s agency. But on 5ch, the reaction skewed toward pushback rather than agreement, with posters asking “is he really in a position to criticize a junior?” — pointing to the fact that Kondo lived through the same era as his own 1989 breakup press conference with Akina Nakamori and the sexual abuse scandal involving former Johnny’s boss Johnny Kitagawa. Few confirmed details of the Inomata case itself were available at the time of reporting, and much of the speculation about relationships and other details discussed in the thread is poorly substantiated. The pattern in which a former Johnny’s talent commenting on a junior’s scandal ends up dragging the agency’s own sexual abuse problem back into the conversation looks set to repeat with similar news going forward.
*This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Geino/Sports News+) thread “[Matchy] Kondo Masahiko Weighs In on the timelesz Inomata Uproar: ‘This Can’t Be Forgiven,’ ‘Even having paid my dues…,’ ‘I’m mindful of compliance myself too’ [Ailuropoda melanoleuca★].”
