Namie Amuro

Following the death of Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga, a prominent opponent of relocating the US Futenma base, Amuro published a condolence message. The statement was quickly politicised, and some internet users and commentators attacked her as representing the anti-base or "anti-Japanese" camp.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

No legal proceedings

A few days before her retirement, Amuro published an appeal asking the media to stop pursuing her relatives. She cited visits to the family home, journalists waiting for her niece and repeated calls to relatives' workplaces and telephones.

State of the evidence

Reported by the press

Legal status — source text

No legal proceedings

Amuro sought to leave Rising Productions after years of collaboration. The press described a tense dispute over contractual and financial terms, with some sources using the expression "slave contract". Lawyers became involved before she joined Dimension Point/Avex.

State of the evidence

Documented

Amuro brought legal action after photographs of her son taken without consent were published. The dispute ended in a 2009 settlement: the publisher apologised and agreed not to publish such photographs again.

State of the evidence

Settlement

Attribution

Claimant protecting her child's privacy

Amuro's highly publicised marriage to SAM in 1997, her pregnancy, their divorce in 2002 and subsequent changes in custody of their son fuelled a long-running debate in Japanese media over her career, motherhood and expectations placed on female stars.

State of the evidence

Reported by the press

Legal status — source text

No legal proceedings