Singer Takako Uehara sues magazine over yakuza links
Singer and model Takako Uehara (28) is suing the editors of a magazine for 30 million yen ($400,000) after claims it made in an article about disgraced comedian Shinsuke Shimada.
Shimada famously had to resign after allegations that he has had long connections to the yakuza — it’s well known that the whole entertainment industry in Japan is in cahoots with the mafia — and Shimada, no stranger to scandals, was made an example of (probably so he could go and do other things, including reportedly hoping to enter politics!).
In the article in the September issue of weekly tabloid Shukan Bunshun, Uehara was also identified as another celebrity with yakuza connections and that she often drinks at a bar in Nishi-Azabu in Tokyo where gangsters go. Takako claims that though she once made a TV show about the establishment, she is not a customer.
Okinawan-born Takako is famous for being a member of sort-of successful girl band SPEED and posing semi-nude when she was very young. Now she fronts the odd TV show and ad campaign.
