Earlier this year, Denki Groove member Pierre Taki was convicted of and arrested for the alleged use of cocaine. His bail was set at a whopping 4 million yen (about 37,000 USD), and after having it posted, he’s been hanging out with fellow group member and long-time friend Takkyu Ishino. While Pierre Taki was in confinement, Ishino spent the whole time on Twitter lampooning both Taki and the Japanese media’s coverage of the situation. These posts ranged from Ishino mocking Japanese media’s airbrushing of Taki’s apology photos, to retaking photos that he and Taki had taken together, except this time alone.
容疑者部分をカットして撮り直し pic.twitter.com/lRpO5ynZPO
— Takkyu Ishino/石野卓球 (@TakkyuIshino) March 24, 2019
Takkyu Ishino’s ongoing tweets making light of the Pierre Taki situation have been providing twitter with a lot of entertainment lately. He’s been relentlessly mocking the way his partner was entirely erased from the entertainment industry after being convicted. A photo that he tweeted of him and Taki with Taki’s face blocked out went pretty viral. The photo that got the most attention, though, was a photo of the pair’s first reunion after Taki was being held by Japanese law enforcement.
一カ月半ぶりに瀧くんと会ったよ。汗だくになるほど笑った！ pic.twitter.com/058rZ4PTS3
— Takkyu Ishino/石野卓球 (@TakkyuIshino) April 25, 2019
The amount of likes on this photo and all of Ishino’s other posts about the matter has Japanese law enforcement feeling, quote, “irritated“. The public’s response to his making light of the situation has them concerned and perplexed about public morale. “It just looks like Pierre Taki is returning to daily life as if nothing happened. What does this stand to show the younger generation about committing crimes? That criminals can just get in trouble and get away with it?”
If we’re being honest, for there to have been this much fuss over a cocaine charge in the Japanese entertainment and media industry is ridiculous, to begin with. Just about every piece of media involving Pierre Taki has been removed or replaced, and many bridges have been burned. However, it seems like fans and the general public are ready to welcome him back with open arms. This incident leaves a lot to speculate over the extent that Japanese companies will go in order to upkeep appearances, versus how the public actually views a situation.