Fumika Shimizu (Jojima Yuki from KR Fourze) to retire from acting

[JFC]

I have to admit, when I initially read the headline I thought she either got pregnant and/or married or she got majorly seriously sick with something. As it turned out, the reason why she's quitting is just "****, she's doing it because of THIS?!?!" (IMHO).

Fumika Shimizu to retire from entertainment to devote herself to cult

Popular 22-year-old actress Fumika Shimizu has announced her intention to retire from the entertainment industry to commit herself to Happy Science, a controversial new religious and spiritual movement often criticized for being a cult.

Founded in 1986 by CEO Ryuho Okawa, the basic teachings of Happy Science are “Exploration of the Right Mind” and the “Principles of Happiness“. Okawa claims to channel the spirits of Muhammad, Christ, Buddha and Confucius, and is the incarnation of the supreme spiritual being called El Cantare.

Shimizu is most notable for playing Yuki Jojima in Kamen Rider Fourze and Aiko Himeno in HK!!! Hentai Kamen.

Her parents introduced her and her three sisters to the controversial religion at birth, and has since been following it unbeknownst to her agency.

Since last month, Shimizu has been working with two lawyers to prematurely end her contract with LesPros Entertainment, claiming that she is unable to balance entertainment commitments and her beliefs.

A regular on Fuji TV variety show NIJIIRO JEAN, Shimizu continued working as normal until February 4th when she cancelled future appearances on the show due to “poor health”. Since then, her agency has been unable to contact her. Her Twitter account through LesPros has been deleted, prompting her to creating a personal account.

Throughout the three decades since its foundation, Happy Science has rapidly grown into a global movement with members in over 100 countries around the world. The cult boasts 10 million members domestically and 1 million abroad with centers in major cities such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Tokyo, London, Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong and Sao Paulo.

In recent years, Happy Science has been working hard to secure a favorable image with the public to recruit. We last reported about the cult in December of last year with the announcement of their very own propaganda idol group Anjewel.

Shimizu has two starring roles in upcoming films scheduled for release later this year, Tokyo Ghoul and Ankoku Joshi, and with her swift and controversial demand to end her career as an actress, their release is now up in the air.

(via Hochi)

- http://aramajapan.com/news/fumika-s...ntertainment-to-devote-herself-to-cult/70942/
- http://www.hochi.co.jp/entertainment/20170212-OHT1T50021.html

 

[MagusKaizer]

umm What?

 

[SamuraiEchidna]

"Popular 22-year-old actress Fumika Shimizu has announced her intention to retire from the entertainment industry to commit herself to Happy Science"

Based on the name alone, it sounds like something Yuki would do.

Seriously though, it's always kind of sad when someone so young decides to retire from acting, but it's her choice. Wouldn't be the first time. Didn't one of the actors from the Goseigers retire recently?

 

[lazycoconut]

Based on the name alone, it sounds like something Yuki would do.

Seriously though, it's always kind of sad when someone so young decides to retire from acting, but it's her choice. Wouldn't be the first time. Didn't one of the actors from the Goseigers retire recently?

Pink's actress retired right after the release of 199 Heroes. Black retired in early 2013 to become a lawyer. Blue also retired in 2013 and was reported to be studying interior design, but made a comeback a year later. Maybe you're thinking of Yui Koike (GokaiPink) who retired in 2015?

 

[Toku Prime]

As far as the Goseigers go, the only recent news would be from Gosei Yellow's actress' official blog. Not only did she recently reveal that she had gotten married, but she also publicly revealed that Gosei Pink's actress is currently pregnant, complete with a photo of Yellow and Blue touching her baby bump.

Otherwise it's pretty much as lazy said.

You know, I keep thinking that we could do with an "in other news" thread for things like actor retirements, marriages etc that aren't usually big enough to merit their own threads.

 

[Dr Kain]

Okay cool, not sure why we need to know her personal business.

 

[Toku Prime]

Well in Japan actor controversies can result in the projects they are involved in being permanently shelved. Which in this case would be a bad thing for fans of the Tokyo Ghoul franchise as Fumika played the female lead in the live action movie adaptation which isn't due to be released until July. Indeed some of the rumours suggest that it was her disgust for her role in this film, in which her character kills and eats human beings, that may have further prompted her decision to retire.

According to Anime News Network, her lawyers released a statement this past Sunday (12th Feb) which mentions her time working on Kamen Rider Fourze. They claim that "she had only three hours of sleep a day, and worked 31 days every month for only 50,000 yen (about US$438)".

 

[Dr Kain]

She only got paid $438 for a 50 episode series? If that is true, she was an idiot for signing on to the show.

Japan makes no sense to me at times. They have no problems displaying incest and nudity on regular TV, but then they will remove an episode of an adult show because an actor in the episode got arrested for drugs or something that has no effect on the show itself.

Oh, how did she work 31 days every month when not every month has 31 days? lol

Finally, it's Japan, they only care about working, so I can't feel sorry for her for only getting 3 hours of sleep a day.

 

[DaikaijuSokogeki!]

It's just different cultural norms, that's literally all there is to it. Japan has always been more open to sexuality than the Christianized West. However, broadcasters have become much more conservative in the last few decades; nowadays nudity, no matter the age of the characters or the show's time slot, is almost always censored even though prime time shows like Dragon Ball or Ranma 1/2 30-25 years ago got away with copious amounts of underage nudity.

Toei has had a long history of overworking and underpaying their casts and staff. It's not like she's the first person to call them out on their practices which basically comes close to slavery. The only reason so many actors don't mind or don't speak up about the long hours and low pay is that KR and SS are still great ways to get your foot in the door in the entertainment industry. Plus we now have actors who have grown up on these shows as children who are now passionate that they're living a lifelong dream to be a superhero for a new generation of children to grow up on.

Also, your last comment kinda reeks of racism. Believe it or not, a lot of Japanese people hate they're being forced to overwork themselves but they usually don't have a choice (you can't just NOT work). Still, measures are being taken to fix that.

http://www.redpepper.org.uk/japanese-workers-fight-against-karoshi-death-from-overwork/

 

[SamuraiEchidna]

Pink's actress retired right after the release of 199 Heroes. Black retired in early 2013 to become a lawyer. Blue also retired in 2013 and was reported to be studying interior design, but made a comeback a year later. Maybe you're thinking of Yui Koike (GokaiPink) who retired in 2015?

I had only heard about Black becoming a Lawyer. I didn't realize that many also retired. Wow.