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Sakakibara’s new response to Gendai & Kawamata
By Zach Arnold | May 3, 2006
By Zach Arnold
DSE President Nobuyuki Sakakibara issued a statement on the PRIDE HP about Shukan Gendai & Seiya Kawamata. In the statement, Sakakibara says the following:
- DSE & PRIDE are not backed by yakuza money
- Kawamata’s testimony and claims are one-sided and false
- The statements that Kawamata & Gendai have made are frustrating and angry for him (Sakakibara) to deal with. He called the accusations disgraceful.
- He asked the fans to please support PRIDE and to support the employees of the company.
Sakakibara says in the statement that he has filed a complaint with the Yokohama Public District Attorney’s office in response to the charges made by Shukan Gendai & Seiya Kawamata.
A lot of the language used in Sakakibara’s statement was to appeal on an emotional level for the fans to continue to support the company, and to perhaps try to create a sense of shame for those making accusations against PRIDE.
At the end of the statement, it is said in Japanese that if any internet sites use quotes from the statement without company permission, that legal action will be taken immediately.
Topics: All Topics, Japan, MMA, Media, PRIDE, Yakuza, Zach Arnold | 2 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback | Share This
[...] DSE President Nobuyuki Sakakibara responded with legal threats a couple of days ago in response to the long-term campaign of allegations made against him by Shukan Gendai in relation to yakuza influence. However, these new threats clearly have not deterred Kodansha (the publisher of Gendai) from their aggressive article series against DSE. The newest preview for the magazine lists the following teaser (in Japanese): [...]
[...] Sakakibara, the front man for the yakuza company Dream Stage Entertainment, has been saying the following: “Shukan Gendai’s attacks are weakening. This is because I have made a complaint about them to the police. Gendai’s people have contacted me and told me that there will be no more articles.” [...]