Toshio Suzuki, the Studio Ghibli co-founder, is embroiled in a scandal due to Suzuki pouring the animation studio's money on his love interest.According to a French translation by Ludovic Gottigny (@/Arion80) of Shukan Josei magazine's investigation and subsequently, an English translation by William Moo (@/thewriterSITB), Suzuki, who co-founded Studio Ghibli with Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, and previously held the position of Studio Ghibli's president has been misappropriating company funds. Instead, money has been going towards the woman Suzuki has been seeing since 2013. Koji Hoshino, the current president of Studio Ghibli, will retire at the end of March and has announced he will be leaving the company in June. Hoshino has said his reason for leaving is because the company has been "neglecting a problem for many years. It is producer Toshio Suzuki, the first president of Ghibli, who is the problem."
According to the article, Suzuki fell in love with a woman, identified as Kanyada in the article, in 2013 after which he had allegedly donated large sums of his pocket money into helping her open a spa and restaurant. However, neither of them lasted long before undergoing liquidation.
How Suzuki Took Advantage of Studio Ghibli
In 2018, Studio Ghibli approved the opening of a restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand where Suzuki appointed Kanyada as the manager. Furthermore, Kanyada, who allegedly has no photography experience, would be the official photographer for the upcoming photobook. Several Studio Ghibli employees have since come forward anonymously, saying they have been reportedly forced to carry out miscellaneous chores for Kanyada under Suzuki's orders. All of Kanyada's travel and living expenses have been paid for by the studio under the guise of it being working with Suzuki. When the Studio Ghibli co-founder organized a photo exhibition at a hot springs spot, one of the employees remarked Suzuki merely wanted "to go to a hot spring with your girlfriend."
Hoshino, who had raised his concerns about Suzuki's spending of company money in the past, had admonished the former president, asking that he keep his private and public lives separate. Displeased at being reprimanded, Suzuki removed Hoshino from his position as president. When asked about his feelings regarding Hoshino's resignation from Shukan Josei, Suzuki allegedly said he did not care.
Suzuki has not made a statement on this matter as of this article's publication. Suzuki is currently credited as one of the producers for Miyazaki's final studio film How Do You Live?, set to premiere in July 2023.
Source: Twitter, via Shukan Josei