Tokyo police have been questioning several comedians affiliated with major talent agency Yoshimoto Kogyo over allegations that they were involved in gambling on online casinos, investigative sources said. The comedians were questioned on a voluntary basis.

Police said they will decide whether to pursue criminal charges against them after further investigation.

And on Saturday, Kuruma Takahira, half of the popular comedy team, Reiwa Roman — the duo won the M-1 Grand Prix, a renowned stand-up comedy competition, in both 2023 and 2024 — admitted to the allegation and apologized on the duo's YouTube channel.

He said that he had gambled online between the end of 2019 and the end of 2020 after being invited to the online casinos by an acquaintance.

“I mistakenly thought it was not illegal,” he said.

Yoshimoto Kogyo issued a statement on Feb. 5 saying that some of the company's performers were suspected of violating its compliance policy and would refrain from engaging in performance activities until the facts are verified.

In January, table tennis player Koki Niwa, a two-time Olympic men's team medalist, had his club contract terminated after he was referred to prosecutors over alleged gambling on an online casino website in the summer of 2023.

The Japan Table Tennis Association started holding interviews with athletes and staff earlier this month to see whether there are similar cases.

The National Police Agency has been warning people that gambling on online casinos is illegal in Japan even if they are operating legally overseas, but the number of people accused of using online casinos is rising.

Last year, two Osaka Prefectural Police officers became subject to disciplinary action for engaging in gambling on online casinos.

According to the police, the officers conducted online gambling as they wanted to pay back debts they made through other gambling such as pachinko and horse racing. Both received pay cuts and one of them resigned.

Translated by The Japan Times