Logan Paul Isn't Going to Japan — Fans Suspect a Past Controversy Is Still Haunting Him

Content warning: This article contains mention of suicide.

As WWE prepares for their tour to Japan, wrestling fans can’t help but wonder why Logan Paul isn’t part of the roster. Logan is one of the World Wrestling Entertainment’s star wrestlers and has been on almost all of their tours, so it’s surprising that he’s not joining them on one of their biggest tours yet.

The Japan tour was first announced on ABEMA TV, in which WWE revealed they’d be bringing along basically their entire lineup from July 25–27, 2024, except for Akira Tozawa and Asuka, out due to injury, and Logan Paul, out due to “another commitment.” But fans are skeptical about the real reason the popular YouTuber can’t go to Japan.

When the WWE announced their 2024 Japan tour, they shared that most of their regular lineup of wrestlers would be attending, including Cody Rhodes, Damian Priest, Bayley, Liv Morgan, Sami Zayn, Finn Balor, JD McDonough, Tiffany Stratton, The Bloodline, Jey Uso, Kevin Owens, Dominik Mysterio, Rey Mysterio, Gunther, New Day, LA Knight, Shinsuke Nakamura, Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, Kairi Sane, Iyo Sky, and more. But Logan was noticeably absent from the list.

Logan has been the reigning WWE United States Champion since he beat Rey Mysterio for the WWE Crown Jewel on Nov. 4, 2023, so it’s pretty shocking that he’s not joining the organization on one of their biggest tours. While Logan’s prior “commitment” could be related to his fiancée, Nina Agdal, who is due to give birth in the fall of 2024, or some other legitimate conflict, fans have other suspicions.

Logan is no stranger to controversies; in fact, being controversial is part of his job. But one of his worst controversies almost ended his career in 2018, after he posted an insensitive video in Japan’s “suicide forest,” Aokigahara. In the video, Logan and his crew find a man who had hanged himself and recently died. Instead of immediately calling authorities (which they eventually did instead of just camping out in the forest), they decided to first make a video.

In the video, which was supposed to be Part 3 in Logan’s “Tokyo Adventures” series, they filmed the body up close (while blurring his face), made insensitive comments, and afterward, they did shots of sake. Several celebs, contemporaries of Logan, and viewers criticized the video, calling Logan’s behavior “disrespectful” and “disgusting.” Over 720,000 people even signed a Change.org petition to ban Logan from YouTube.

Logan tried to do some damage control by removing the video from his channel, apologizing, and donating $1 million to suicide prevention agencies, but his relationship with Japan was permanently damaged. Not only did he share that specific insensitive video, but he also posted videos basically trolling Japan and its culture.

In one, he climbs onto a moving forklift at the Tsukiji fish market, and in another, he takes off his clothes on a crowded street to fight with one of his entourage members. He also threw a giant Poké Ball at some passersby, including a Tokyo police officer. While his career eventually recovered after a three-week YouTube hiatus and some halted projects, his relationship with Japan continued to suffer.

According to one Redditor, they hate him so much that the creators of the Gegege no Kitaro reboot created a parody of Logan Paul in their first episode just to drag him. They first kill him off by turning him into a tree, but he later comes back and learns humility. As one fan suggested, Logan's “commitment is to avoid Japan.” While he’s not banned from the country, it’s probably smart to stay away.