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Leopold Chen

Japanese actress-singer Ryoko Hirosue – once dubbed “the last beautiful girl at the end of the 20th century” by Japanese media – is making headlines again after she was arrested for assault.
The 44-year-old was detained by police this week on suspicion of kicking a nurse. She had been admitted to a hospital in the Japanese city of Shimada in Shizuoka prefecture after sustaining minor injuries in a car accident.
Hirosue was reportedly agitated and in distress during police questioning, raising her voice and walking around.
This is not the first time she has come under intense media scrutiny – the former pop idol was embroiled in scandal in 2023 after admitting to having an extramarital affair.
We recall the many ups and downs of Hirosue’s decades-long career.


Debut at a young age
Hirosue was born in Kochi, a city on the Japanese island of Shikoku, in 1980.
When she was 14, she won a make-up modelling competition, and she made her television debut the following year. In 1996, she gained nationwide attention after she was featured in a television advertisement for telecoms operator NTT DoCoMo’s pager service.
That same year, Hirosue appeared in the Japanese television drama classic Long Vacation, starring Takuya Kimura – a Japanese icon and former member of J-pop band SMAP.

Lost in romance
In 1997, Hirosue added singing to her repertoire, debuting her song “Maji De Koi Suru Gobyoumae”, meaning “five seconds before seriously falling in love” in Japanese, which became a nationwide hit.
She even appeared on Kohaku Uta Gassen, an annual New Year’s Eve television contest produced by national broadcaster NHK, that year – a rare achievement for a fledgling singer.
At the same time, her acting career took off. Hirosue starred alongside actor-singer Takashi Sorimachi and Yutaka Takenouchi in the popular 1997 drama series Beach Boys, cementing the 17-year-old as a household name.


She was admitted to the prestigious Waseda University in Tokyo in 1998, but dropped out in 2003, citing her intention to focus on her career in entertainment.
It turned out that the 23-year-old was pregnant – and an announcement of her marriage to model and fashion designer Takahiro Okazawa followed soon afterwards. Their marriage lasted five years and, by the time of their divorce, Hirosue was reaching another peak in her acting career.
In 2009 Departures, which tells the story of a traditional Japanese ritual undertaker, won best foreign language film at the 81st Academy Awards. It was the first Japanese movie to do so. Hirosue starred as the mortician’s wife.
In 2010, Hirosue announced her second marriage, to candle artist Jun Izutsu, who is also known as Candle June.

Hit by scandals
In 2023, it was reported that Hirosue was having an affair with Michelin-star chef Shusaku Toba, who was also married at the time.
“I will keep in mind the fact that I have tarnished the acting career that I have always dreamed of, and the guilt of having hurt Mr Toba’s family,” she wrote in a handwritten note that she posted on Instagram. That same year, she divorced Izutsu.
Following this, she was dropped from all the productions for which she had been signed and placed on indefinite leave by her management agency.
She established her own agency and resumed performing in March this year in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Following the alleged assault, a court granted a police request to detain Hirosue until April 19.


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Ryoko Hirosue at the Bulgari Aurora Awards in 2022 in Tokyo, Japan. The Japanese actress-singer, who was recently arrested for assault, has had a long career marked by scandal and achievements. Photo: WireImage

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Ryoko Hirosue, the Japanese actress-singer recently arrested for assault, has had a long career marked by scandal and achievements


Ryoko Hirosue, the Japanese actress-singer recently arrested for assault, has had a long career marked by scandal and achievements.


K-pop, Mandopop and other Asian pop

Fame and celebrity

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