It’s pretty standard for idol singers in Japan to have contracts prohibiting them from dating or otherwise engaging in romantic relationships. Ostensibly this is to keep them focused on improving their musical and dancing performances, out of respect to their devoted fans, but you could also make a pretty convincing argument that the real reason is so said fans can more easily fantasize that maybe, just maybe, the idol is saving herself for a guy like them.
Either way, though, if you’re an idol, you’re not dating, and that even goes for the highest idol power in the land, Akihabara-based AKB48. However, when Mariko Shinoda, one of the group’s original Kami 7 (the seven highest-ranking idols in its periodic popularity polls) “graduated” from AKB48 in 2013, her seven-year stint in the no-dating zone also came to an end.
Since Shinoda was 19 years old when she joined the group, leaving AKB48 provided her with her first opportunity to date as an adult, and perhaps she spent the next few years leisurely enjoying the single life of a highly eligible bachelorette. However, this week the now 32-year-old Shinoda announced that she’s tied the knot, and she did so with blazing speed.
▼ Shinoda and her dog-obscured husband, who’s the owner of a beauty salon and other business ventures.
In a handwritten note posted as an image on her fan club members-only website on Feb 20, Shinoda revealed that she’d gotten married the previous Saturday. She describes her husband as an “ordinary man,” a term commonly used in Japanese show business to describe someone who’s not in the entertainment industry or otherwise in the public eye, and also as three years younger than she is. The biggest surprise, though, is how short the courtship was, as her now-husband proposed to her on their first date.
Shinoda and her husband met for the first time at a dinner with mutual friends last October, and had a second opportunity to see each other when common acquaintances held another gathering. Then in mid-November the pair went out to eat just with each other for the very first time, and before the date was over, he popped the question, and Shinoda said yes.
“Even though we weren’t dating, we’d started thinking about marriage naturally,” Shinoda wrote in the message to her fans, explaining that by the time of their first actual date, the two had already talked about things such as their hopes for the future and ideal visions of family life, finding that they had many things in common. “From the bottom of my heart, I thought to myself, ‘I want to be with this person forever.’”
It’s not uncommon for female entertainers in Japan to step away from their careers after getting married, but Shinoda, who’s become a mainstream actress and media personality since leaving AKB48, says she intends to continue working in the field as a married woman.
Sources: Livedoor News/Sponichi Annex via Jin, Nikkan Sports
Read more stories from SoraNews24.
-- “There are many mentally unwell girls in AKB48” claims ex-member of Japan’s top idol singer group
-- Japanese judge dismisses lawsuit against idol singer who violated contract’s no-dating clause
-- Swimsuit idols that you can date and marry
- External Link
- https://soranews24.com/2019/02/22/former-akb48-idol-singer-gets-proposed-to-on-first-date-says-yes-is-now-married/
20 Comments
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spektral
so typical here, getting married to someone u barely know just because it's time to get married...hmm...social obligations...
oldman_13
Never heard of her, but congrats anyways.
Wakarimasen
I await further news.
itsonlyrocknroll
A tad frivolous and urgent, Mariko Shinoda.
let hope that matrimony has presented a loving, caring husband and not a veritable Norman Bates.
cleo
Well, congrats are in order I suppose. The 'dog-obscured husband' seems like a good match, judging from the photo.
I will keep my fingers crossed, and refrain from making any comment about what comes after 'marry in haste'....
Strangerland
I got married within a time period that would cause people to make comments such as they are here. I’ve been married over 20 years now, we’re as tight as we’ve ever been.
Abbey
Yawn.
Madden
I can see it from the guy's perspective, she's famous, beautiful, and rich. Why not just go for broke and ask for marriage right away?
serendipitous1
Wait till she realizes he leaves his socks and underwear on the floor.......
cleo
When you have dogs, you don't leave socks and underwear on the floor.
Not if you want to continue having socks and underwear.
And dogs.
timeon
those creatures are dogs??
KevinMcgue
Baby yeti.
quercetum
Beautiful eyes. Happy for them.
Black Sabbath
Now that is interesting.
starpunk
She's famous outside of AKB48, she's pretty, successful on her own and has lots of moolah. I hope for her sake she didn't marry a gold digger. Men can be that way too. On the same token, Melissa Ethridge's first wife also was a gold digger.
Proposing on a first date sounds too Hallmark Channel (at best) to me. And he's her first boyfriend too. I hope I'm wrong on all this but I also hope for the best. Anything is possible but nothing is real.
Serrano
dog-obscured husband
Dogs rule, husbands drool, haha
John Richardson
For the sake of humanity, i hope that toxic culture stays within the barrel of that country. they are very dangerously stupid. idiot boyfriend can't even show his face. might as well wear the typical surgical mask. study and view from afar, but do not follow that crap. know thy enemy.