Popular freelance TV presenter Mari Watanabe, 41, announced this week that she had married Fuji TV producer Ichiro Takai, 45. She said they got married last week -- three months after their first date.
Watanabe held a press conference to announce her marriage at Fuji, together with comedian Beat Takeshi, 61, who appears on the same medical advice program. She said of her husband: “If I had not met him, I would not have married anyone. I just feel happy when we are together at home dining and watching TV.”
Kitano also joked about her marriage, saying, “I didn't know she had been planning to get married. My effort to hit on her was a waste of time!”
Watanabe insisted she is not pregnant and that a date for the wedding reception has not yet been decided.
© Japan Today
15 Comments
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rjd_jr
Wonder who will question if this is "newsworthy." At any rate, congrats to her and best wishes for the couple.
neverknow2
Yeah I remember when 'news' was all that used to be reported. These days, it seems as though they are just filling up the page so they can obtain more advertisements.
bamboohat
Who is Kitano?
tripank
imgold
How long did it write you statment and why do you care so much. Entertainment "news" is for people that do have a life. A drug for the masses
franz75
3 months after their first date? Let see how long it is going to last.
stanoue
I love how she was pestered about whether she was pregnant or not. So rude! Who care if she is knocked up, anyway? She's certainly old enough to have a kid.
Nessie
The forum rules very clearly state that posts must be in English. I guess this doesn't apply to the articles themselves.
Moderator: TV presenter is a commonly used expression in many countries.
thepro
why do tv presenters have to tell the press they are getting married?? and why do they have to appear at the press conference with comedians???
franknbeans
Me Me! Pick Me!
Looks like this topic had been under the eye, so I will be polite.
Isn't "freelance" just another word for "between jobs" or "un employed"?
noirgaijin
Takeshi Kitano, alias "Beat Takeshi"
bamboohat
Thanks noirgaijin. How in the hell was I supposed to get that from this article? Didn't the writer ever read journalism for dummies?
I suppose expecting the readers to connect the dots is fine, but in a fluff entertainment article? C'mon!
borscht
Franknbeans,
No, freelance means you are under a contract that can be terminated at the whim of the employer. Sort of like being an English teacher in Japan - you're a freelance English teacher. Then you get fired but you're still freelance.
akaguma
thank you. that bottle of vintage dom perignon has just been wasting away down in the cellar
Balefire
franknbeans,
"Freelance" in this case means that, unlike most announcers, MCs, anchorpeople, TV presenters, etc., who work as employees of the TV Stations or networks, she is one of the relatively few people who (usually because they become popular enough to believe that they can do so) decide to quit and work as independents. She used to work for TBS.
Usually but not always going freelance in that industry means joining a talent agency. Typically the pay is much better than it would be for a company employee announcer, plus they theoretically have more options for work--any and all TV stations/networks and multiple time slots--than they would have if they were working for a single employer.
TheNewZen
For me freelance means a person that is not directly employed nor send via an agency. But self-employed.