Singer Koji Tamaki, 50, and actress Mariko Ishihara, 45, registered their marriage in Tokyo on Wednesday, just several weeks after re-uniting for the first time in 23 years. Media converged outside Tokyo station on Wednesday to interview the couple who held hands from start to finish. Ishihara was quiet but all smiles leaving Tamaki to do most of the talking. He said he was really happy and that he would take care of Ishihara forever.
The pair’s relationship first came to light in 1985 when Tamaki was already married. They stopped seeing each other the next year, marking an end to their four-year relationship. Ishihara revealed in her 2006 autobiography that she suffered from domestic violence at the hands of Tamaki during their time together
Tamaki’s singing career has been on hold since late 2007 when he was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis. Ishihara emailed Tamaki on Valentine’s Day this month and ended up going to Karuizawa to check on his health, seeing him for the first time in 23 years. Tamaki said: “When she came to help me, it was like a miracle. I couldn’t believe it,” and said he proposed to her the same day. Their marriage is Tamaki’s fourth and Ishihara’s second.
© Japan Today
11 Comments
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noirgaijin
I give it six months. Not a good record staying married for either of them. Judging by the picture its a taxi they are riding off into the sunset in. Times must be lean for both, but I'm only assuming the worst....
akaguma
nice gimmick. bit late though. hold the cheese next time
seesaw
Wow. Some love stories. I thought it happens only in movies...I wish them lots of luck!
meanmutha
yawn... not news
LHommeQuiMent
I give it 6 weeks. Maybe they will re-unite again 25 years later, and it will be Tamaki's 8th and Ishihara's 6th.
Betting
She's going to marry the guy that belted her around? Jeez.
On tv yesterday (I think it was yesterday) Tamaki said he always had feelings for Ishihara. I heard that and thought it was such an insult to last wife. To me it'd be like saying, "Yeah, I could get the woman I wanted so I decided you'd be the next best thing". Fair enough he wants to get married again, no problem there, but to say such a think of tv was in bad taste. I definitely won't buy another of his CDs.
shouganaika
hahahaha, maybe this is it! true love at last!
Nessie
So basically he's marrying her because he needs a stay-home nurse. I hope he's loaded and goes quickly and painlessly.
Note to my legions of admirers: I perfer chocolates to pancreatitis on the holidays.
yomuri
so she chose to stay with a man that was married and he beat her for 4 years???
What a stupid woman
DenTok2009
Gosh... I like them both but didn't know they were a couple back in the 80's. I know at one point he was married to Hiroko Yakushimaru and I was surprised to find out they broke up. He's a singer who can play comedic roles. I'm disappointed to find out he slapped Mariko around. Well, maybe he took some anger management classes (like Chris Brown)...
Scrote
Tamaki said "he would take care of Ishihara forever".
That sounds ominous. I wonder how long it will be before he starts dishing out the beats again.