Kyoko Uchida announces she's pregnant

Must be a really slow day for this to be considered "newsworthy".

Down Town’s Masashi Hamada

MasaTOSHI Hamada.

Thanks for the 'news', Kyoko.

This girl Uchida bothers me for some reason. I get the feeling she thinks she's a model, actress, etc. which she isn't.

“Gout Temps Nouveau" Does this mean temporary new gout? I have gout, and it is not temporary. I hope she has a cute baby.

yelnats> it means "taste time new", if you translate literally. in normal english would say " time of new taste"

This really annoys me actually - why in the world do you feel the need to leave your job just because you are pregnant? My sister in law did this at 2 months and she didnt have any morning sickness or anything. I cant stand this Japanese attitude towards pregnant women - they shouldn`t be seen on TV, in the office, nothing.

kirakira: agreed, but maybe she wanted to quit? even in europe some women prefer to quit and concetrate only in family life. as longer this is personal choice dont see any problem...

thats wonderful...who is she again ?

She had a wedding reception but not a wedding? That's strange. Oh well, congrats to them both.

This girl Uchida bothers me for some reason. I get the feeling she thinks she's a model, actress, etc. which she isn't.

She's pretty though : )

marushka: agreed too, but in my experience and that of my Japanese friends it is generally not a personal choice. I was fired from my job when I first got pregnant (training) because - no joke - "it doesnt look professional, a pregnant woman giving training courses in a business environment". Up to that point I had had rave reviews from customers, bonuses and thank you letters - but suddenly (when I contested it) the "real" reason was given: my work wasnt "up to scratch". They know they can fire you for that but not for being pregnant.

kirakira25, her co-member on the show, Makiko Esumi, is still working, and is beautifully pregnant. Don't know why Uchida thought she had to leave, but as marushka said, she probably just wanted to concentrate on her family, and not deal with the geinokai. This is Makiko Esumi's second child I think, so she's probably used to it.

Ah, you could have a point there terebiko! When you have your first, you feel like a "precious vessel" - delicate and entirely ready to sacrifice everything for your firstborn. By the time you are on your second or third, things are somewhat different!

I think even with beautiful, intelligent, professional working women, the soon-to-be obaasan also has a lot more influence over them than many would care to admit! Maybe her mother ordered her to give up work?!

Actually I am also being very judgemental here - I apologise. The girl may have medical issues we don`t know about, or appalling morning sickness. Please ignore my over-opinionated rantings!

kirakira25: i am sorry to hear about such unfair attitude towards you. I think as longer it is personal woman’s choice to quite her job- it is fine, but if it is about mobbing – then some actions need to be done in order to stop it.

But what surprise me, even in Europe some ladies who have quit their jobs, are very negative towards those who want to continue their career even with kids

are very negative towards those who want to continue their career even with kids

A lot of it is jealousy. A lot of it is also because, even though some people make these personal choices, they are not convinced they have made the right choice for them (or haven`t been able to make a choice at all) and feel the need to dress down someone who makes a different choice in order to make themselves feel better.

My Mum actually admitted to this quite recently. She was very vocal against working mothers, but admitted to me recently she felt resentful of these women who DID have a career. She felt they had a more fulfilling life than she did. I wasn`t remotely offended - I understand how she feels now being a mum myself.

I am not a Japanese mum, but I am a working foreign mum, married to a Japanese, living a very Japanese life, here for 7 years now, with a lot of working and non-working mum friends. The one thing that absolutely EVERYONE has in common, regardless of what side of the fence they sit on, is that they all seem to think the grass is greener on the other side, me included!

Some of my friends tell me they really want to work but their mother in laws or mothers forbid them! Others are technically "forced" out - a very intelligent, experienced friend returned to work after maternity leave to find herself making coffee and typing reports (she ran the department before her pregnancy). On the other hand, I have met people who have told me their only ambition in life is to "get married/get pregnant so I can give up work".

Virtually all my western mum friends are working. Virtually none of my Japanese friends are. I think there are three things at play - culture, attitude, and opportunity. If I had 1000 yen for every Japanese woman I met coming to me for English practice because she was forced out of her job when she got pregnant and thinks learning English will help her get a leg up back into the workforce one day, I wouldn`t have to work at all!

I should just add that I am NOT against working mums or stay at home mums at all - I am just against people not being allowed a choice.

It is always very interesting to read your comments. I am completely agree if woman prefers to stay home or return to professional life, in both case scenarios it should be her personal choice and certainly in order to do her career and family life, some state infrastructures // support needed to be establish