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Japanese TV presenter Rei Kikukawa’s multimillionaire businessman husband, whom she married only a month ago, is in hot water after weekly tabloid Shukan Bunshun reported this month that he has four children out of wedlock, two of whom were born in the same year to different women, while he also had a serious relationship with a minor simultaneously while he was married to his former wife.
The scandal broke with the release of the weekly magazine’s May 10 edition, in which it revealed that Yoshiteru Akita, 48 — Kikukawa’s husband and a prominent Japanese businessman — had three out-of-wedlock children with two different women. In the follow-up version of the scoop this week, the magazine further revealed that they were contacted by a third woman, referred to as “Keiko,” who reportedly said she had borne Akita a child several years before his other children were born, and had been in a relationship with him since she was 17. At the time, Akita was married with a different woman.
Though it is not illegal in Japan to have a child outside marriage, the tabloid questioned Akita’s behavior, focusing on the fact that two of the children were born in the same year, 2012, to two different women, and the fact that he had been in a physical relationship with a minor.
Akita is the former CEO of major IT service company Kakaku.com and recipe website Cookpad, and currently manages the wedding service Minna no Kekkon and real estate service O-uccino. He is a well-known multimillionaire in the Japanese business world, whose assets are estimated at over 20 billion yen.
According to Shukan Bunshun, Akita hasn’t legally recognized any of the children and is not paying monthly child allowance regularly.
The magazine reported that Akita began his relationship with “Keiko” in 2004, while he was still married. The girl was still in high school and was working part-time at a bar in the countryside, saving money for college in Tokyo. Akita met her at the bar and brought her back to Tokyo, securing her a weekly apartment and supported her financially. The two had been reportedly in a relationship until 2012, by which time she had already given birth to his daughter. However, in 2012, he ended the relationship suddenly by discontinuing contact with her.
In the same year, Akita reportedly started dating “Chiaki” and “Ayako,” (also pseudonyms) both of whom became pregnant by him in the same year and gave birth. Akita had a second child with “Chiaki” in 2015. He married Kikukawa on April 27 this year.
According to Shukan Bunshun, Kikukawa’s management agency has confirmed that she “is aware” of the existence of all four children, though Kikukawa herself has not released any statements, nor referred to the scandal as of present.
Kikukawa, who started her career as a model and actress, is currently a newscaster on the popular morning Fuji TV morning program “Tokudane,” and is one of the best known TV personalities in Japan.
© Japan Today
27 Comments
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wtfjapan
As for Kikukawa, she is either very open minded or extremely naive. even she knows her celebrity career will probably only last as long as her youth does. Love is blind, money can make you deaf , dumb , blind & mute
nandakandamanda
In hot water with whom? His wife does not seem bothered, but that's what the headline suggests. In fact what is this article about?
Thunderbird2
If I was her I'd ditch him... but then again I doubt it was a marriage based on love anyway lol
goldorak
Find it weird that adult men/women who, apparently (at least the dude), only wanted to have fun did not use any contraception, not even the old time fav 'coitus interreptus' (or perhaps he/they did but got the timing all wrong).
As for Kikukawa, she is either very open minded or extremely naive.
Angus McGillicuddy
You've got your facts garbled, @Jonathon Prin. The national government sets 13 as the minimum age any prefecture is allowed to set the age of consent, but every prefecture has set that age of consent at 18. Hope you haven't been "taking advantage" of your misunderstanding ...
Pukey2
typo: worst - worse
ThonTaddeo
Quite a name considering this man's view on marriage!
Thunderbird2
Darja... 17 is a minor, that's the law.
Mike L
What a stand up guy!
All that cash but now for his kids.
Jalapeno
He's a gajillionaire. What do you expect?
gogogo
What a selfish POS
Alistair Carnell
Remember, with great amounts of money, comes no responsibility...
This guy sounds like the Japanese Trump.
PSandoz
"Though it is not illegal in Japan to have a child outside marriage ..."
Pardon me, but does this suggest that the writer is suggesting that it should be illegal in the future, or is it just admitting that Japan is the same as basically every other non-theocracy — heaven forbid!
thepersoniamnow
To you of you who seem to be so impressed with him...
Whats the big deal about sleeping with and cheating on people, taking advantedge of minors, and fathering multiple children?
Last I checked those things are easy!
Its harder to be faithful, keep your mind in check, and lead a responsible life isn't it?
lostrune2
Man's every hero
Andrew Crisp
The guy's getting around like a rabbit on heat the woman are lining up to have kids with him - what a legend
Strangerland
So the guy slept around? Pretty much any multimillionaire would.
Not paying for the kids however, particularly with his assets, is unforgivable.
And sleeping with a minor should be a prosecutable offense.
kohakuebisu
Some people are getting downarrowed but by definition, the age of consent is the age at which consent can be given. So sex with a minor is sex without consent because a minor is legally incapable of giving it. The act is a form of rape. Note that the law recognizes that this is not the same the better-known form of rape where you physically force yourself onto the victim, and the fact that the girl was 17 will be taken into account. This is also the case with rape of an intoxicated victim.
As for the story, you would have thought the "Tokudane" program she is on would have many contacts in the press, including the grubby press, and so it's likely she'd have been told of the guy's reputation, if not the specifics.
sensei258
Isn't isn't that also known as statutory rape? But they'll never even bother to try him since they know he'll get a suspended sentence anyway.
Pukey2
Jesus, this guy is worst than the previous Tokyo governor!
tiger_tanaka
This news does not surprise me. It is common for the shacho to have many girlfriends at the same time especially since the shacho is seen as financially stable. Some of my business aquaintances follow a similar lifestyle. Whether right or wrong it is not up to me to make judgement.
GyGene
Wha' a jerk.
Tokyo-Engr
What sucks is this guy sired one kid with the 17 year old and then vanished, leaving her alone at that age (presumably without financial support) to look after the little one. I hope he is at least supporting the children. If he is not he is a total dirtbag.
Jonathan Prin
Age of consent for girls in Japan is 13, enjoy !
(At least in some remote part of Japan).
Please check.
Then, 100% sure leg spreading relationship for money is very conventional in Japan
Darja Diduch
I was always uneasy about relationship with minors since it's a very controversial topic and yes he should have known better but even though she's technically not an adult in japan, the age of consent is much lower than one would expect. Plus 17 is hardly a child anymore, although naive and most of the time emotionally vulnerable. But so are 18 and even 20 year old girls. She admitted she was in a relationship with him, not that he was making her. Dude's rich, don't make those girls seem so angelic. Although I don't know exactly, she could have been in it for the money. Although technically illegal, kids these days, they put themselves in those situations willingly. They have heads on their shoulders, they're more than capable of taking advantage of someone themsleves rather than being taken advantage of.