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Noriko Sakai, 38, seems to be settling into her new life as a Gunma college student majoring in nursing and welfare, making new friends among classmates who call her “Nori-P” and spending more time outside the confines of her home.
She has already made the statement to relevant parties that she intends to submit her divorce notification on Dec 12 when the court ruling will be handed to her partner of 11 years. Her ex-husband-to-be, Yuichi Takaso, is expected to relinquish custody of their only son to Sakai.
What Sakai faces now is the problem of securing an income. Not only has she lost the "mamadoru" (mother idol) status and her annual revenue rumored to be about 100 million yen, sources in the entertainment industry say that she has already suffered a loss of 500 million yen, including payment of damages for breach of contract to TV advertisement sponsors and cancellation of orders she had placed to launch her own fashion brand, to name a few. “While she may not be held accountable for all moneys owed, her agency will surely demand that she pay part of the debts incurred,” says an entertainment reporter.
Resident taxes, which amount to 10% of taxable earnings to be paid next year, will add to the heavy burden as well. An acquaintance comments, “She cannot expect financial aid from her stepmother and the president of a construction company who have supported her since her arrest. Takaso is unreliable as he practically lives off his parents’ money, so she’ll have no choice but to sell the condominiums in Tokyo that she owns,” according to a source in the industry.
She also has her young son to consider as well as her stepmother who is rumored to be ill. The aforementioned insider points out that there is no way Sakai can support her family and herself financially by becoming a social care worker. “The possibility of her comeback to the entertainment business has nothing to do with her wishes, but an obligation she’s going to have to fulfill.”
And preparations already seem to be under way. “In China and Taiwan, music therapy, a method of healing ailments through relaxing music has become common. Those in the Chinese entertainment industry are considering ways to make business out of Sakai on the premise that social care and nursing can be interpreted to incorporate therapy through music. Needless to say, the work will involve concerts and releasing CD albums, meaning that her activities there may be considered the same as that of any pop singer. Apparently, negotiations with her former agency have already begun.
Under the circumstances, Sakai’s only hope for financial self-reliance is the Chinese market. It would also make sense that her enrollment at the university had been the initial step in that direction. It may not be too far in the future that her new songs will be "imported" from overseas.
© Japan Today
15 Comments
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TumbleDry
Her story gives me headaches. I hope her CD works...
PepinGalarga
Seems like they got this all figured out...
The758
Heck, I'll marry her. She's cute : )
ronaldk
I will support you my dear. Also, I know more than a few impoverished English teachers in Japan who could use a comeback in China eikaiwa market. Any word on salaries over there.
gogogo
Wow more yakuza involvement.
tarento
The AV industry is always looking for new "talent".
stirfry
who is she again ?
nath
$1,000,000 a year. Nice
dolphingirl
Financial woes! Oh, boo hoo for her. If she's been making 100 million yen for the last decade or so she's not exactly in the poor house. Selling a couple of condos. Yeah, that's real tough too.
Why can't she support herself and her son by being a social worker? And since when is a comeback an obligation? From all that I've heard about this woman, it doesn't sound like she makes any decisions for herself.
anon99
Glad I found this -- was about to get this Shukan Post copy... Since the original article covers a page or so, I believe that's basically the whole article being presented. Nice job, JT.
Sure enough. And I still couldn't understand this alliance between Yamaguchi (herself) and Sumiyoshi (her backers) in this scandal...
Just wondering, how many more properties does she own, and how much mortgage does she still need to pay? Aoyama The Tower and Fukasawa Park House are already two very expensive ones according to the press... is there a third one out there??
AFAIK, most women are like that. IMO, A celeb probably has less control over her private lives etc. because of various circumstances.
nath
And her plight is noteworthy, why?
timorborder
Talking about the China connection, I don't know how willing the Chinese Communist Party would be with regard to the idea of a convicted druggie targeting Chinese youth with her brand of entertainment. Historically, the communists have been rather touchy about such subjects.
pawatan
Considering a huge amount of that is eaten in tax, and considering the article says she already suffered a 500m loss, I bet she doesn't have much money at all.
And 'owning condos' probably means 'making payments on condos'; I doubt she bought them outright. Losing everything due to her husband being an ass and getting caught with a near-microscopic amount of illegal drugs hardly seems right, though I guess schadenfreude trumps that for most people.
hakujinsensei
life's hard and then you die. she led a charmed life for plenty of time to sock away some dough. I do think that she was treated ridiculously with the whole drug thing but to insinuate that she has money troubles when so many are struggling just to buy rice n kerosene is a bit absurd. she will have to sell some real estate? what a joke and beyond that it seems she entered college rather suddenly... entrance exam? she still has plenty of people blocking for her it seems ; ) all the best nori-p
ratpack
Who cares????