Popular veteran singer Akiko Wada gave her opinion this week on former Morning Musume singer Mari Yaguchi’s illicit affair, saying that the 30-year-old singer should apologize to her fans.
The scandal became public in May when Josei Seven reported that Yaguchi’s husband, actor Masaya Nakamura, 27, had come home one day in February and found Yaguchi in bed with Kenzo Umeda, a 25-year-old model.
Nakamura and Yaguchi have been living separately since then and their divorce was finalized on May 30.
Yaguchi made a vague apology during an appearance on a TV variety show on May 23 but has dropped out of sight since, claiming that she is suffering from acute gastroenteritis. Meanwhile, Umeda deleted his Twitter account, as well as his personal blog.
At a rehearsal for a 45th anniversary concert on Wednesday, Wada was asked by reporters if she had any advice for Yaguchi. “First, she needs to issue an apology for causing trouble,” Wada said. “Just sending a fax saying ‘I’m sorry’ is not enough, either. Furthermore, if she has really been sick all this time, then that is a bigger cause for worry.”
The tabloids have been reporting that Yaguchi and Umeda are still seeing each other. “The timing is bad,” said Wada. “If she wishes to return to showbiz, she needs to have a cooling off period. Her management will decide that, not her, so she can’t run around doing as she wishes and expect to resume her career. It is not as if she broke any laws but she has ignored the rules of showbiz.”
japantoday