Popular Screenwriter of Morning Drama & “DCU” in Huge Lawsuit with Former Adulterous Partner

It is like a love-hate drama: Yumiko Aoyagi, 52, a screenwriter who has been active at the forefront of screenwriting for more than 25 years, has found herself in a drab court case with a former adulterous lover.

Mr. Aoyagi is a successful scriptwriter who has worked on more than 20 TV dramas. He came into the limelight in 2003 when he took charge of NHK’s TV series ”Kokoro” at the age of 33, the youngest ever to do so. This spring, he is in charge of “DCU” (TBS), a Sunday theater series starring Hiroshi Abe (58). The show received high acclaim, recording an average rating of 14.4%,” said a source in the entertainment industry.

What is the bogged-down trial that Mr. Aoyagi, who has such an illustrious career, is facing? The trouble began in 2004, when Mr. Aoyagi fell in love with a “wayward love.

Around the spring of 2004, Mr. Aoyagi met Mr. A (in his 40s), the president of a trading company that imports luxury goods, at a gym he attended. At the end of the same year, they became man and woman, and their relationship continued until the fall of 2008. From the time of their relationship, Mr. A had a wife and children, but Mr. Aoyagi was aware of this. Mr. Aoyagi himself also told Mr. A that he had a partner.

However, their relationship came to an end when Mr. A confided to Mr. Aoyagi that he wanted to redo his relationship with his wife after he suffered a stroke.’ In September 2008, they got into a heated argument, which escalated to the point that the police were dispatched to the scene. In December of the same year, Mr. A was indicted by the prosecutors.

According to court records, “During the argument in September ’20, Mr. Aoyagi was punched multiple times in the face by Mr. A and kicked repeatedly in the side of his head. He submitted a medical report with multiple bruises and lacerations, in addition to broken ribs, and claimed to have suffered injuries that would require a total healing time of four weeks. Mr. A, on the other hand, countered that he kicked her only once, and submitted as evidence the security camera footage showing Mr. Aoyagi walking out of the apartment on her own feet and the absence of bloodstains at the scene.

The verdict was issued on September 15 of this year. The Tokyo District Court ruled that Mr. A’s evidence was insufficient and sentenced him to two years in prison and a three-year suspended sentence for the crime of assault,” said a judicial reporter for a national newspaper.

Mr. A appealed against the sentence. The trial is still ongoing. In June 2009, Mr. A filed a civil suit against Mr. Aoyagi, and the case has become a quagmire.

The October 14 issue of “FRIDAY” reported on the details of the “swampy legal battle” between the two.

From the October 28 and November 4, 2022 issues of FRIDAY