<figure id="attachment_286869" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-286869" style="width: 3352px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="1459743f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/12/aflo_78105416.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-286869" class="wp-caption-text">Masahiro Higashide and Erika Karada, who had an affair in &#8217;20. For a time, their work dried up, but&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
 Masahiro Higashide&#8217;s name has been seen more and more often here.
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 On December 9, the movie in which he starred, &#8220;Ceiling Flowers &#8211; Tatsuji Miyoshi Sho,&#8221; was released and was well received.
 The movie &#8220;Tobenai Fuusen&#8221; in which he also stars is scheduled to be released on New Year&#8217;s Day 2011, and TV commercials for the movie &#8220;Winny,&#8221; scheduled to be released in March, have begun.
 There are also scattered magazine interviews, giving the impression that Higashide has begun to make a full-fledged effort to revive his career.
 Recall that it will soon be two full years since &#8220;Shukan Bunshun&#8221; reported the affair between Higashide and Erika Karada. During that time, whether good or bad, there has been no break in the news about Higashide.
 Immediately after the report of his hiatus, he was forced to cancel his commercials and refrain from acting as well. When his divorce from Anne was finalized in August 2008, the situation was settled and he began to show signs of recovery, but in October 2009, despite the COVID-19 crisis, he invited her to the location of a film he was starring in, which was being shot in a rural area. However, in October of the following year, Shukan Bunshun (Weekly Bunshun) again reported that he had invited her to the location of a movie he was starring in despite the Corona disaster.
 As expected, his agency was furious and terminated his contract. In an interview, Higashide revealed his feelings at the time, saying that it was a very tough time for him.
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 He now lives deep in the mountains near the Kanto region, hunting. Whenever there is filming, he goes down to the mountains, but in spite of all the criticism he has received, he continues to appear in films one after another, and even in the lead roles. A film writer asked why.
 According to a film writer, &#8220;As was the case when the affair was reported, there are several directors who are buying him and they are pushing him. Also, people who have worked with him say, &#8220;He&#8217;s a shitty guy, but you can&#8217;t hate him.
 I heard that he even went to the set to get lunches for the staff and handed them out, and he is well liked by his co-stars and staff.
 At the same time, some say that her acting has improved.
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Like Higashide, her lover, Eri Karada, has also been &quot;getting better&quot; at acting..."></div>
The first requirement for remaining in the entertainment industry is, above all, to be loved by everyone. No matter how good you are, if people don&#8217;t like you, no one will help you when you stumble.
 It&#8217;s like the saying, &#8220;If there is a god, there is a god to pick you up,&#8221; but if you are well-liked, someone will help you when you are in a tight spot.
 It will be a long time before he returns to dramas, but I think he may have found a way out.
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 And when Higashide is in the news, this person is also in the news. Karada, with whom Higashide was having an affair.
 When the affair was reported, she dropped her regular appearances in dramas and the fashion magazine for which she was an exclusive model. The damage must have been far greater than for Higashide.
 However, in September 2009, she resumed her acting career after an 18-month absence, starring in a short film &#8220;something in the air&#8221; to be presented at the &#8220;Rakuten Fashion Week TOKYO 2022 S/S&#8221; (Tokyo Collection) fashion show. In November this year, &#8220;Nouhou, Nagare&#8221;, her first film starring a leading role in three years, was released.
 The film was highly anticipated as Karada&#8217;s return to the screen, but some movie theaters canceled the film after only two weeks. The reason was that the attendance was so low.
 There are still movie theaters showing the film, and I don&#8217;t think it was Mr. Karada&#8217;s fault that there were no customers. But the Netflix drama &#8220;Queen of Extreme Evil,&#8221; which began filming before the movie&#8217;s release, has had its shooting postponed. This is because co-star Yuriyan Retriever was hospitalized after sustaining injuries, including a hard blow to her back and head, and it is said that filming will not resume until next spring or later.
 In addition, the movie in which he starred, &#8220;Corpse Man (tentative),&#8221; in which he took a physical risk by playing a delivery girl, is said to be in danger of being put on hold. In July 2009, it was reported that the director&#8217;s wife was receiving unemployment insurance while earning an income.
 (A reporter for a women&#8217;s magazine) &#8220;It is not a lucky thing that she has finally returned to work after a long period of self-restraint, but according to the entertainment industry executive mentioned above, &#8220;The office that made her firmly refrain from activities is not a good thing.
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 According to a senior entertainment industry executive, &#8220;I think it was a good move by the office to have him refrain from his activities. The public&#8217;s interest in this kind of affair wanes as time goes by, so it is important to time your return to work properly. Although there is still some condemnation on the Internet, there are more and more people who support him.
 Karada herself has a good reputation in the industry, and even if it is still difficult for her to return to TV, I think she will receive more offers for movies. It is fortunate that the affair did not develop into a messy divorce drama that would affect her later on. I think it was all thanks to Anne.&#8221;
 Although she probably had a lot to say, Anne divorced quickly and kept silent about her &#8220;grudges&#8221; against Higashide and Karada, as well as the noise from the weekly magazines and others. She has now moved to France and is said to be enjoying both her work and private life.
 It takes time for an adulterous couple in the entertainment industry who have been penalized to return to work, but in this case, the &#8220;victim&#8221; Anzu&#8217;s &#8220;refusal to say anything&#8221; may have saved them both.

 Born in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, Hiroyuki Sasaki became a reporter for FRIDAY at the age of 31, reporting numerous scoops during his time with FRIDAY and later working mainly for weekly magazines. Recently, he also appears on TV and radio as a commentator.

 Hiroyuki Sasaki (Entertainment Journalist)

 Reuters/Afro

 Masahiro Higashide and Erika Karada had an affair in 2008. The two were sidelined from their work due to the turmoil, but they are now showing signs of a comeback. Behind the scenes, Higashide and his divorced ex-wife, Anzu, are...

Masahiro Higashide and Erika Karada are showing signs of &#8220;coming back&#8221; thanks to their &#8220;ex-wife, Anzu,&#8221; who has remained silent.

Masahiro Higashide and Erika Karada are showing signs of “coming back” thanks to their “ex-wife, Anzu,” who has remained silent.

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