Ryoko Hirosue, divorced from chef Shusaku Toba, has left him and moved abroad with her children.

She said, “I’m back in Japan. ……

Actress Ryoko Hirosue, 43, was 20 years old when she filmed the movie “WASABI” overseas. In an interview 17 years later, she reflected on her life back home that way.

On July 23, she announced her divorce from her husband, Candle Jun (49). She has returned to her home in Tokyo and is enjoying her private life despite her house arrest, going shopping with her mother, who came over from Kochi, and taking her children to school.

Recently, I saw him walking happily with his friends. The other day, she was greeting her neighbors in a normal way, and I got the impression that she is spending her time leisurely.

Meanwhile, Shusaku Toba, 45, with whom she is having an affair, is said to be living in Nagano Prefecture.

I hear that Mr. Toba is currently living and working with staff at an old private house restaurant that he opened as part of a village revitalization effort. Although he was criticized for serving a salmon set meal that costs 3,000 yen, he seems to be doing better than he was at one time, as his lunch menu is sometimes filled with reservations.

The amount of compensation Mr. Toba has been saddled with as a result of the recent affair is said to be over 500 million yen, which is rumored to be more than that of Hirosue. Mr. Toba originally made a name for himself with his French restaurant, but now it seems that he is just trying to earn his daily bread at his old private house restaurant.

He says, “I think I was good at making money all at once by developing multiple businesses as a celebrity chef, instead of steadily gathering customers by having them eat my food. But because of that, I didn’t get regular customers who were enthusiastic enough to want to eat Toba-san’s cuisine every day. If he had such fans, he could have remained at the forefront of French cuisine even after what happened this time. ……” (a business associate who knows Mr. Toba)

Furthermore, in the event of a divorce, his own wife may demand alimony for the affair. Mr. Toba’s chance for a comeback lies overseas.

There are many restaurants abroad, such as Singapore and Dubai, that employ Japanese chefs at high salaries. Now that the image business in Japan has failed, it will be extremely difficult to revive the business in Japan. He may be at the end of his rope working under the scrutiny of the media and the public.

Mr. Toba is losing both his economic power and his reputation. However, Mr. Toba is said to be as positive about remarrying Hirosue as he was before the media report.

Toba is financially strapped, but right now he is more interested in being with Hirosue. I think his ideal is to rebuild his life with her.”

However, despite Toba’s excitement, it is said that Hirosue’s enthusiasm for Toba may have cooled.

In fact, Hirosue has not told anyone about her future with Mr. Toba. They have probably not met since the affair was first reported. Even while under house arrest, he even threw a birthday party for himself and invited his good friends, so if his feelings for Mr. Toba are continuing, it is hard to imagine such a situation. Mr. Toba seems to keep telling everyone around him that they will definitely be together, but I think that may also be the flip side of his anxiety. ……” (Entertainment industry insider who knows the two)

The relationship between Hirosue and Mr. Toba is hanging in the balance, but if Mr. Toba decides to go abroad, will Hirosue go along with him?

She may be more positive than expected,” said Toba. She has long expressed her desire to move abroad in interviews, and two years ago she sent her oldest son, who was a high school student at the time, to study in the United States. It seems that she wants to give her children an environment where they are not treated as ‘Ryoko Hirosue’s children.

She is particularly fond of France, where she filmed the movie “WASABI” at the height of her popularity in her twenties. Even after returning to Japan, she could not forget her life in France, and at the announcement of the film production, she even cried because of the difference between life in Japan and France. Later, in an interview with a women’s magazine, she described her experience in France as follows.

In an interview with a women’s magazine later, she said of her experience in France: “I felt like I was looking at the person straight on, without any preconceptions. At first they treated me like a ‘little girl from Japan,’ but as the shoots went on, there were moments and moments when I was recognized as an actress, and it was a world where age and career were irrelevant.”

It was a world where age and career did not matter.” Her life in France more than 10 years ago remains vivid in her mind.

At the time, she had her hands full with domestic jobs and turned them down, but at the time of the film shoot, she had already received several offers from abroad. And she can speak French to some extent because of the filming of the movie. Last fall, actress Anne (37) moved to France with her children, and I heard that she was quite envious of them.

If Hirosue moves to France, French chef Mr. Toba’s dream of remarrying Hirosue will grow. …… Hirose, who is probably living a peaceful life and searching for the future with his children, and Mr. Toba, who is aiming to get back on track. Where will the slapstick affair involving both families end up?

From the August 11, 2023 issue of FRIDAY