Ai Fukuhara “vacationing in a swimsuit” with her eldest son at an ultra-luxury hotel in Singapore
Exclusive Scoop! Japan and Taiwan have been in the spotlight due to the "child extradition scandal! While her ex-husband's representative testified, "For the past year, no matter what I asked him about the child, he ignored me," her plans to move to a new place were steadily progressing.
The water’s surface extends far above the buildings, and the beautiful cityscape of Singapore, including the Merlion, can be seen below.
In the middle of this “pool in the sky,” loved by celebrities around the world, a glamorous woman in a bright aquamarine bathing suit was swimming with her baby boy.
I immediately recognized her as Ai Fukuhara, 34, because of her distinctive voice calling out to the boy, “A-kun, A-kun. A woman who appeared to be a friend of Fukuhara’s was also at the pool with her, taking pictures of the mother and child and looking very happy. I just wondered if she heard our conversation, ‘Oh, that’s definitely her, isn’t it?’ Mr. Fukuhara immediately put on his sunglasses and turned his back to us, as if he heard our conversation. He seemed to be concerned about his surroundings,” said X, a Japanese tourist who was there.
The “Pool in the Sky” is located on the rooftop of the Marina Bay Sands, an ultra-luxury hotel that costs at least 150,000 yen per night in high season, and is only available to hotel guests.
Mr. X wondered if Ms. Fukuhara was on vacation with her friends, but he soon realized that was not the case.
There was a beach chair near where Fukuhara and his friends were playing, and a man with long hair who was lying there asked, ‘Are you ready to get out of the pool? He was in his thirties, tanned, and had a nice smile on his face. He was in his 30s, tanned, and looked like the president of a venture company. The next morning, that long-haired man was also playing at the pool with Fukuhara-san and his son, so I think they were staying together.
This was at the end of June of this year.
About a month after this happy vacation, Fukuhara received a temporary restraining order from the Tokyo Family Court to hand over her eldest son to her ex-husband.
As is well known, Fukuhara’s ex-husband Chiang Hung-Chieh, 34, came to Japan urgently in response to this decision, holding a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan on July 27 and asking the media to demand that Fukuhara hand over the child to him.
Meanwhile, Fukuhara’s representative issued a “statement” on the same day as the press conference. They vehemently objected to the press conference, saying, “It is still the first trial and not the final decision of the family court,” and that they were “very surprised that the press conference was suddenly held when their lawyers have been in contact with each other and have never refused to communicate with each other.
Ms. Jiang’s side claimed that an ‘order for a temporary restraining order’ was issued regarding the delivery of the child. A ‘temporary restraining order’ is an order by the court to provisionally hand over the child before a formal result is reached in a trial. A temporary restraining order is issued when it is deemed ‘urgent. As Mr. Fukuhara’s side argues, the family court may not yet have issued a final ruling. Nevertheless, the family court has asked that the child be handed over to Ms. Jiang at once. No matter what the reason, under the circumstances, the child must be handed over to Ms. Jiang once,” said Gensa Takemori, an attorney who is familiar with divorce issues.
Aiko Ohbuchi, a lawyer representing Mr. Jiang, is indignant.
I read Mr. Fukuhara’s statement, but nowhere in it is there any response to our insistence that ‘the child should be handed over immediately in accordance with the temporary restraining order. I think this is a terrible bluff. He claims that he has never refused to contact us, but he only contacted us by proxy as necessary for the trial procedure. We have not heard from him since July 23, 2011, one week after he handed over his firstborn son to Mr. Fukuhara in Taiwan. After I sent him off on the promise of a summer vacation period, he did not reply to my inquiries about his eldest son’s condition and whereabouts, nor did he reply to my calls about the date, time, and place to pick him up. In the meantime, Mr. Fukuhara filed a petition with the Tokyo Family Court asking that custody of his eldest son be granted to him.”
Jiang has already returned to Taiwan, but he has read Fukuhara’s statement and is “very shocked,” Obuchi said.
The statement did not say anything about handing over his eldest son. This means that they have no intention of handing him over. There is no other way to take it.
Is moving abroad on the horizon?
At the press conference, Jiang’s side mentioned the name “Singapore” as Fukuhara’s whereabouts. It is said that Fukuhara had visited there several times with his eldest son over the past year.
Indeed, last summer, a post on the Chinese SNS “Weibo” revealed that Fukuhara was staying in Singapore by showing his location, which was reported by several media outlets.
In addition to the sighting at the “Pool in the Sky” mentioned earlier, this magazine also received the following information.
Ai Fukuhara seems to be sending her child to a pre-school in Singapore. I was wondering whose mama-chariot she was riding, which is very rare in Singapore. There were rumors among some people that she was planning to move to Singapore.
What is the reason for refusing to communicate about the extradition? Have they taken any legal action in response to the preservation order? Does he intend to move his living base to Singapore? This magazine asked Fukuhara’s office and his attorney, but received no response by the deadline. Lawyer Ohbuchi adds, “Fukuhara has asked the agency to take her eldest son with her.
We know that Mr. Fukuhara often visited Singapore with his eldest son. We are wondering whether he intends to live in Singapore from now on, or whether he will move to China. The statement in the case was addressed to China. We see the possibility that his future base of operations will be in Singapore or China.”
On August 1, Fukuhara’s agent again issued a statement. The press conference by Jiang nailed it, saying, “It appears that they are trying to bury Mr. Fukuhara socially,” but again, there was no mention of having any discussions about “extradition” this time.
What will be the outcome of the “child extradition scandal,” which is attracting a great deal of attention from Japan and Taiwan? Everything depends on Fukuhara.
From the August 18-25, 2023 issue of FRIDAY
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