A Tale of Two Paths: Chef Shusaku Toba and Ryoko Hirosue’s Post-Scandal Lives

Chef Shusaku Toba, who has been in the middle of the double adultery scandal with actress Ryoko Hirosue, appeared on the Sio group’s YouTube channel Sizzle Channel on November 4.

 

At the beginning of the broadcast, he said, 

“I’m sorry to keep you all waiting for a while. I am Shusaku Toba, a.k.a. Umashi-Uma Otoko!”

He continued,

“I really apologize to the fans who have been looking forward to the show for a long time after taking a break.”

He apologized in a cheerful tone. The message read,

“I haven’t posted on YouTube in 5 months due to various reasons.”

and a message from chef Tomomi Ogura, who is a good friend of his.

“The most famous chef in Japan seems to be in Yoyogi Uehara.”

He also made a joke about the June incident between Hirosue and Shusaku Toba.

 

The affair with Hirosue that took place in June was a catastrophe in which even their love diary was leaked. Hirosue is divorced from her ex-husband, Jun Izutsu, and is currently on an indefinite hiatus.

Toba also resigned from all important positions in the Sio group and reverted to being an ichi (number one) chef. He continues to work in the kitchen at the NAGANO restaurant he opened in Nagano Prefecture, as well as at other restaurants in Tokyo.

A person who knows Mr. Toba said

“Even when he was under fire for the riot, he was bold enough to say, ‘I’m only a chef.’ As expected, he has refrained from speaking out since he started getting hammered by the mass media, but he is absolutely confident in his skills.”

“In fact, compared to Ms. Hirosue, whose career was severely damaged, and Mr. Jun, who had to get divorced, he has suffered less damage. He is set to open a family restaurant in Harajuku, Tokyo, in the spring of next year, which he produced himself.”

He reveals, “I am planning to open a family restaurant in Harajuku, Tokyo, in spring of next year.”

In fact, he is even planning to open a restaurant on the West Coast of the U.S., taking advantage of the Japanese food boom.

According to a person involved in the culinary industry,

“The contract has already been signed. Overseas expansion is one of Mr. Toba’s dreams. He will be even busier next year than he was this year when the affair took place.”

So, what is of interest is the current relationship with Hirosue?

Compared to a period of time, the “heat” on each other seems to have cooled, but they are said to be in touch. Hirosue is also a mother of three children, but according to a reporter who interviewed Mr. Toba,

“She was very proud to say that her children are also close to her,” 

However, it cannot be said that she remarried immediately. 

“Mr. Toba also has a child with his wife. He has special circumstances at home in addition to his infidelity, so it is unlikely that they will divorce anytime soon.” A person who knows Mr. Toba mentioned.

Hirosue, too, has not yet made a decision on resuming her activities. In the midst of the turmoil, an article was published expressing dissatisfaction with the policy of the president of their agency, which caused a crack in the relationship between the two.

“The president has been Ms. Hirosue’s manager for a long time. When the affair was reported, Ms. Hirosue wanted to express her honest opinion to the media, but the office, not wanting to stir things up, responded in a perfunctory manner.”

“It was Mr. Toba, not the office, who negotiated with Bunshun to stop further reports. Ms. Hirosue’s distrust is deep-rooted, and the distance between her and the office, once established, does not seem to be shrinking.” (Sports newspaper reporter) 

At one point, the words retire from show business were thrown around, but it appears that this is not an exaggeration.

 

“I heard that Ms. Hirosue received an offer for a photo book of Misogi’s work for an unbelievable fee, but she immediately turned it down. Currently, she is concentrating on raising her children and taking the initiative in socializing with her friends and participating in school events. She says that her divorce from Mr. Jun has made her feel more cheerful.”

Mr. Toba is very busy with his day job, and Hirosue is concentrating on raising her child.

It seems that the blindly running amok divorce fiasco has come to an end, and both parties are continuing to communicate with each other with a moderate sense of distance.