<figure id="attachment_353505" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-353505" style="width: 3644px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="a5a668e0"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/01/5ca290e0bfbfbb51ff475d11a1a95215.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-353505" class="wp-caption-text">At 6:00 a.m., Mr. Goto tries to hail a cab in front of Ms. A&#8217;s apartment. Just before this, they kissed in the dark.</figcaption></figure>
<p> What did &#8220;FRIDAY&#8221; report 10, 20, and 30 years ago? In &#8220;Playback Friday,&#8221; we take a look back at the topics that made headlines at the time. This time, we bring you a report from 20 years ago, in the January 23, 2004 issue, on the whole story of Representative Masazumi Goto&#8217;s &#8220;secret meetings with beautiful women and going home in the morning&#8221;.</p>
<p> At the time, Masazumi Goto, then 34, was in his second term in the House of Representatives, and his sweet mask made him one of the most handsome members of the political world. The previous year, a weekly magazine reported that he and actress Maki Mizuno (then 33) were &#8220;about to get married. The article reported that he was a playboy, true to his reputation.</p>
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<h3><span class="strongInContent"> A &#8220;street kiss&#8221; at 6:00 a.m.</span></h3>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> It seems that politicians do not only have &#8220;secret meetings&#8221; at restaurants and hotels.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In mid-December 2003, at the end of the year, a man in a navy blue suit was walking a little fast on a main street in the heart of Tokyo at 1:30 am, when not a soul was to be seen. Despite his background in politics, his face was somehow elegant. He is Mr. Masazumi Goto, a member of the House of Representatives. He was alone, with no secretary around him. What on earth was he doing here in the cold weather without a coat on? Walking at a brisk pace, the Representative entered an old apartment building facing an intersection. &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;</span></p>
<p> It was five hours later, after 6:00 a.m., when Mr. Goto emerged again from the entrance of the apartment, still dimly lit. But this time he was accompanied by a beautiful young woman in loungewear, arm in arm with him. In an article written at the time, he wrote as follows</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> &#8220;No way, the rumored Maki Mizuno? No, no. Her slender body reminded me of Mizuno, but her long hair was a completely different person. Ironically, there is a police box on the first floor of the apartment building. The deputies, mindful of the police box, jostle with her and head toward the main street in front of them. Then, boldly, he stitches his way through the eyes of the policemen on guard inside the police station and kisses her! He just stared at her, his hands around her waist and a satisfied smile on his face.</span></p>
<p> The woman he was kissing was Ako, a Japanese harp player who was attracting attention as an up-and-coming artist at the time. According to a source, &#8220;They have only recently started dating, but they are very close, and even when Mr. Goto is busy, they go to see each other.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Which is Mr. Goto&#39;s &quot;true love&quot;?"></div>
<p>When we interviewed Goto&#8217;s office at the time about Mr. Goto&#8217;s relationship with Ms. A, the answer was, &#8220;It&#8217; <span class="strongInContent">s private and Goto is single, so I have no comment</span>.</p>
<p> So how would Maki Mizuno, who was rumored to be in a relationship with Mr. Goto, respond? Mizuno visited Goto&#8217;s hometown, rode in his campaign car, and even gave a speech in support of him, leading some to ask, &#8220;Are you married?&#8221; It was reported that she was &#8220;getting married? Mizuno&#8217;s office responded to the magazine&#8217;s inquiry about her relationship with Goto as follows.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Goto-san and Mizuno have been friends since high school. It seems that he went to support the election with his own transportation expenses, hoping that he could be of some help. It&#8217;s friendship.</span></p>
<p> So, Goto&#8217;s true love is Ms. Ako? Was he and Mizuno an &#8220;election-time-only couple&#8221;?</p>
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<p> However, Goto&#8217;s &#8220;true love&#8221; was Mizuno. Three months after this article, in March 2004, the two were married, and a year later their first son was born.</p>
<p> However, even with Mizuno, who was said to be the &#8220;No. 1 actress I want as a bride,&#8221; as his &#8220;bride,&#8221; Mr. Goto&#8217;s popularity apparently had no effect on him. In 2011, Mr. Goto was once again photographed by this magazine in an indecent act at a bar with a hostess of a high-class club in Ginza.</p>
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<p> When interviewed directly by this magazine, he said <span class="strongInContent">, &#8220;I&#8217;m resigning from all the positions I&#8217;m currently accepting. I will be suspended for a while. This time, I am glad that Mr. Friday took pictures of me.</span> I <span class="strongInContent">really need to take this opportunity to reflect on my actions and get back on track,&#8221; said</span> Goto. True to his word, he subsequently resigned from all of his positions within the LDP.</p>
<p> Last May, Goto became governor of Tokushima Prefecture. He seems to be living separately from Mizuno and his eldest son, who lives in Tokyo, but it is unlikely that the &#8220;bad bug&#8221; will be making any more noise.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" They had a secret meeting in &#39;04 and again in &#39;11. ......"></div>
<figure id="attachment_353506" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-353506" style="width: 6188px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="a62c003d"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/01/e0794adc4ab21aca80ad441bc173fa4c.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-353506" class="wp-caption-text">Two people emerge from Ms. A&#8217;s apartment</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_353507" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-353507" style="width: 1974px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="8e8887bf"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/01/8d4a91a0d8e46d3fb16328405ba4e66d.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-353507" class="wp-caption-text"> A secret affair with a club hostess in Ginza. After having dinner at a Chinese restaurant, they went to a club where the woman worked. Then they went to a bar in Roppongi, which they visited afterwards. &#8230;&#8230; (June 17, &#8217;11 issue)</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_353508" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-353508" style="width: 652px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="167d3ecc"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/01/cd2a6d1e0b52a5ac7ce5e22280fd1218.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-353508" class="wp-caption-text"> They joked around on the floor for more than an hour (June 17, &#8217;11 issue).</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_353509" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-353509" style="width: 1180px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="71ddcf88"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/01/7fd81b428f3a67ab9c5523a36dc444fb.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-353509" class="wp-caption-text"> They kissed passionately without paying attention to the waitresses nearby. &#8230;&#8230; (June 17, &#8217;11 issue)</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_353510" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-353510" style="width: 1280px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="f33e6207"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/01/d50b22830f1d34879855ea8aa5078ce6.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-353510" class="wp-caption-text"> Mrs. Maki attended a party of her company, Toho Entertainment, in March &#8217;18.</figcaption></figure>


 Takahiro Kagawa (1st and 2nd photos), Takero Yuzumi, Sumio Todoroki, Toshikatsu Tanaka (6th photo)

 What did "FRIDAY" report 10, 20, and 30 years ago? In "Playback Friday," we take a look back at the topics that made headlines back then. This time, we look back 20 years ago to the January 23, 2004 issue of "A Popular Man in the Political World.

Playback &#8217;04] With a Woman Who Is Not Maki Mizuno&#8230;Representative Masazumi Goto &#8220;Secret Meeting with a Beautiful Woman and Going Home in the Morning&#8221;.

Playback ’04] With a Woman Who Is Not Maki Mizuno…Representative Masazumi Goto “Secret Meeting with a Beautiful Woman and Going Home in the Morning”.

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