<figure id="attachment_369510" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-369510" style="width: 2627px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="6886e659"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/04/a06eda7f6002910edc51447888d5da75.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-369510" class="wp-caption-text">As expected, her stomach looks heavy. But Hirosue was in good health itself (April 23, &#8217;04 issue).</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 were hot at the time. This time, we bring you <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;Ryoko Hirosue: Celebrating the birth of her child, &#8216;I took a picture of her last maternity appearance'&#8221; from</span> the April 23, 2004 issue, which was published 20 years ago.</p>
<p> In December 2003, Ryoko Hirosue (then 23) surprised all of Japan by suddenly holding a &#8220;marriage and pregnancy press conference&#8221; with model and designer Takahiro Okazawa (then 28). At the press conference, she revealed that she was due to give birth in May 2004, but this magazine had independently learned that the due date was April 2. This article reported on her appearance just before the due date. (Descriptions in parentheses are quoted from past articles.)</p>
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<h3><span class="strongInContent"> Window shopping with a big belly</span></h3>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Under a sweaty sunny sky, Hirosue enjoyed window shopping alone on Kotto-dori Avenue in Aoyama. Her steps are quite slow, as if she is very heavy with a stomach. After a while, perhaps tired from walking, she enters a café attached to a boutique. It seems that she was meeting someone here, and her friend joins her in the cafe.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> After an hour of chatting, she leaves the store with me and goes shopping again. Clothes, bags, general merchandise, jewelry &#8230;&#8230;. She peeked into every store that caught her eye from one end to the other. She may be a soon-to-be mother, but she is no different from any other 23-year-old woman when it comes to chatting and shopping.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Passersby on the street would notice Hirosue and turn to look at her, but she was so engrossed in her shopping that she didn&#8217;t care.</span></p>
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<p> But Hirosue is still in good spirits. According to the announcement, there is only about a month left until the due date, but according to information obtained by this magazine, the due date is the day after this date. And yet, as soon as she saw that the flow of cars had stopped, she was speeding across the street at a place that was not even a pedestrian crossing. It was so active that it made us nervous to watch, in case he had an accident.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" We went to the hospital! Is it finally time to give birth?"></div>
<p>When she eventually returned to the café, a car from her agency was waiting there, and Hirosue left her friends and got in.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> After driving for a while, she arrived at her obstetrician&#8217;s office. After all! She was probably going to be admitted to the hospital to prepare for the birth.</span></p>
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<p> However, this magazine&#8217;s prediction was completely betrayed. In the article at the time, a person involved in the production said the following.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Because her belly looked a little strange, she went to the hospital on April 1, the day before she was due, but in the end, it seems that the baby was not born at that time. According to the diagnosis, the baby is a little late and will be born on the 9th or 10th. She is eagerly awaiting the birth of her baby.</span></p>
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<p> In a fax sent to the media on the 12th, Hirosue commented as follows: &#8220;I have heard from many people about the birth.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In a fax sent to the media on January 12, Hirosue commented, &#8220;As I have heard from many people, the birth was very hard, but now I just can&#8217;t help but think how cute and loving she is. I am going to think about the name slowly after I get settled. From now on, the three of us, father and son, will work even harder together, and we would appreciate your support.&#8221;</span></p>
<p> Last year, he was suspended indefinitely following the adultery scandal and became independent from the office he had belonged to for 26 years. Although Hirosue had been absent from the public stage during that time, she returned to the public stage for the first time in 11 months at an event held at Tokyo Big Sight on April 17.</p>
<p> It is reported that she has decided to remarry within the year to chef Shusaku Toba (45), with whom she had an affair, but at the moment she is doing her best with her three children.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Maternity DE shopping ministry"></div>
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<figure id="attachment_369514" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-369514" style="width: 2423px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="f11e1a75"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/04/d0f091ef2062feaea105407803c77b64.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-369514" class="wp-caption-text">He had a smile on his face throughout the day (&#8217;04/4/23).</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_369511" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-369511" style="width: 3796px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="ed421e9b"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/04/9a78a346ad6c39c970fbd846892386e3.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-369511" class="wp-caption-text"> He must be taking good care of himself and walking around moderately. This is evidence that he is doing well (April 23, &#8217;04 issue).</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_369512" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-369512" style="width: 3354px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="0b857642"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/04/5642d5e1dcb726540b1e4ce0c25947b3.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-369512" class="wp-caption-text"> After spending time at a café with friends, she went window shopping (April 23, &#8217;04 issue).</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_369513" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-369513" style="width: 1901px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="fbfdd258"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/04/151e9f97a0f5ed61189e889bd61b3154.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-369513" class="wp-caption-text"> I was still on edge when I saw him crossing the street (April 23, &#8217;04 issue).</figcaption></figure>

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 Naomi Horikawa (1st, 3rd, 4th), Kaya Takeuchi (2nd, 5th)

 In this issue of Playback, we look back at what we reported 10, 20, and 30 years ago. In this issue, we take a look at Ryoko Hirosue's maternity look, as she went shopping in Aoyama in high spirits, even though it was "the day before her due date.

Playback ’04] Ryoko Hirosue was too active for maternity shopping the day before her due date…

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