From a race queen to an actress… showing off her breasts in a wet scene, and also shoulder 100 million yen on her ex-husband’s shoulders, the legend of Miss Reiko Takashima.

The commercial for “Yellow Cherry Blossom” aired in 1997, and it was this commercial that sealed Takashima’s popularity. Her glamorous appearance in a kimono, sipping a sake cup while shedding tears, captured the hearts of adult men. Takashima later commented on her tearful performance, “Actually, I was dumped by my boyfriend just before recording that commercial, so naturally my teary glands were relaxed. (Weekly Post, January 1, 2003 issue).

In 1999, Takashima became the fourth “Kyokudo no Tsumatachi” (Gokudo no Tsumatachi: Red Deadly Intent), following Shima Iwashita, Yukiyo Juju, and Yoshiko Mita. 35 years old and in her prime, Takashima’s appearance in kimono was well received, and she became one of Takashima’s most popular works. She became the fourth “Kyokusuma” (extreme wife) of the series.

Her husband’s arrest and divorce became a major scandal.

As mentioned above, she had been dating a man for many years, but the relationship broke up. Although there was no other news, she married Noboru Takachi in 1999, the same year she appeared in Kyokusuma. They wed in Hawaii and were known as a loving couple, but divorced in 2004. The reason was that Kochi was arrested for possession of methamphetamine and marijuana, and his adulterous partner was also arrested at that time. The arrest and divorce were widely reported at the time, partly due to the ironic fact that the partner was “a woman who used to be a race queen and has a great style” (Josei Seven, July 14, 2004 issue).

Even in the midst of this huge scandalous arrest and divorce, Takashima showed her “super-wife” charm. The couple lived in a mansion worth about 300 million yen, one-third of which was in Kochi’s name. If he were to repay the debt, it would amount to 110 million yen, including fees. Mr. Takashima took care of this debt in the form of property sharing.

In addition, “Recently, there are reports that a ‘meeting to encourage Kochi’ is being planned with Takashima’s backing,” according to a source in the entertainment industry (Sunday Mainichi, July 23, 2005 issue), “He (Kochi) is no good without me. I will take care of him until the end. I will take care of him until the end.'” (Shukan Bunshun, November 23, 2005 issue).

In recent years, Takashima has changed from her previous roles, playing the main character’s mother in the movie “Ichiban Aitai Hito” and the main character’s grandmother in “Watashi no Kaasan – Tenshi no Uta”. In the future, we can expect to see her as a mature woman with the sexiness and extreme wifely intensity that she once showed in the past.