Komatsu Nana’s Graceful Response Amid Return Criticism

“I’ve always thought being a painter or an artist would be nice. It’s a sweet idea to travel and paint at my own pace, regardless of location. It’s just a fantasy, though.”

On June 1st, at a stage greeting for the film “We Are Us.” held at a movie theater in Tokyo, actress Komatsu Nana (28) spoke on the theme of what job she would want if she were reborn, inspired by the movie’s content. 

 

The film depicts encounters between a man and woman with memories but no names, spanning between this life and the next, starring Komatsu Nana (28) and Ryuhei Matsuda (41) as co-leads. On this day, the two joyfully reminisced about memories from Sado Island, where they had filmed.

 

After the event, a few fans waited outside the theater’s exit to catch a glimpse of Komatsu, observing her agency’s shuttle from a distance. Komatsu, dressed in a light blue jacket and khaki Gilly pants, emerged to excited cries of “Nana-chan!” Fans waved enthusiastically, prompting a shy smile and a small nod from Komatsu as she boarded the car. 

Speaking of Komatsu, she announced the birth of her first child with Masaki Suda (31) on March 9th, and less than two months later, she made headlines by returning to work at the completion presentation of “We Are Us.” on April 25th.

“In late December last year, she appeared at an automotive event. Even into this year, her commercials were being announced one after another, so the announcement of her first child’s birth came as a complete surprise without any prior announcement of pregnancy. There were astonished voices asking, ‘When did she get pregnant?’

 

Then, the month after announcing her childbirth, when she returned to work, comments on social media expressing concern like ‘Isn’t it too early?’ and ‘Take a break’ flooded in. In Komatsu’s case, since there wasn’t an image of her taking maternity leave to begin with, the reaction was even stronger.” (Entertainment journalist) 

But it’s become quite normal these days for entertainers to return to work soon after giving birth. Last year, Aya Ueto (38) had her third child, and Tao Tsuchiya (29) had her first child, both returning to work after about three months. I asked entertainment reporter Takanori Shimoshita about the reasons for this trend.

“In recent years, in the entertainment industry, there are people who support talents so they can return to work soon after giving birth. They manage their weight to some extent even during pregnancy, making it easier to regain their original slim figure relatively quickly, even if they gain a bit of weight. If the job involves light physical strain like commercials or events, it’s not too difficult to return early.

 

Also, there are advantages like maintaining their image by returning to work quickly, and they are more likely to be chosen for commercials in the future as a mother figure. For talent agencies, having talents return to work early is always preferred.”

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