Shohei Hino: The Veteran Entertainment Reporter Reflects on the Playboy of the Showa Era and His Legendary Charms

The actor Shohei Hino, known as the “Playboy of the Showa Era” and the “Heartthrob,” has passed away at the age of 75.

His carefree lifestyle, showcased on the BS and NHK travel program “Nippon Tetsudatsu Kokoro no Tabi,” became very popular. The program, which began in April 2011, continued for 13 years until this April, when his chronic back pain worsened.

I first met Hino when I was a weekly magazine reporter. He was visiting the hospital in Kita-Kamakura, run by the brother of actress Fujima Murasaki, at the time when his girlfriend, actress Mariko Mochizuki (who passed away in 2000 at the age of 50), was hospitalized.

 

I am glad we met. I am happy.

The hospital did not have proper facilities for inpatient care, but through Murasaki’s introduction, Mochizuki was admitted. It was less of a hospital stay and more of a form of “temporary lodging” or isolation from the scandal. As people began to notice, Hino also started staying at the hospital and often left for work from there.

Since it was a friend’s hospital, rumors started to spread, and I began covering the story. It seems that their first meeting was on a period drama set.

They quickly hit it off, and it didn’t take long for their relationship to turn romantic. I also learned that Mochizuki had confessed to the hospital staff, saying:

“I’m glad we met. I’m happy.”

At the time, and even now, Hino was married to a woman he wed in 1971, though he never legally divorced. They had a son and a daughter together.

Yet, despite his marriage, his relationships continued to change rapidly. A daughter was born from his relationship with Mochizuki, and he also had children with other women he dated afterward.

 

Beyond Mochizuki, rumors of relationships with actresses such as Emi Shindo, Miki Kojika, Yuki Horn, Hiroko Kibi, Riri, Mineko Nisshikawa, Noriko Higuchi, Masami Someya, and even the manager of a former Takarazuka star, have surfaced. There seemed to be countless encounters and breakups throughout his life.

 

“I love you” and “I’m in love with you.”

Even so, none of the women Hino had relationships with spoke ill of him or harbored any resentment. Perhaps it was because he always expressed his feelings honestly, saying “I like you” and “I love you,” which led to relationships, cohabitation, and ultimately, clean breakups.

When I first met Hino, he seemed irritated by the media attention that came with his scandals. But after being repeatedly interviewed about his romantic entanglements, he seemed to evolve into a figure of wisdom, almost like a transcendent sage, and I think that’s when his distinctive demeanor took shape.

There were times when he was sidelined in the entertainment industry because of his many relationship scandals, but he would laugh and say in interviews:

“It’s something I created myself.”

On “Kokoro Tabi,” Hino was loved not only by the elderly and children but even by dogs and cats. His gentle, shy, and charming nature was captured on screen.

It’s truly sad that we can no longer see him in his natural state, loved by everyone. Ah, rest in peace.