Kon Arimura’s epic confession: “I’ll tell you all about my affair, my divorce, and my time under house arrest.

It was an afternoon at the end of December. It was the film commentator, Kon Arimura, 45, known as “Arikon”, who appeared at the Friday editorial office in a neat suit.

Speaking of Arimura, in the May 14, 2009 issue of this magazine, there was a scoop on her secret love hotel meeting with a beautiful woman. The title of the article was as follows.

I’d love to be your boyfriend.
〜The night Kon Arimura went to a love hotel with a sexy woman.

He took a beautiful woman he had approached on social media to a hotel and seduced her with a lot of dirty talk, but he failed to achieve his goal. A week later, he invited her to lunch and talked about vulgar things in the middle of the day. But again, he was unsuccessful. Then, the sexy woman in question nakedly revealed to FRIDAY the whole story of her love hotel and lunch with Arimura.

The report of the gossipy pick-up prompted a firestorm of criticism. Arimura’s agency, Horipro, decided to refrain from her activities, and she was dropped from her regular radio and other programs. In July, he announced his divorce from his beautiful wife Izumi Maruoka (50), who was once described as a “miracle 38-year-old”.

After losing everything, Arimura was even called a “wanker” by some.

Seven months have passed since the news broke. Why did Arimura, who was supposed to have a grudge against Friday, come to the editorial office? We took the time to talk to him about it.

I didn’t expect him to expose it. ……

“Immediately after the article came out, I thought, ‘I’ve been hit ……. I didn’t think it would come out like that, so my mind went blank and I couldn’t even breathe. I became afraid to show my face.

To be honest, I felt resentment towards Friday. What was written in the article was true. But what surprised me was that there were people who would do such a thing (expose). When I think about it now, I guess I’m just naive, but I didn’t think there were any bad people around me. I’ve never been suspicious of people in my life.

After that article came out, the most painful thing happened to me. I got divorced, even though I brought it on myself, and I received a lot of harsh comments. But in order to face up to my past, I decided to jump into the editorial department.

Unlike the complicated feelings I had back then, I think I am now able to look at myself a little more objectively. I’ve come here with a new determination for 2010, and I’d like to have a proper talk with Friday-san about my future activities.

In the article, what drew a lot of attention was his down-to-earth talk, which I don’t think women would be able to pick up on. There was a gap between that bonbon vibe and the …….

I’ve always been that kind of person. When I first became a film commentator, I was doing live talk shows in Shinjuku, and I started by introducing niche films, such as the “Bacademy Awards,” an event featuring only B-movies, and introducing pink films with a lot of crude jokes.

Then little by little, I started appearing on TV and other media, and after I got married, I started appearing as a married couple as well.

But at the same time, on my regular radio show, I was talking so much about erotic topics that I was even given the nickname “Mr. Erocon. I think the listeners of the radio show understood my character a little bit, but the general public didn’t have that image of me. So there was a discrepancy between the actual image of me and the public.

Why does he think the “failure” happened?

To get to the root of the matter, I myself was not popular at all since I was a student. I think it was my complex that led to this result.

I’ve always wanted to be popular, but I’ve never been popular. But when I started doing this kind of work, my face became a little better known, and people started asking me on the street, “Are you Arimura? I started to be approached on the street. I guess I fell into the illusion that I was popular. Now that I’m married, my name is better known than ever, and I’m being approached more often.

This made her misunderstand herself even more. I don’t think she was popular because of her ability or her attractiveness as a man, but just because she happened to be working in the media, but I think she made a huge mistake and became more and more paralyzed as she tried to fill her complex.

During the period of self-restraint, Arimura worked part-time as a cleaner at the company of Shinya Irie (44) of Karateka. After being fired from Yoshimoto Kogyo for black-marketing, Irie established a house cleaning company called Pika Pika.

I worked as a house cleaner for practically three months. I was paid 1,200 yen an hour for seven hours a day, five times a week. During the self-restraint period, when I was at home all the time, I really started to lose my mind. I used to get a lot of work and stay busy, but when you don’t go out anymore, it really takes a toll on your mental health.

If you give up, it’s over.

I talked to my manager about it, and he suggested that I work up a sweat. That’s when Mr. Irie said to me, “Why don’t you work hard? At that time, Mr. Irie asked me, “Would you like to work for us?　I wanted to talk to Mr. Irie myself, so I asked him to help me.

Mr. Irie told me, “After all, mental health is a challenge. Just live. Don’t give up. If you give up, it’s over. It was very encouraging. I also received advice from comedian Hidetaka Kano (39) and former legislator Kensuke Miyazaki (40).

After the divorce, Arimura has custody of his son, and is now living with his parents as a single father.

Picking up and dropping off my son at nursery school is an important time for me. “Picking up and dropping off my son at daycare is a very important time for me, and we talk about many things. Is it the reaction of the parents at the day-care center?　(Chuckles) Right after the article came out, when I dropped my son off at daycare, it was like the mothers were moving away from me, like the sea breaking into two sides in front of Moses in the movie “The Ten Commandments” (laughs). (laughs) But some of the fathers would sneak up on me with a little grin and say, ‘Don’t worry,’ to encourage me.

Currently, Arimura is gradually resuming her work. He has started a series of articles called “Arimura Kun’s ‘News’ Cinema Paradise” in Tokyo Sports.

It’s a column in which he discusses various news and current affairs through movies. The theme of the first installment was ‘infidelity’ (laughs), and I restarted my YouTube channel in November. I also restarted my YouTube channel in November, where I make character bento with my son.

The other day, I appeared as a guest on “All Night Nippon,” the radio program of “Myojo Marboshi,” and was teased to the fullest. Everyone laughed, and oddly enough, I became the number one trending topic in the world on Twitter. When I found out about that, I realized that it was okay to be dorky and that I didn’t have to be cool, and I wanted to be a shining star for men who were not popular.

What if the Friday article hadn’t come out?　I think I would have done the same thing in the end. I think I would have been exposed at some point. You never know when you’re in the middle of something. You have no reason to believe that you are okay.

I can see it now, but I really didn’t understand it. I tried to live in a lame and uncool way even though I was such a bad person. I want to do my best so that I can thank Friday-san one day. I don’t know when that will be.”

“Is this a way to release your sexual desire?　Please give me a break for now (laughs). When I am able to live my life with my heart on my sleeve, I will first turn to “City Haven” (a sex-related information site).

From the January 21, 2022 issue of FRIDAY