From Illness to Remarriage — Anna Umemiya Speaks Frankly About Her Past Loves

An unforgettable morning and a fateful encounter

Anna Umemiya, daughter of Showa-era superstar Tatsuo Umemiya (d. 81) and long a fixture on wide-shows as a romantic woman colored by scandals, has continued to lead a tumultuous life even after passing the halfway point of life in her fifties—having battled cancer and announcing a remarriage shortly after finishing treatment. When we requested an interview, the first things she spoke about were the brutal breast-cancer treatment and the story behind marrying ten days after meeting.

“I’ll never forget that morning last May 20. I was showering and drying myself in front of the mirror when I noticed, ‘Huh? My breasts aren’t the same size.’ I went straight to the National Center for Global Health and Medicine and was told it was breast cancer. But having watched my father fight cancer up close, I knew the treatment process well, so I didn’t have an excessive sense of fear.”

She underwent treatment that lasted about nine months and said there were many times when she nearly broke. What awaited her after that long, painful battle was a fateful encounter. On May 14 this year, at the lounge of a Tokyo hotel, a friend introduced her to Yasunori Yotsugi (60), an art director who would become her second husband.

“Yocchan apparently thought I was a spendthrift, condescending, grumpy woman. In my twenties, there were articles saying, monthly living expenses 3 million yen, and I guess I had that annoying second-generation celebrity image. But as soon as I arrived and greeted him politely, he was charmed by the gap from his image and thought, ‘I want to marry this woman!’” she laughed.

Anna added with a smile, “That was the first time I was grateful to the unscrupulous media.”

Having gone through major illness and remarriage, Anna’s past year has been like a roller coaster. Looking back, her life has always been full of ups and downs. In her twenties, she was constantly in the media spotlight over her love life.

“I was young then and didn’t notice anything strange. Some of the men I dated, in retrospect, were odd—like having huge debts (laughs). Dad would oppose my relationships because he worried about me, and yet I’d hold the hand of the man Dad disliked. I’d then calm Dad down it was a repeating pattern.

But from my perspective, I was just helping someone I loved who was struggling. If someone had money troubles, I’d earn money and help them. It was that simple.”

Anna looked back on past romances positively and brightly. Then she added, “Please put this in,” and continued:

“I’ve had lots of romances, but I have no regrets. Those experiences made me who I am. And Yocchan faces me as I am. There used to be so many things I wanted to say to those ex-boyfriends, but now there’s just one: none of them measure up to Yocchan!”

The current issues of FRIDAY (combined Sept. 12–19) and the paid edition FRIDAY GOLD reveal even more candid details about past love affairs with famous pro-baseball players. They also cover her reportedly more down-to-earth current lifestyle and her feelings about her father, Tatsuo Umemiya.

From the September 12 and 19, 2025 issue of “FRIDAY