<figure id="attachment_440186" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-440186" style="width: 2625px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="22758b07"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/09/ad19363918097df8d5c3dba3b5dcce1a.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-440186" class="wp-caption-text">Yoshinori Okada and Tomoko Tabata, the &#8220;lovebirds&#8221; who met up with their wives at the end of a play.</figcaption></figure>
<h2><span class="strongInContent"> Picking up his wife after work</span></h2>
<p> Around 3:00 p.m. in mid-August, a handsome old man was sitting with an iced latte in his hand on the wall next to the backstage entrance of Tokyo&#8217;s Shimbashi Enbujo (Chuo Ward). He was actor Yoshinori Okada (48).</p>
<p> Okada, with a stubble beard, shaggy head, and sunglasses hanging from the neck of his blue T-shirt, was doing nothing but holding the straw of his latte to his mouth.</p>
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<p> After a while, several women came out from the backstage entrance. Apparently, they were related to &#8220;Hanaoka Seishu&#8217;s Wife,&#8221; a play starring Shinobu Otake (68) that had just been performed at the theater. Okada stood up smiling and bowing to the women. They laugh at one of them, a woman in all-black fashion. She looks as if she wants to say, &#8220;Mister, he&#8217;s here.&#8221; The one exposed to such stares is Tomoko Tabata, 44, another actor and Okada&#8217;s wife.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> Tabata made her debut at the age of 12 as the lead in the movie &#8220;OHIKOSHI&#8221; and played the heroine in NHK&#8217;s morning TV series &#8220;MY BLUE SKY&#8221; in &#8217;00.&#8217; In the 2004 NHK historical drama &#8220;Shinsengumi! (written and directed by Koki Mitani) in 2004, and as the daughter of Beat Takeshi (78) in the film &#8220;Blood and Bones&#8221; directed by Yoichi Sai, she has steadily established herself as an actor. Even today, she continues to work energetically on television and stage as an acting actor.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Okada became popular for his role as &#8220;Uchi&#8221; in the drama &#8220;Kisarazu Cat&#8217;s Eye&#8221; (TBS) broadcast in 2002, and he also has a face as a DJ and continues to appear in many dramas and plays as a great playwright while performing music. She also has a DJ face, is active in music, and appears in many TV dramas and plays.</span></p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Tabata made this request to her husband Okada"></div>
<h2><span class="strongInContent">Forgive my hangover!&#8221;</span></h2>
<p> The two met when they played the roles of lovers in a stage production of &#8220;La la la la la town&#8221; in &#8217;11. At the time, &#8220;FRIDAY&#8221; spotted the two on a date at an izakaya (Japanese-style pub) and shopping at a supermarket together after the performance. When we asked Okada directly about their relationship, &#8220;When did you start dating?&#8221; When we directly asked Okada, &#8220;When did you start dating?</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Okada denied it, saying, &#8220;We haven&#8217;t started dating.</span></p>
<p> He denied it. However, six and a half years later, on January 1, 2006, the couple married and had two children together.</p>
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<p> Let us return to the beginning of the story. Okada greeted the concerned parties with a smile and a shy smile, perhaps chilled by the women, or something they said to him. Tabata watches the scene from a step back. They then waved goodbye to those involved and left the theater looking as chummy as they had when &#8220;FRIDAY&#8221; saw them 14 years ago.</p>
<p> In a memoir posted on &#8220;Story web&#8221; on July 25, 2013, Tabata wrote about her worries about &#8220;balancing work and raising two children,&#8221; and described her feelings toward Okada in this way.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> Basically, there are no rules for sharing household chores; I do the cleaning and he does the laundry, but he loves the children and actively participates in parent-teacher conferences.</span></p>
<p> And then there&#8217;s this request.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> If I were to dare to ask him for a favor, it would be, &#8220;Please forgive me if I get hungover sometimes! I guess.</span></p>
<p> I feel that these words express the couple&#8217;s &#8220;lovey-dovey&#8221; attitude.</p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" A &quot;lovey-dovey&quot; shot of Tabata and Okada"></div>
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<figure id="attachment_440188" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-440188" style="width: 2471px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="3af983d7"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/09/1359c40298f3a03d620209f11a299824.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-440188" class="wp-caption-text">Yoshinori Okada, Tomoko Tabata&#8217;s husband, waits in front of the backstage entrance of the theater for Tomoko Tabata to finish her performance.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_440189" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-440189" style="width: 3967px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="a5a09de0"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/09/0f7714e43eb2c2cc81896be3495eb4ae.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-440189" class="wp-caption-text"> Yoshinori Okada smiles shyly as if he is being chilled by the stage crew, while Tomoko Tabata watches from behind.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_440190" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-440190" style="width: 3524px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="72a80aa1"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/09/baf4af56c2f15835fc6951b2d4798b05.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-440190" class="wp-caption-text"> The &#8220;happily married couple&#8221; leaving the theater.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_440191" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-440191" style="width: 3076px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="642440a1"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/09/44a8bd6bd3e003e19a5d91157635a185.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-440191" class="wp-caption-text"> Okada is said to be very &#8220;child-centered.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_440194" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-440194" style="width: 1134px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="869c9153"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/09/4b0a2f46c0fdcab57ccbd909a027da71.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-440194" class="wp-caption-text"> The couple at the beginning of their relationship on a date at an izakaya (October 14, 2011 issue).</figcaption></figure>
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 Ippei Hara (6th photo)

 In mid-August, Tomoko Tabata was performing on stage at the Shinbashi Enbujo. Her husband, Yoshinori Okada, was waiting outside the backstage entrance with a latte in his hand. When Tabata came out with a related party, Okada chilled with her, and the sight of the "lovey-dovey" couple was heartwarming.

Tomoko Tabata and Yoshinori Okada, waiting outside the theater for their wives to finish the show with lattes in their hands&#8230; Tomoko Tabata and Yoshinori Okada, still the &#8220;happily married&#8221; couple they always have been.

Tomoko Tabata and Yoshinori Okada, waiting outside the theater for their wives to finish the show with lattes in their hands… Tomoko Tabata and Yoshinori Okada, still the “happily married” couple they always have been.

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