Like a bottomless chasm… Jiro Sato & Ai Hashimoto: Photos Revealed of the “Unusual Incident on Set” During the May Filming of the Drama on Married Couples with Different Surnames!

A Fatal Distance

Walking through the park at dusk as a family, engaging in lighthearted conversation—it was an ordinary, everyday scene, but the sight of the wife walking two, three… no, nearly five steps behind her husband and daughter struck me as a little odd at the time.However, viewed in the light of the “scandal,” that distance felt like a bottomless chasm.

The opening scene is a still from the location shoot for the drama *Detective: Married Couples with Different Surnames* (Fuji TV), which took place on May 7 in Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture. It is the intimate family scene used at the end of Episode 7.It’s a scene where Sato’s wife, Ai Hashimoto (30), stands a step back, watching as the bond between father Jiro Sato (57) and his daughter Rui Tsukishima (18) deepens… yet a considerable distance had emerged between Sato and Hashimoto, the “married couple.”

This rift between the two was evident even when the cameras weren’t rolling.

“The strangest thing was where they took their breaks. Sato set up camp near the set with Tsukishima and the others, but Hashimoto rested more than 10 meters away, with her back turned toward Sato and the others.It’s highly unusual for two lead actors to take breaks this far apart. Not only did they not talk to each other, they didn’t even exchange greetings. An eerie tension hung over the set,” said a source from the production company.

During a break in filming, Hashimoto was chatting and laughing with her manager, but Sato remained gloomy throughout, no matter how many times Tsukishima tried to strike up a conversation. She was never seen smiling even once—.

Allegations of “serious harassment” involving Sato are causing a stir. Midway through the drama’s production, after learning that there were restrictions on physical contact with Hashimoto, Sato barged into Hashimoto’s dressing room unannounced.When *Weekly Bunshun Digital Edition* reported on July 1 that he had confronted her, saying, “You shouldn’t be an actor,” Sato responded with a rebuttal in the July 9 issue of *Weekly Shincho*.

Sato stated that his tone was not reproachful, but revealed that he was condemned as a harasser by a lawyer in charge of compliance at Fuji TV and strictly ordered to “refrain from casual conversation when alone with her” and “interact naturally in front of a crowd.” He confessed that he had struggled with his acting and developed insomnia.

In this increasingly chaotic “complex case,” is there a path to a resolution?

The July 16 issue of *FRIDAY* (July 31 edition) and the paid version, *FRIDAY GOLD*, provide detailed coverage of a certain action by Sato that baffled Fuji TV’s top brass, as well as the “unusual developments” taking place within the network.

Click here to view the full details and multiple photos↓

From the July 31, 2026 issue of *FRIDAY*