[Full Text] “After the Incident,” a Deep Rift Has Formed Between the Two! Jiro Sato & Ai Hashimoto Release Photos of the “Unusual Filming Set”

What This Distance Reveals

Walking through the park at dusk with her 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’s 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 the two leads 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 the filming in question, 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—.

Sato’s “serious harassment allegations” are causing a stir. Midway through the drama’s production, after learning that Hashimoto had restrictions on physical contact, 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 actress,” Sato responded with a rebuttal in the July 9 issue of *Weekly Shincho*.

Fuji TV Executives Are Perplexed by Sato

In *Shincho*, Sato revealed that while the tone in the *Shincho* interview was not one of reprimand, he was condemned as a harasser by Fuji TV’s compliance attorney and strictly ordered to “refrain from casual conversation when alone with her” and “act naturally in front of large groups.” He confessed that he struggled with his acting and developed a sleep disorder.

“It appears Sato will now take some time off to recuperate. He himself hinted on X that he would appear in a spin-off drama of the movie *Bayside Shakedown*, set for release in September, and director Katsuyuki Motohiro (61) also hopes to resume production. However, Fuji TV executives on the production committee are perplexed, stating, ‘This is not something a single actor or director can decide.’It is reported that they are currently reevaluating the situation, including the offer to Sato.
“If Hashimoto faces restrictions on physical contact with male actors, her range as an actress will inevitably narrow. This may affect future offers,” said a source at an entertainment agency.

In addition to *Bayside Shakedown*, Fuji TV is scrambling to make adjustments, such as changing the genre of its “Monday 9 p.m.” drama for next January’s season away from romance.

“Before the final episode of *The Detective with Separate Surnames* aired, all promotional posters in the elevators and hallways had been removed. Considering the burden of filming, Fuji was attempting to negotiate with Hashimoto’s side—including financial compensation—but the news broke just as those talks were underway. It seems the station is in complete chaos,” said the same source.

With this “difficult case” reaching a state of utter confusion, is there a path to a resolution?——

From the July 31, 2026 issue of *FRIDAY*