WEST.’s Double Marriage News Has Fans Talking—And Digging Up Their Controversial Past Hints

Suggestive posts that had sparked controversy

On August 9, it was announced on the official website of STARTO ENTERTAINMENT (hereinafter, “STARTO”) that Daiki Shigeoka (33) and Takahiro Hamada (37), members of the seven-member group “WEST.,” had each gotten married.

Shigeoka even announced that he had a child, stating, “We would like to announce that we have welcomed a new life into our family. The journey of this small life, overcoming various twists of fate and safely making its way into the world, was by no means something to be taken for granted; it was a precious one. We hope you will understand why we are making this announcement at this time.” Fans were left deeply shocked, saying, “My ‘oshi’ became a father without me even knowing.”

“WEST., the group to which Shigeoka and Hamada belong, made its CD debut in April 2014 with ‘Eejanaika’ (the group was known as ‘Johnny’s WEST’ at the time). After completing its 10th-anniversary year, Akito Kiriyama (36) married former Japanese women’s national volleyball team player Maiko Kano (38) in January 2025, while Tomohiro Kamiyama (33) married a non-celebrity woman in October of the same year. With Shigeoka and Hamada now both getting married, WEST. has become an unusual group within STARTO, with four of its seven members being married.” (Sports newspaper entertainment reporter)

Meanwhile, both Hamada’s and Shigeoka’s partners are reportedly non-celebrity women. Hamada was involved in a controversy concerning a woman back in 2019.

“In a diary entry on a members-only website, updated June 8, 2019, Hamada posted a photo of a tomato stew accompanied by boastful-sounding comments such as, ‘I made it!!!’ and ‘Looks delicious, right!!!’

However, it was discovered that a female Instagram user had posted a similar photo before Hamada. This led to suspicions that he had shared homemade food prepared by his girlfriend with his fans. Apparently, the woman had previously made several suggestive posts concerning Hamada, and some fans had been monitoring her account regularly, which is how the connection came to light.” (Entertainment agency executive)

At the time, there was no evidence demonstrating an intimate relationship between Hamada and the woman. However, in October of the same year, a close-up two-shot photo of a woman and a man who looked remarkably like Hamada was leaked online. On October 19, Bunshun Online published an article reporting that the man in the photo was indeed Hamada and that the photo had been taken sometime between March and April of that year.

The fallout from the double marriage

“There appear to have been other occasions when Hamada gave off the impression that there was a woman in the picture. In 2024, ‘WEST.’ appeared at the music festival ‘METROCK 2024.’ During a talk segment of the live broadcast on ABEMA, Hamada shared an update about his life, saying, ‘I bought a robot vacuum cleaner for the first time.’ He continued, ‘It has a roller. Dust and hair [collect] on this roller,’ and revealed that he removed the debris with a toothpick. However, Hamada had short hair at the time. Some fans began wondering, ‘Would that much hair really get wrapped around it given the length of Hama-chan’s hair?’ and ‘Wouldn’t a robot vacuum only get tangled with a woman’s hair?’” (Same source)

Meanwhile, some fans have pointed out online that Shigeoka’s wife may be the female singer-songwriter who had long been rumored to be dating him. The woman left her position as a radio personality in March of this year. She has already left her agency, so the description of her as a non-celebrity woman would apply. Following the marriage announcement, a succession of fans have declared on social media that they are quitting as [Shigeoka’s] fans.

“Shigeoka is such a secretive person that even the other members are surprised by it. He has long been described as someone whose private life is a mystery. There is even an anecdote that he never revealed his home address even to his manager and would board the car that picked him up at a location away from his home. Until now, fans had admired Shigeoka as someone with a high level of professionalism as an idol precisely because of this, which is why the shock from this marriage announcement was so great.” (Same source)

One can only hope that the members’ double marriage will not affect the group’s popularity or activities.