Inside Anri Sakaguchi’s Stormy Marriage: Ex-Husband Shinichi Fukushima Recalls the Turmoil
[Part 2] Facing Her “Dark Side” Up Close
A moment from a livestream in which the couple wore matching bunny ears. Their marriage lasted just over a year, but they shared happy moments, too.“I contacted Anri, who had nowhere to live, and told her, ‘You can stay another night if you want.’ She replied, ‘It’s fine. My luggage is heavy.’ I realized she actually wanted me to come and pick her up. I could sense the loneliness hidden behind her indirect words, and I decided to marry her.”
Apparently, she only transforms into a troublemaking woman when she drinks heavily or takes excessive amounts of sleeping pills.
Read Part 1 here: Anri Sakaguchi’s ex-husband speaks out! Shinichi Fukushima: “A turbulent year living together, even as people warned me, ‘You’ll ruin your life.’”
Reaching the Limit
The couple had discussed her use of sleeping pills and even tried to reduce her dosage with medical advice.
“At first, she would try her best, but when I caught her trying to take them behind my back and confronted her, it would turn into a fierce argument. There were even times when the police got involved. No matter whom I consulted, I was always told, ‘In the end, it’s up to her.’ There was nothing I could do on my own.”
The couple divorced in September 2023. At the end of the following year, 2024, an incident occurred that offered a glimpse into just how desperate her circumstances had become. Anri posted her PayPay account on her Instagram Stories and appealed to fans for financial assistance, writing things like, “I’m cold. I want some disposable hand warmers,” and “I want to go to the hospital, too.”
“I had seen Anri asking acquaintances for money several times. While she was my wife, I would turn a blind eye even when banknotes disappeared from my wallet. It was because I didn’t want her to go anywhere. But this time, it seems someone else was collecting the money through PayPay. Anri told me, ‘My phone was taken away,’ and I actually received some strange messages myself.”
After the money had been collected, Anri was taken to the hospital by ambulance and admitted. Around that time, a message arrived on Fukushima’s LINE account from Anri’s own account.
“It said, ‘Does she have any family or relatives? Can you get in touch with her?’ The sender wouldn’t identify themselves, so I never found out who had Anri’s phone. I was left feeling utterly despondent.”
The Same Cycle Repeats
As her husband, Fukushima had watched various people try to approach Anri, whether by contacting her through social media or handing her their business cards at event venues and restaurants.
“She isn’t the calculating type who deliberately provokes online outrage to make money. If she were, she would be much better at navigating life. The problem is that Anri has no hesitation about relying on complete strangers. She immediately grabs hold of any helping hand offered to her from one direction or another. I think the saddest thing was that she was deprived of opportunities to face her own problems and overcome them herself.”
Last September, Anri remarried a 25-year-old ordinary man who was a customer at a girls’ bar, but they divorced just two months later. This summer, she announced that she was dating a male livestreamer and broadcast footage of the two living together. However, after repeated arguments, Anri assaulted him, leading to her being taken away by police. The relationship ended after barely a month.
“When I watched the livestreams, there were moments when the way Anri treated that man looked exactly like the way she had treated me.”
She would never be the one to say they should break up. She would repeatedly seek reassurance about his feelings, and she would try to leave even though she knew he would stop her. It was painful for Fukushima to watch Anri behave in ways he knew all too well. Memories resurfaced of times when she had punched him or brandished a knife at him.
Now that she has cut off all means of contact by blocking his calls and messages, is there anything he wants to tell Anri? After thinking for a while, Fukushima finally answered in a strained voice:
“Nothing. I believe that not helping her is the greatest help I can give her.”
From the October 16, 2026 issue of “FRIDAY”
Reporting and Text： Chihiro Sato PHOTO： Kazuhiko Nakamura (2nd photo)