Retiring TBS Announcer Hiroki Kobayashi Involved in Scandal for Womanizing
Hiroki Kobayashi, a TBS announcer, updated his Instagram on July 6. He announced that he will “graduate” from TBS.
“I will graduate from TBS at the end of July 2022! I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who has helped me in the news, to the athletes who have interviewed me in the sports field, to the radio and TV program staff who have supported me in my inexperience, to the performers, to the publishers, and above all, to the viewers who have always supported me!”
Although he uses the word “graduation,” it seems to mean that he will be leaving the company at the end of July. Kobayashi joined TBS in 2006 and has been in charge of “N-sta” and “Akko ni Omakase!”. He was well-liked by viewers and was expected to be the next generation’s ace TV announcer.
Her image changed drastically in June 2009, when this magazine reported on Kobayashi’s love affair with TV Asahi’s Chiharu Saito. At that time, Kobayashi was even suspected of being two-timed.
The magazine’s editorial department received numerous angry accusations against Kobayashi from many women. The magazine reported their testimonies and photographic evidence in detail in the July 9, 2021 issue of “FRIDAY” as follows.
In June 2021, Kobayashi responded to a direct question about his relationship with Saito. He appeared to be at ease throughout the interview, but also appeared to be frightened at times.
Office worker, Ms. A (mid-20s)
“He called me right after Friday’s report came out. When I asked him for an excuse, he said, ‘I thought I broke up with you.’ I was beyond angry and dismayed.”
The one who was furious was Ako, an office worker at a Tokyo-based general company who had been dating Kobayashi since mid-January of this year.
“The first time we started dating was on Instagram. One day, he suddenly asked me out to dinner through a direct message. After dinner, he invited me to his house and we had sex. I told him I wanted to go out with him before we started a physical relationship, and he clearly said yes.”
After that, Ako met him once a month. However, she felt the shadow of another woman in his life during the course of their relationship.
“When I stayed at his house around April, I found women’s sanitary products, hair irons, and cosmetics. A few days later I also found a wooden comb with long brown hair on it. When I questioned him about it, he insisted that it belonged to his sister and refused to admit that he’s cheating until the very end.”
Ako was scheduled to meet with Kobayashi immediately after the news report, but cancelled the meeting when his love affair with Saito was revealed.
“I got a phone call out of the blue, and he said, ‘I’ve been photographed, and I don’t want you to tell anyone that you know me, because it might cause you trouble,’ and he hung up. He called me one more time an hour later and said, ‘Friday may hire hackers to extract the contents of your phone, so delete your line history!’ I was just appalled at the way he only thought about saving his own skin.”
Former model, Ms. Bumi (late 20s)
Bumi, who says that she and Kobayashi had known each other since their college days, started dating in the summer of 2019. It was also Kobayashi’s Instagram that started their relationship. However, like Ako, Bumi was troubled by Kobayashi’s unfaithfulness.
“During our relationship, there were at least five times when I was sure he was cheating on me. Postcards that said ‘I enjoyed the trip ♡,’ a large amount of toothbrushes, makeup remover, and women’s underwear. The extreme case was when I found adult toys, eye masks, and other items under the bed. But when I questioned him, he brushed it off, saying, ‘They belonged to my sister.’ In the end, we broke up once because of that.”
“But at the end of May this year, he suddenly contacted me and said he wanted to get back together, and we spent the night at his house. After the news report, I was also told, ‘Friday may hire hackers to target you.’ So he asked me to delete my LINE history. There was no apology, nor any explanation about his relationship with Chiharu Saito.”
Kaoru C., customer service worker (mid-20s)
Ms. C. said that she had a relationship with Kobayashi from July 2020 until the end of the year. They also met on Instagram.
She said, “Every time I went to the house, there was a different toothbrush. There was also a makeup remover and other cosmetics. I knew he was with other women. Eventually, I ended the relationship before the New Year to give myself a break.”
“Also, he never once gave me birth control. I somehow felt like, ‘He doesn’t value me,’ and that was hard for me. I don’t know if he has forgotten about my existence, but I haven’t heard from him at all after the news report. Even though it might have coincided with his dating period with Chiharu Saito.”
Company employee, Ms. D. N. (late 20s)
Going back a little further in time, another woman gave us this angry testimony.
“Around the summer of 2018, he confessed to me and we started dating. Kobayashi told me that he was thinking of getting married and wanted to meet my parents, so I took him to see them. But after that, I found evidence of his cheating many times. We broke up after only three months. But around January of this year, he contacted me again and invited me out for drinks. I told him that I was already married, and I haven’t heard from him since.”
To confirm the truth of the rumors, we directly contacted Kobayashi on his way home from work. However, upon seeing us, he closed his eyes and completely ignored us. He went off at a quick pace to his home.
Kobayashi has a long history of female involvement that could be described as “Akasaka’s Don Juan”. The amount of information provided to us suggests that this is just the tip of the iceberg. It would be likely to think that only his relationship with Saito is serious, but…
