Keiko Saito, 47, announced via a fax from her agency on Sunday that she got divorced in May this year, ending her 11-year marriage to businessman Hiroshi Kimoto, 59, with whom she has one daughter.
Saito said in her handwritten message: “In the end we just thought about things differently and had a different sense of values. It had nothing to do with money or infidelity, and we both agreed it was time to separate.”
“In the last eight months, my husband and I have had a mutual respect for each other, and the family has taken on a new shape,” she wrote, referring to her custody of their 8-year-old daughter. “I hope to turn over a new leaf and make a fresh start in 2009.”
Saito met Kimoto through a friend in 1990, and they started seeing each other even though he was married and had a child. They started living together in 1992, and Kimoto and his wife got divorced in July 1996. Saito and Kimoto married the following year.
At a press conference in September 1997 held to announce their marriage, Saito wept tears of joy when she spoke of how Kimoto’s ex-wife had given them her blessing and wished them happiness. She also spoke of how the company Kimoto managed had become insolvent earlier that year, with debts of around eight billion yen. “When I saw his work ethic and how sincere he was with the creditors, I resolved to stay with him to the end.”
© Japan Today
18 Comments
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borscht
Uh oh, here it comes: This is the end. (J. Morrison)
seesaw
My Grandmother always remind me: If you snatch away someone's husband or boyfriend, someone else would snatch yours from you.....though this advice is a an old version, no longer applicable to this modern generation, but it always stucked into my head....:)
cleo
If you can lure a man away from his wife and family ..... he's not worth having, and they're well rid of him.
Athletes
Cleo
Celebrities are not like oridnary people. In hollywood, some famous actresses prefer the married man instead of single man. For them, forbidden fruit is sweeter.
ptolemy
That was then, and this is now. At 47 in Japan you'll have hard time finding a relationship.
Sarge
I agree with Cleo.
Jeez, I wish all the threads were topics like this...
some14some
No regrets, 11 years of married life + one dauther, pretty good for Keiko
some14some
good god, pls read well one daughter...!
meanmutha
yawn JT
USARonin
"If you can lure a man away from his wife and family ..... he's not worth having, and they're well rid of him."
From what I've seen, it doesn't take a whole lot of incentive for some guys to leave the things their wives have become.
It can be a two-way street.
ScottishThug
Which means it was money AND infidelity. Juicy stuff.
herefornow
So she stole a married guy who was $80 million in debt -- no wonder the ex-wife gave them her blessing. Just took Keiko 11 years to learn what the ex already knew. I hope she had a pre-nup. Wish her luck though. Being a 47 year-old single mom in Japan will definitely be a challenge. By why did it take 8 months to announce this "news"?
ptolemy
Because she's always on the TV talk shows Saturday and Sunday mornings harping about the "lack and loss of morals" in Japan. Harping about "how easy young people in Japan throw off their marriages". And also harping on "young people not seeing thier duty in raising families". I wonder if she'll be harping on something different now. Good luck single mom, you aren't so much more righteous now huh? It hurts when you fall off the God throne, ouch!
jwills79
She stole a married man. She started the relationship on the wrong foot. She never had the right to be preaching about 'loss of morals'. Hypocrisy!
cleo
I wonder what makes those wives into what they become? Any marriage will go sour if there's not enough sweetness put into it. Many men who complain about their wives can see the root cause of their problems if they look in the mirror. (Same goes for wives).
Celebrities are ordinary people. A celebrity husband who can be tempted away from his wife might be a bit more fun for a while if only because he has more money (usually); but if he'll leave his wife for you, he'll leave you for someone else. A philandering husband is not a creature that should be taken seriously.
rurika
Cleo, I tend to agree with this argument. However I feel too often people are accused of 'stealing' somebody's wife or husband when in fact that marriage was in trouble and would haved ended anyway. In an ideal world, we would finish a relationship before starting another one. In the real world, relationships often overlap.
Athletes
Cleo
Actress Demi moore earn money eight times more than her new young husband. Actress Anglina Jolie earn more than Actor Brad Pitt. It is not because he has more money. Their new men are youthful, good looking, more understanding & perhaps they have more chemistry.
For celebrities, changing partners like changing the clothes. Madonna paid her husband more than 135 millions for divorce. Her husband is a millionare too. However he is not rich like Madonna. If the ladies are richer, they want to change better partner.They are willing to take a risk. Money is not everything & can not buy the love.
techall
They still use Fax??