Once one of the most famous idols in Japan, Mariko Shinoda has divorced her husband of four years. The 37-year-old announced the news on Instagram.
A former AKB48 singer who later branched out into acting, Shinoda married an entrepreneur three years her junior in 2019 and gave birth to a daughter in 2020.
As reported on this blog, rumors emerged last year that her marriage was on the rocks due to her alleged adultery. Her husband apparently took their child away from her for a time.
The divorce follows a mediation process due to the alleged infidelity. In Japan, the aggrieved spouse can demand consolation money from both the spouse they are divorcing and the person with whom they had an affair.
In her Instagram post, Shinoda did not touch on the consolation fee or last year’s controversy that lit up the pages of the tabloids, though she did publicly deny the adultery on social media in 2022. She also did not mention custody of her child.
Despite managing to navigate from young idol with legions of adoring male fans to a youngish mother popular with women, it is hard to see how Shinoda can make a comeback from this.
On the other hand, there is a tried and tested formula, it seems: stripping off.
Angelica Michibata was able to make a comeback to a certain extent with a nude shoot and former Morning Musume idol Maki Goto also went nude in 2021 following her marriage and career break (and alleged adultery).
Shinoda joins the growing ranks of ex-AKB48 idol divorcées, including Kana Kobayashi and Atsuko Maeda.
