Press "Enter" to skip to content

Rei Kikukawa’s husband has 4 illegitimate children: report

Shukan Bunshun May 25
Shukan Bunshun May 25

TOKYO (TR) – In April, actress and television host Rei Kikukawa married IT mogul Yoshiteru Akita. An interesting tidbit likely not brought up at the nuptials is that the groom had previously fathered four children out of wedlock, at least according to an article appearing in the March 25 issue of weekly tabloid Shukan Bunshun.

According to the magazine, which hit newsstands on May 18, two women gave birth to two children fathered by Akita, 48, at around the same time in 2012. One of them, who contemplated suicide after finding out about the other pregnant woman, gave birth to another of Akita’s children three years later.

The fourth child was born to a woman Akita met in 2004 while she was a third-year high school student. Akita, who was married to a different woman at the time, rented the girl a residence in Tokyo. After she became pregnant while aged in her 20s, he paid 1 million yen to cover the cost of the subsequent birth but declined to pay child-rearing expenses and severed ties with her, according to the magazine.

Kikukawa, 39, started her career in show business in 1998 after being scouted in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward. The native of Saitama Prefecture started as a gravure (pin-up) model for magazines before appearing in a number of films (“Godzilla: Final Wars”) and television programs. She currently hosts the morning news show “Tokudane!” on Fuji TV.

Between 2001 and 2006, Akita served as president of Kakaku (operator of shopping portal Kakaku.com). He currently heads Cookpad, which operates recipe site Cookpad.com. Cookpad started trading on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in December of 2011.

A lawyer for Akita declined to comment on the allegations by Shukan Bunshun. A representative of Kikukawa’s agency, Oscar Promotions, told the magazine that the actress is aware of Akita’s fourth illegitimate child.