TOKYO (TR) – Popular announcer Ayaka Ogawa, 35, apologized last week after the emergence of a report outlining an extra-marital affair involving her husband, who is a rising star in the field of medicine.
According to the issue of Shukan Bunshun that hit news stands on February 4, Ogawa’s husband, 36-year-old Goichiro Toyoda, was involved in an affair with his mistress dating back to 2019.
The article includes photographs of Toyoda with his mistress along with messages they exchanged via the chat app Line.
“Since this happened so suddenly, I’ll refrain from giving detailed explanations about my private life,” Ogawa said on February 3, after the story appeared on Bunshun’s web site. “We plan to discuss this matter carefully in the future as a couple.”
Ogawa is a newscaster for the program “News23” on TBS News. In February 2019, she announced that she was getting married. She gave birth to the couple’s first child last July.
Also on February 3, Toyoda submitted his resignation as the director of Medley Inc., which provides a system for patients to receive online medical diagnoses. He owns 11.6 percent of the company’s outstanding shares, valued at around 18 billion yen.
State of emergency
Toyoda, a graduate of the University of Tokyo faculty of medicine, is often featured in the mainstream media, particularly in programs by public broadcaster NHK. “We will change medical care in Japan,” he once said.
Given this, it might be fair to assume that Toyoda would be very self-aware about his actions as they relate to his profession. However, that appears to not have been the case.
On January 8, the government declared a state of emergency for Tokyo and three prefectures due to the coronavirus pandemic. Despite this, Toyoda visited his mistress at her residence in the capital on multiple occasions, Bunshun reported.
“It is deeply regrettable that my husband behaved as he did, especially considering we had discussions about self-restraint under the state of emergency,” Ogawa also said on February 3. “I’m really sorry for the many people who are enduring hardships [during the pandemic], including medical professionals.”
“My actions were not permissible”
When reached for comment by Bunshun, Toyoda confirmed the allegations and apologized.
“As [Ogawa’s] husband and the representative director of a company, I deeply regret the harming and betraying many people with my stupid behavior, and for that I would like to take responsibility, both personally and socially.”
He added, “I, the representative of a company in the medical field, would like to deeply apologize for the lack of self-awareness in my behavior to our employees, shareholders, the customers of our service, our partner companies, related parties and medical personnel working hard work.”
Toyoda said in closing, “My actions were not permissible.”