TOKYO (TR) – “When I returned to the apartment at around 3 p.m., I saw a man being carried away on a stretcher by paramedics. I remember that he had a blanket covering his body and looked pale. I never thought he would die, so I was just shocked…”
The quotation above is from a bystander outside a luxury apartment building near JR Hamamatsucho Station in Minato Ward.
Tokyo Metropolitan Police later announced that Kota Kitamura, the husband of television personality Ruriko Kojima, had died in an apparent suicide. The site reports Aera (Feb. 6) that the company run by Kitamura had run into financial difficulties over the past year.
Kitamura served as the president of Habitat, a company that works with saunas and public baths. According to its web site, the company was founded in October 2020.
Habitat mainly supports problems faced by business owners of saunas and public baths. The company’s app allows users to make advance reservations for sauna plans, purchase items such as towels and make online credit card payments.
Habitat’s business had fallen on difficult times. In its financial statement dated August 23, 2024, the current net income was minus 144.96 million yen and retained earnings was minus 32.25 million yen.
“Kind man who cared about his family”
Kojima discovered Kitamura collapsed after returned home with their child after an outing. She then called police.
A reporter for a national paper tells Gemdai Business (Feb. 6), “[Kitamura] had inhaled some kind of gas. He was already unconscious by the time the ambulance arrived. After that, Kojima also felt unwell and was taken to the hospital, but her injuries were minor and there was no danger top her life. A suicide note-like thing was found at the home. Police are carefully investigating the cause of death, considering that it is unlikely to have been a crime.”
The Instagram account for Habitat wrote on February 5, “Kota Kitamura, our founder and president/CEO, passed away on February 4, 2025, at the age of 29. As a result, he stepped down as representative director as of the same day. We would like to express our deepest gratitude for the kindness shown to him during his lifetime and would like to inform you of this news.”
That same day, Kojima wrote on Instagram, “I will refrain from going into details about the cause of [my husband’s] death. I am sorry that I cannot explain it despite causing such a fuss, but please forgive me. My husband was a kind man who cared about his family and had a strong sense of responsibility.”
Yasuhisa Hara
Kojima left agency Horipro at the end of February 2023 and took a break from show business to study abroad in China.
In March of the same year, she married Kitamura. After announcing that she was pregnant that August, she gave birth to their first child.
For a period before that, she dated Yasuhisa Hara, the author of the popular manga “Kingdom.”
Regarding speculation that he was dating Kojima while married, Hara wrote on February 6 that such rumors are “complete fabrications.”
“In the midst of all this, there are people who are making heartless tweets based on complete fabrications that someone spread,” he wrote. “I never had any personal contact or met with Kojima before our divorce. This is the truth.”
He also asked for the speculation to stop.
“It’s a shame to see such tweets in the morning,” he said. “The disappointment [regarding] Kojima and those around her is immeasurable. I sincerely pray for the repose of the soul of Kota Kitamura.”
