Courtesy of bexpress
Taken from article:
Newborn won't stop rebirth of Ryoko's TV career
By Ryann Connell
Wai Wai Staff Writer
April 23, 2004
Ryoko Hirosue announces her shotgun marriage to Takahiro Okasawa last year.
Ryoko Hirosue, undoubtedly one of Japan's most popular actresses until a
pregnancy before marriage tarnished her previously pure name, is itching to
get back to work just months after giving birth to a son in mid-April,
Shukan Post (4/30) says.
Hirosue has been slated for the role of a lead character's lover in next
year's NHK taiga drama, one of the weekly TV serials that runs on the
taxpayer funded broadcaster on Sunday nights.
"She really wants the role," entertainment beat reporter Toshio Ishikawa
tells Shukan Post. "She's reportedly already been penciled in for it and
I've heard filming will begin as early as August."
If shooting starts in summer, Hirosue will have to leave her 4-month-old
son's side to head off on location. Some Japanese actresses have shunned
long maternity leave in the past, most notably Hitomi Kuroki, who was back
behind the cameras just one month after she had her daughter, but some worry
that rushing back to work could be harmful for Hirosue.
"Physically, there's no problem, but thinking in terms of mental
requirements, it'd be better not to work for three to six months after
giving birth," Ikuko Ikeshita of the Ikeshita Ladies Clinic in Tokyo tells
Shukan Post. "For a while after childbirth, hormonal balance is disrupted
and mental well being is unstable. New mothers face a high likelihood of
getting depressed, being unable to stop crying and extreme loss of appetite.
Fairly sensitive people are most susceptible to 'maternity blues,' so it's
important to be careful."
Others, however, say Hirosue has little choice about going back to work so
quickly and the reason is simple.
"Money," says celebrity watcher Kozo Inoue, pointing out the problem lies
with Hirosue's 28-year-old husband Takahiro Okasawa, a popular young
designer. "Okasawa is hot stuff, but he's still young and only makes about 5
million yen a year. For security reasons, Hirosue has to live in a pretty
pricey apartment and that's where the three are staying now. But they
couldn't possibly enjoy their current lifestyle on the hubby's wage alone.
If they want to maintain their pre-marriage standard of living, they'll have
to depend on Hirosue's wage, which is estimated to be about 50 million yen a
year."
Rent on Hirosue's Shibuya apartment is about 1 million yen a month, leaving
the young actress as the only realistic breadwinner in the family.
But there are also other reasons for why she apparently wants to get away
from her newborn baby as soon as she can.
"Takahiro's older sister apparently leaves her kids for the couple to
babysit all the time. Hirosue can't really turn down her husband's older
sister," a Hirosue insider tells Shukan Post. "On top of that, Hirosue's
struggling with motherhood as it is and I've heard her say it'd be a lot
easier for her if she was out working."
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