Watanabe Ken holds press conference to address his infidelity scandal in March 2017

Watanabe Ken held a press conference on 15 July to address his infidelity scandal which was exposed by Shuukan Bunshun in March this year. He spent about 28 minutes answering questions from the media and admitted that most of the content reported by Bunshun was correct. Watanabe also apologised for hurting the feelings of his family members especially his wife Minami Kaho and revealed that he had broken up with his lover, a jewellery designer, after the report was published.

Here are the key revelations and comments Watanabe made during the press conference:

- With regard to the delayed timing of his press conference, Watanabe said that he needed to get a grasp on the situation and think things through as well as consider the impact on his wife before he could hold a press conference. It was also crucial that he needed to consult related parties on work matters and how to handle the issue thus these factors resulted in him holding the press conference now. Watanabe apologised for the undesirable effects on all related parties and worry caused to his fans by his thoughtless and cowardly behaviour. He will be returning to the US for the filming of a movie and be back in autumn this year for the filming of NHK's 2018 Taiga "Segodon".

- Watanabe met his lover back in 2013 when he was doing the stage play "Horowitz to no kaiwa" in Osaka and a mutual friend introduced them to each other during a meal. However, he denied that they had a 3-year relationship as reported because it was an "on-and-off" relationship where they met up whenever he was in the US for work. In his words, he didn't make up his mind to end the affair so it just continued naturally as time went by. However, they had broken up after the scandal broke in March. He stated that this was the first and only affair during his marriage to Minami so far.

- When asked about details of the relationship and why he had continued the relationship with his ex-lover, Watanabe refrained from divulging the information as she is not a celebrity and he would like to avoid mentioning too much about these private matters. However, he did say that there was no intention of getting divorced and remarried to his ex-lover during the affair and that there was no monetary compensation involved when they broke up. As for the Tiffany ring he reportedly gave to her, Watanabe said that it was not meant as a proposal but rather a Christmas gift.

- Watanabe expressed his apology towards his wife Minami for the hurt he had caused her. As such, he would like to take his time in mending their relationship. When the scandal was exposed in March, Minami was undergoing treatment for breast cancer. At that time, he didn't think that there was anything he could say to her while she was still in shock so it took a bit of time before he could apologise and talk about this issue with her. Despite what happened, Watanabe said that he was touched how she still thought of him by consoling him that his achievements so far wouldn't be wiped away completely by such a thing.

- Even though Minami had expressed her support, the couple are still living apart from each other. Watanabe said that it was not possible for him to return home immediately in the aftermath of the scandal and that he had been living at a cottage in the mountains to make preparations for his work. The couple are still in contact with each other and Minami would visit him whenever she has time. If there is anything he needs from home, she would send it to his agency. Watanabe stressed that there was no such thing that his things were thrown out of their home and that she had sent the items properly to him via courier. As Minami has also resumed her work, they would need more time in future to work on their relationship.

- When asked if he would like to continue with their marriage, Watanabe said that although he was not in the position to say for sure, he hopes to be able to do so.

- As for how his children Dai and An responded to this matter, Watanabe said that he did speak to them about this especially since they are both adults and have their respective families. Although this matter will not mean an end to their relationships as parent-and-child, he will have to work on regaining their trust for the rest of his life. When asked if he can see his grandchildren these days, he stated that this depended on how his children feel about it so he doesn't have much of a say in this. He revealed that he had not been in contact with An since the time when he talked to her about the scandal some months ago so he was not sure how she has been recently.

- When asked to compare what happened in his previous marriage to the potential outcome of his current marriage, Watanabe said that the lawsuit over his previous divorce had to do with money so it resulted in a messy state of things. This time, there is no such issue so the key is that he and Minami will have to talk things out and decide on what they want for their marriage and future.

Sources: Nikkansports 1 / Nikkansports 2 / Sanspo 1 / Sanspo 2 / Oricon 1 / Oricon 2