Yokosuka Yoshimi and Takabe Tomoko, two successful '80s talents who lost their successful career due to scandals but were able to bounce back

With ever year that passes, we see more idols from popular groups and not so popular groups who had to quit being an idol because paparazzi was able to capture them, may it be on a date with another guy (violating the idol love ban rule), smoking a cigarette and these days, having a secondary social media account where they rant on other members.

We also have seen actresses who become ostracized by the industry if they get caught for drugs.

There is a double standard in Japan as women are not given a second chance, while we have seen male celebrities who get caught up in a scandal, serve jail time or are not involved in entertainment for a year but were able to bounce back due to their popularity. For many of these male talents, many fans willing to forgive and hope for them to release new work.

For women in the entertainment industry who get caught up in a scandal, for the majority of them, their careers are over and they have to start over doing something else.

Of course, talents who got themselves in trouble is nothing new. In fact, there are numerous talents who were given second chances due to their popularity and talents who were given second chances but never learned their lesson. But sometimes the financial burden is so great that these talents need to find work to pay off their debt (Note: In Japan, if you are involved in a scandal and are part of an upcoming movie, television or commercial, if it has to be pulled because of the talent’s scandal, the talent would have to pay the financial burden).

But all is not lost. In the world where these idols are seen as problems and blackballed from the industry, there is a way to bounce back and start over. While there are a few who go towards a path of pornography, there are those who find other jobs outside of entertainment or going back to college to get their degree. While there are a few who have to wait a decade or more to have passed and are given a second chance to return to the industry.

We have seen two former AKB48 members who were in major scandals bounce back and become more popular than they were when they were involved in a scandal. But that is a rarity. And unlike others who have been involved in a scandal, their situations were made into television entertainment and people getting to see these idols suffer, go through demotions, transferred to a different group and creating sympathy from the public who got to see on television of these idols suffering and their lives made into a entertainment.

For many idols and talents involved in scandals, they end up losing their careers, some financially penalized and while it may seem like the end, there is hope in bouncing back.

As an example, we took a look at two popular names from the early ’80s, Yokosuka Yoshimi and Takabe Tomoko. Both known for their “Nyan Nyan Photo” scandals but were able to bounce back.

Back in 1984, Yokosuka Yoshimi was a popular and very successful idol and was in the height of her popularity at the age of 21. She was the Shiseido Campaign Girl, she was in major national commercials for JAL, Lotte, Kao, etc. She was an idol singer and very popular with her hit single “Koi no Magnitude” back in April 1981.

That was until a Nyan Nyan photo was posted on a weekly tabloid magazine of her in bed with another man, who she was dating at the time. The photo of her and the man smiling to the camera, Yokosuka said she was wearing clothes and had a friend take a photo as a jokingly fun photo but the photo was leaked to a tabloid. Yokosuka admits she was careless as an idol.

Unfortunately, the incident led to her losing her commercial deals and her contract being canceled by her office. And in Japan, if you have a commercial deal which makes the company look bad due to a scandal, you are liable for damages. In the case of Yokosuka, the penalty was 38 million yen ($334,572 USD). While she had 30 million yen saved, she had to pay back the remaining 8 million yen in two years working a part-time job as an aerobics instructor and a snack shop in Roppongi.

At the time of her popularity, Yokosuka was earning 5 million yen ($44,000 USD) each month which was a lot back in 1984. But the aftermath of the scandal, she was earning only 30,000 yen per month ($264 USD).

Yokosuka said she remembered how everyone changed around her. Adults who she was close with now avoided her and close friends couldn’t look her in the eyes or also avoided her when they met.

Fortunately for Yokosuka, she was able to find another office and revive her career and would later become the “Queen of V-Cinema” (Direct to Video) and although these films would strip away her good girl image from the past and feature her in roles featuring her nude, she would be able to make an average of 1.5 million yen per film ($13,206 USD), which helped her to stabilize her life.

Yokosuka was able to bounce back and now runs a snack shop in Kanazawa prefecture with her sister.

Yokosuka’s incident was considered the second major Nyan Nyan photo incident.

The first belonged to Takabe Tomoko.

Takabe Tomoko was an actress who appeared in film, TV dramas and commercials and was popular.

In June 1983, during the height of her popularity, unfortunately a photo of Takabe holding a cigarette while on a futon was published in “FOCUS”. The tabloid alleged of her being involved in sexual activity and underage smoking. This led to Takabe being dropped by all TV, radio and commercials that she appeared in.

高部知子さんニャンニャン事件をご存じない方のために pic.twitter.com/4aVrtBLzJ6

— 伊勢崎おかめ (@Ms_0kame) February 22, 2014

Takabe would return to the entertainment world in 1999 and release a nude photo book and an erotic video titled “Paranoia” in 2001 but left from the industry due to her eldest daughter’s illness.

Takabe would go to college at Keio University and graduated in 2005 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Relations. In 2007, she completed her Social Welfare Mental Health Social Worker course at Tokyo University and became a Mental Health worker and currently works as a counselor helping patients at psychiatric and wellness centers all over Japan.

Takabe said about her challenges, “Even if I tried to tell the truth, no one would listen to me. Among them, only the principal of Horikoshi Gakuen accepted me. He protected me until I graduated and I was able to go on to a university. Thanks to that, I can believe in people and this is the starting point”.

Takabe uses her life and the troubles she had lived as a way to help people know they have a chance of starting over.