Hirosue Ryoko and Candle Jun have divorced, Candle Jun released a statement

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Artist Candle Jun updated his official website on July 25th. In addition to announcing that his divorce from Hirosue was finalized, he announced that he would not seek alimony from popular chef Shusaku Toba, who was Hirosue’s affair partner, and why he gave up her parental rights. In accordance with Jun’s wishes, the statement through his lawyers has been published.

1. Introduction From the outset, Mr. Jun had a strong desire to put the children of both parties first in resolving this matter. As a result of continuing to search for the best option for the family, including the children, we came to the conclusion that it would be best to settle this matter early and bring it to a peaceful life, especially for the children.

Therefore, Jun accepted Ryoko’s proposal regarding marital problems, and decided to give up all rights except for visitation rights and obtain a divorce.

Jun believes that he will be able to accurately convey his thoughts by including the full text of the report without summarizing it. Although there is a space issue, we would like to ask the media to take into consideration the above-mentioned Mr. Jun’s intentions.

2. Background to Ms. Jun’s press conference. After the news about this incident was announced by a weekly magazine, the media coverage of this incident became overheated, and Ryoko left her home with her children. Jun wanted to improve the situation as soon as possible, in which children who had nothing to do with this matter could not go to school and lead daily lives. However, at that time, due to the media, they were stuck at home 24/7. It was a situation where a lot of things were done. In particular, news reports that focused on children were unbearable for the father, Mr. Jun, and he spent his days in anguish because he could not speak to them directly while living far away. Therefore, Jun could not give priority to solving various problems such as marital problems and problems based on the idea that we must improve the living environment, he came to the conclusion that it would be best to hold a press conference to calm down the media coverage and convey all of Jun’s thoughts during this conference. (1) Ryoko did not abandon her child as reported, and was a wonderful mother and wife. (3) Jun believes that this incident was not something that Ms. Ryoko did under normal thinking, and that he has no intention of criticizing Ryoko herself.

3. What Mr. Jun wanted to convey to everyone at the press conference Based on the above thoughts, Jun decided to hold a press conference, but he also said that he was struggling with how to do it. Previously, in a report on this matter, Jun’s remarks of “Look forward to it” at an event hosted by Jun were distorted and conveyed to the public, and the idea was contrary to Jun’s intentions. Because it was reported like this. In addition, Mr. Jun thought that after everything was said at this press conference, he should not comment on this matter because it goes against the purpose of holding the press conference. For this reason, Jun did not want the content of the press conference to be reported in an edited form at the discretion of the media. Under these circumstances, the press conference held on June 18, 2023 was held using Mr. Jun’s own method as you all know. At the press conference, Mr. Jun said what he wanted to convey to everyone at the time.

5. Toba did not apologize to Jun, and I could not sense that Toba was sincere. It is against Jun’s intentions that only Ryoko be treated as a bad person by holding this press conference. The reason why he talked about Fukushima Prefecture, which is not directly related to this case, is that I would like everyone to understand, even if only a little, what kind of thoughts Jun himself has.

4. Regarding Jun’s response after the press conference. After the press conference, Jun concluded a delegation contract with me in order to resolve this matter, and it was decided that this matter would be exchanged through a lawyer. Jun said that since each party has appointed a lawyer to represent them, it is common sense for the parties to proceed with discussions without further disclosure of information. Jun himself was going to stick to no comment. However, in the media reports that followed, there were occasional articles published as comments from the person concerned, and in addition, with a different intention from Jun’s press conference, it was said that Jun was not a good person but a bad person. There are also reports that I feel are negative campaigns against Jun. As I told everyone at the press conference, Jun assumed that he would have to endure the media coverage of himself. However, what was extremely painful for Jun was the fact that untrue content for Jun was dramatized and reported in the media, and the privacy of the people involved was violated. A lot of slanderous direct mails, letters, and faxes began to arrive, and the company staff had no choice but to deal with this. In addition, Toba was an exclusive interviewer of a weekly magazine while each lawyer was communicating with each other toward the resolution of this matter. I have also seen articles and reports that made libelous remarks against Jun. Jun wanted to refute these reports, but doing so would go against the purpose of Jun’s holding of the press conference. I was concerned that Jun’s counterarguments could further infringe on the privacy of people related to Jun and his children. Therefore, regarding Toba’s response, I have decided to limit myself to a protest by conveying Mr. Jun’s intentions to the lawyer representing Toba.

5. Background to resolving marital problems Even as Mr. Jun tried to resolve this matter through his position, Ryoko and her children were effectively forced to live outside of their homes. The period lasted for nearly two months. Under these circumstances, Jun and the children were not able to communicate sufficiently, and there were several incidents where he was worried about the children’s mental states. I began to fear that it would break. From the outset, Jun has consistently believed that this matter should be resolved in a way that puts the children first. However, considering the various circumstances at the time, there was a strong concern that if an early resolution could not be achieved and discussions between lawyers continued, the living environment of the children would continue to be unimproved. Therefore, Jun decided that he would accept Ryoko’s proposal and finalize the divorce without presenting any conditions or asking for money, except for the matter concerning the children. The decision was made. This declaration of intention was decided to be conveyed directly from Jun to Ryoko due to Jun’s strong intentions. And after the lawyers finally agreed, it became possible for Jun to see his children. However, on the day of the visitation exchange Contrary to Jun’s intentions, the situation was reported by the media that filmed the situation, and without an official announcement, an article was published as if the divorce had been finalized. Of course, neither Jun nor Ryoko had made any announcement regarding their divorce at this point, so it was a great deal of trouble for Jun to hear the news that he would be reunited with his children. He was hurt.

6. Regarding the issue with Toba Based on the circumstances I have told you so far, the issue between Jun and Ryoko has been resolved, and the rest is to deal with Toba. As Jun told everyone at the press conference, Toba himself did not apologize. Jun continued to feel that Toba was not willing to apologize. For Jun, even if he received compensation from Toba for this matter, he would never be able to clear his mind. And above all, considering the priority from the beginning of “giving top priority to both children”, the problem with Toba should be resolved as soon as possible, just like the problem between the couple. Without waiting for a response from him, he decided not to make any charges. In addition, although it is possible that this is not directly related to the issue with Toba, there have been negative media reports regarding Jun’s economic situation. I feel sorry for the staff who run their own company with Jun did not believe that this matter was a monetary issue, but under current Japanese law, claims against Toba are basically treated as monetary compensation. Therefore, if Jun continues to pursue responsibility against Toba, and if this continues for a long time, Jun will pursue Toba for the purpose of obtaining money. He came to the conclusion that this would give the public the impression that they were continuing the conflict with the children of both sides, and that this would cause more emotional scars to the children of both sides. In the midst of the above-mentioned conflicting thoughts, Jun once again thought that the children should be the first priority in making a decision regarding this matter, and that the problem with Toba should be resolved as soon as possible. He came to the conclusion that it was the best. In addition, in order to strongly show Toba that Jun does not think that this is a financial issue, he have decided not to ask Mr. Toba for compensation. Regarding this decision, it is expected that various opinions will be received from a general point of view, but as Jun, sticking to his own way of life “will lead to sincere answers to all reports.” I would like everyone to respect Mr. Jun’s decision.

7. Finally, what Jun would like to convey to everyone With the above, we have resolved the various issues related to this matter, so we will conclude Jun’s response to this matter. However, through this matter, Jun would like to throw a stone at the impact on the parties concerned, especially children, and the anonymous slander of the parties concerned due to the exposure of privacy caused by media reports. The children of the parties involved in this case have suffered a lot of emotional scars due to the series of reports, but at the very least, I strongly hope that there will be no children or people involved who will be hurt like this in the future. In addition, the contents of articles and reports about children that have been made so far have remained as digital tattoos, but for Jun, each media has voluntarily deleted articles with strong uncertainties regarding this matter. I strongly hope that you will do so. Especially for articles about children, please consider the feelings of children and delete them voluntarily. Furthermore, Mr. Jun stated that, through this case, reporting on the private lives of celebrities would hurt many of the family members and related parties of celebrities who are not the celebrities themselves. I would like to tell everyone that it will be. Jun himself has appeared in the media, so it is difficult to say that he is a complete private person. Thank you. For example, people who know even a little bit about the children can recognize who the news report is about, rather than hiding their faces when posting photos. Jun’s children have suffered a great deal of mental trauma as a result of the announcement of matters concerning their privacy in the media. In addition, several reporters visited his home for coverage, so the children couldn’t live at home and couldn’t go to school for about two months. And Jun said that attacks by anonymous comments and messages are the most painful thing, and there is an opinion that he would like to see some improvement measures as a social problem and consider them. In future reports, we ask that you take into account the attributes of the individuals appearing in the reports and take into account the content. Last but not least, since all the issues in this case have been resolved, please refrain from excessive reporting (especially reporting on children). Therefore, after that, please do not request for interviews with Jun or ELDNACS Co., Ltd., which Jun represents, nor contact us regarding this matter.

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