TOKYO (TR) – NHK announcer Emi Hatakeyama, who vanished from the general public eye following a extremely publicized “predatory affair” scandal final 12 months, will make her tv comeback this April on the community’s Kanazawa Broadcasting Station, reviews Flash (Mar. 4).
The switch comes roughly a 12 months after a bombshell report by weekly journal Shukan Bunshun in April 2025 uncovered Hatakeyama’s illicit relationship with a married NHK director, whose spouse was pregnant on the time. The scoop, which featured photographs of the pair carrying matching headbands on a date at Tokyo Disneyland, despatched shockwaves by way of the nationwide broadcaster.
Other confirmed occasions included a three-night, four-day journey to Hokkaido and a date at a SixTONES live performance, which prompt a reasonably deep relationship.
However, in interviews with each events after the news broke, Hatakeyama testified that she “believed he was single when they started dating.” As effectively, the director admitted to “deceiving her.”
At the time, Hatakeyama had simply been appointed as a caster for NHK’s flagship night news program, “NHK News 7.” The scandal compelled her to step down simply two weeks into the position, relegating the once-promising star to radio broadcasts and behind-the-scenes duties. Rumors rapidly swirled that she was on the verge of being pressured into an early resignation.
However, an inner NHK investigation later revealed a dramatic twist: the male director had allegedly lied to Hatakeyama, explicitly telling her that he was “already divorced.” Sources point out that Hatakeyama was successfully a sufferer of his deception, leaving her visibly emaciated within the weeks following the media firestorm.
Despite the uproar, each workers had been allowed to stay on the community. The male director was handed a disciplinary suspension however finally saved his job, main critics and trade insiders to repeatedly level out NHK’s inherently “lenient” company tradition relating to extramarital affairs.
Now, NHK administration is hoping the announcer can rebuild her profession in a brand new surroundings. Hatakeyama is slated to function the primary announcer for a neighborhood Kanazawa program beginning this spring, marking step one in her public rehabilitation.
Hatakeyama initially joined NHK in 2015 as a gross sales consultant, however efficiently transitioned to an announcer position after being moved by the reporting throughout the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes.
“Because she is considered a strong candidate for a future main caster position, NHK is proceeding cautiously with her return,” an leisure reporter famous. Time will inform if the transfer to Kanazawa will function a profitable contemporary begin, permitting her to ultimately return to the nationwide broadcast stage.