A single weekly magazine report in January 2020 shattered the carefully constructed public image of one of Japan’s most admired celebrity marriages. Masahiro Higashide, a rising film and television star, was accused of carrying on a long-term affair with actress Erika Karada, a revelation that would unravel his family and career in a matter of months. The story began with what appeared to be a perfect Hollywood-style romance. Higashide and actress Anne Watanabe met on the set of the hit 2013 NHK morning drama “Gochisousan,” where they played a couple.
Their on-screen chemistry translated into a real-life relationship, and they married in 2015, becoming one of the most followed couples in Japanese entertainment. Watanabe was already a star in her own right, known for building a successful career independent of her famous father, international actor Ken Watanabe. Higashide’s own star was ascending rapidly, fueled by his matinee-idol looks and strong screen presence. Together, they seemed to personify success.
The couple’s family grew quickly. In 2016, Watanabe gave birth to twin girls, and a son followed in 2017. Publicly, the narrative was complete: two successful actors fell in love, married, and started a family. Higashide’s public identity became tied not just to his acting, but to his image as a devoted young husband and father.
His professional path then crossed with Erika Karada, an actress nearly a decade his junior. The two co-starred in the romantic drama “Asako I & II. ” While portraying lovers on screen is routine work for actors, this specific collaboration would later be viewed through a far more damaging lens once the scandal broke. According to Japanese media reports, the affair between Higashide and Karada allegedly began around 2017.
This timing proved particularly devastating, as it coincided with the period Watanabe was pregnant with the couple’s third child. Reports suggested the relationship was not a brief lapse, but an ongoing affair that lasted for years, contradicting the image of domestic stability the couple presented. For years, the public saw one version of Higashide’s life while another story reportedly unfolded behind the scenes. The gap between the public image and private reality became the central, shocking feature of the story as it emerged.
In January 2020, the weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun published its investigation. The report connected Higashide and Karada through an alleged long-term relationship, casting every previous public statement and appearance in a new, unflattering light. The story spread rapidly, turning a private betrayal into a national spectacle. The timing was particularly damaging for Higashide, whose career depended heavily on public trust and family-friendly appeal.
Almost immediately, the internet began combing through old photos, promotional events, interviews, and social media activity for clues. Japanese users focused on what they saw as hidden hints, interpreting previously innocent-looking material as evidence of the secret relationship. It is important to note that online interpretation is not conclusive proof, and public speculation does not confirm what Karada intended with any specific post. However, the momentum of the scandal made such distinctions nearly irrelevant to the public narrative.
Karada’s career was severely impacted as her agency addressed the situation publicly and she became subject to intense scrutiny. Higashide faced immediate commercial consequences. In Japan, celebrity endorsement deals rely heavily on public image, and advertisers rarely need a criminal conviction or court ruling to decide a controversy has become too costly. Reports emerged about pressures surrounding his professional commitments, and projects linked to his name became associated with the scandal.
In early March 2020, Higashide appeared before journalists for a tense press conference. According to later accounts, he paused repeatedly for long periods before answering some of the most personal questions. Those silences became part of the story itself. One question overshadowed all others: a reporter asked him, in essence, to choose between the two women at the center of the scandal.
Who did he love more, Anne or Karada? Higashide hesitated before stating that talking about his feelings might hurt his wife. Rather than closing the matter, his response triggered another wave of criticism. The public had wanted clarity and instead saw a man unable to give the answer many believed should have been obvious.
The affair allegations became cemented in public consciousness. By August 2020, the scandal reached its peak and any realistic hope of saving the marriage vanished. Anne Watanabe and Masahiro Higashide officially divorced, ending what was once considered one of Japanese entertainment’s most stable celebrity marriages. The divorce transformed the story from an affair scandal into the collapse of a family with three young children.
In the months that followed, Higashide’s reputation suffered one of the most severe downturns of his career. A 2020 opinion poll conducted by Shukan Bunshun placed him significantly high on a list of Japan’s most hated male actors, demonstrating the extent to which public opinion had turned against him. His career, once dependent on credibility and likability, was now haunted by the scandal. In later interviews, Higashide spoke candidly about how radically his life had changed.
He described a career that had become less predictable and a lifestyle far removed from his previous star image. One notable detail he shared was the difficulty he faced renting an apartment in Tokyo, saying his applications for several properties were rejected. He attributed part of this difficulty to the intense media attention surrounding his name and his fear of press interest following him wherever he went. Karada’s career also took a different but equally harsh path.
As a young actress still establishing herself, the scandal transformed her public profile for reasons she would never have wanted. Her agency issued an apology, her public activities were disrupted, and her social media presence became part of the scandal itself. Anne Watanabe, meanwhile, continued her career in the opposite direction. Rather than allowing the scandal to define her, she kept working and raising her children, gradually building a life no longer governed by her collapsed marriage.
Years later, the story retains a cinematic symmetry. Watanabe and Higashide were brought together by a beloved television drama. Higashide later worked with Erika Karada on a romantic film. The professional relationships that helped build his image became intertwined with the scandal that destroyed it.
The most shocking part was not that fame failed to protect the marriage, but that it made the collapse impossible to hide. What made the story so resonant was the contrast between image and reality. A marriage that appeared stable was hiding problems strangers could not see. Once the secret became public, nothing was the same.
The real shock was not only what happened, but how long the perfect image lasted before it fell apart.