Following accusations of “betrayal” from angry fans, couple starts a new, happy chapter in their lives.


A little over five months ago, 18-year-old aspiring idol singer Asuka Kiraboshi announced that she was pregnant. That alone would have caused ripples throughout idol fandom, as the industry generally prefers to keep up the illusion that performers have no interest in romance, only in pleasing their fans.

But another layer of potential scandal was added because the father of the baby is Yuki Iwabuchi, manager of Star-Bright, the idol unit of which Kiraboshi was a member. The pair, who are four years apart in age, revealed that they’d been in a romantic relationship for the past two years, Upset fans were quick to voice their anger at being “betrayed,” and Iwabuchi himself even went so far as to apologize for violating the trust fans had placed in him.

However, with their relationship now out in the open, the pair registered their marriage in January. Kiraboshi gave her last on-stage performance in the middle of the same month before stepping away from the limelight, and has now given birth to a healthy baby boy.

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Kiraboshi7s water broke on the evening of March 30, prompting an emergency cesarean section. Thankfully, the procedure was carried out successfully, and the next morning, she and Iwabuchi welcomed their son to the world.

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Though born slightly ahead of Kiraboshi’s due date, the child weighed in at 3,810 grams (8.4 pounds), which isn’t small by Japanese standards.

▼ No word as to how much of that weight is accounted for by the boy’s chubby cheeks.

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The new parents have decided on the name Reon, written with the kanji 玲音 and meaning “clear sound,” an appropriate moniker for a kid whose parents have a shared connection to music.

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As for the future, Kiraboshi says she intends to make motherhood her main priority, though she hopes to also transition from being an idol singer to a radio personality. Iwabuchi, meanwhile, tweeted:

“A lot has happened, but I know I’ve made the right decision making marriage and our child my focus.”

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In contrast to the negativity that some jaded fans hurled at the couple when the pregnancy was announced, the tweets of little Reon have been met with nothing but warm congratulations from the Japanese Twitter community. Whether that means the haters have mellowed out or simply moved on to something else to be angry about is something that can’t be determined, but in any case, the new family is off to a happy start.

Source: Twitter/@kirakira416a, Twitter/@8kvxKnfLAHI8v0V via IT Media