Maki Goto apologizes after emergence of adultery report

TOKYO (TR) – Following the emergence earlier this week of a report claiming that Maki Goto, a 33-year-old former member of idol group Morning Musume, was engaged in an extra-marital affair, the idol has offered an apology.

According to weekly tabloid Shukan Bunshun, Goto’s husband of five years has lodged a complaint in court seeking 3.3 million yen in compensation from her former boyfriend for her unfaithfulness.

Court documents obtained from the magazine indicate that Goto and her then lover, 28, who is single, traveled together by taxi to an outlet of chain APA Hotel by taxi to engage in sexual relations on two occasions.

On her blog on Wednesday, the idol wrote, “As was reported in a tabloid, I have had [sexual] relations with a man other than my husband. That is inexcusable.”

In describing her actions as “immature” and “reckless,” she went on to say, “I deeply hurt and betrayed the trust of my husband, whom I vowed until death to serve as a wife and mother, through my lack of self-awareness.”

Goto had been in a relationship with the other man at another time in the past. They reunited via the internet last year. Her husband flew into a rage after he learned that they were communicating via the smartphone application Line.

According to Bunshun, Goto’s former boyfriend said that her husband inflicted domestic violence upon, saying that “[their] marriage had already collapsed” in justifying his affair with her.

In the post, however, Goto took responsibility for what she called “as misunderstanding” between her and her then boyfriend. She wrote, “I went overboard in describing our matrimonial quarrels.”

Goto left Morning Musume in 2002. The following year, she released her debut solo album “Makking Gold 1,” which reached the number-four spot on the Oricon album chart.

In 2014, Goto and her husband got married. She gave birth to a daughter in 2015. Two years after that, she had a son.

Goto added that her husband has forgiven her for her actions. “From now on, we will help each other more than ever as a family in nurturing our children,” she wrote.