Utada Hikaru and Kiriya Kazuaki Divorce

[Cyria]

I haven't been following her career lately so this news was a complete surprise to me. I hope will have a friendly divorce.

[fireworks501]

Good for her.

These things are painful, but how old is she, like in her twenties? The idea that she'd find someone who satisfies her both emotionally and sexually for the rest of her life at such a young age is pure naivety.

That, plus the whole machine of celebrity and idol obsession being what it is, and having to distance herself personally from herself as she is perceived in the music - not to mention long distance and busy schedules - probably brought this about.

Let's hope she keeps her ground through this; these things are never easy.

[ayu_fan929]

^She's 24 I think. Maybe it's because of the age difference...

[qwerty]

I'm shocked but not sad. As ImpactBreaker said, it's better for Hikki and her husband to divorce rather than just carry it out and pretend they still love each other. Some people are being a bit melodramatic about this. It's not as if Hikki's husband died. They just got a divorce; it was probably for the best.

[pinapnut]

That came out of nowhere. Kind of disappointing, but I guess it's for the best.

[rainday]

You guys were actually surprised about this? I'm surprised it even lasted this long.

[*hearT_Place*]

That's sad.

I really wish them both the best.

[URANUS]

I'm so surprised. I thought they would last.

[hopeorpain]

That's too bad..but they are humans after all...:O

[m2yu]

erm, expected?
mayb coz of the time prob n their jobs...
sry for them... hope every1's fine... ^^"

[Dustie]

I have to say it is a bit of surprise to me... not to even mention it was out of nowhere. You could think that her being so young and him being older, when they were getting married suddenly, it won't last long, but then it wasn't so obvious as it is in many cases of Hollywood people getting together...

[truehappiness]

It was not their ages that was the reason!

It was basically like, they felt stuck together by the marriage, but they weren't really doing anything as of late.

Their feelings towards marriage were probably the same, with "being with the one who makes you happy for the rest of your life." They probably just didn't see that in each other recently. I support their decision, as staying together would've lead to a divorce sooner or later. Even worse if she was PREGNANT or already had a kid.

[AyuGAME]

i thought they was a lovey dopey couple...
is hikki has a child from him?

[truehappiness]

No, she doesn't.

[nmskalmn]

story was picked up by the AP:

TOKYO: U.S. born Japanese pop star Hikaru Utada, whose debut album "First Love" set a sales record in Japan and sold millions more across Asia, said Saturday she has ended a 4 1/2-year marriage to the director of her music videos.

Utada, 24, and Kazuaki Kiriya, 34, filed divorce papers on Friday, the two said in a joint statement posted on the pop star's Web site.

"We both lead dynamic lives, and our ideals of married life steadily diverged," Utada said in the posting. "Our international lifestyles meant we lost touch in our daily lives, and failed to communicate."

"First Love," released in 1999, sold more than 9.5 million copies, making it Japan's best-selling album ever. Her subsequent six albums also became smash hits.

She also won fans across Asia for her style of music — strictly American pop, but with an eclectic mix of English and Japanese lyrics.

In 2004, she released her North American English-language debut album, Exodus.

Utada was born in New York and attended Columbia University.

Japanese pop star Hikaru Utada divorces music video director

[Larisa-chan]

Ah, I thought she and her husband were 15 years apart o.o?

Anyway, I'm also surprised the marriage lasted this long as well. Really people, you shouldn't be so shocked considering two important factors =P 1) celebrity marriage 2) age difference & Hikaru getting married so young. And I'm not saying that it's impossible for such marriages to work out, they just hardly ever do.

[AmyRoseM]

aww, that's a bummer. But at least it doesn't seem like a messy, bitter divorce...
they both seem to still love each other as people.

[Hazuki]

I'm quite shocked at this.. She did say they lacked communication.. :/

The lyrics do seem to have a big connection to this.

[BabyUtada]

^I don't know if their distance from each other was extreme or anything but what ever to marriage counseling?!?

[Nana]

I am sorry it happened but being recently divorced myself I can honestly say it was probably for the best.