Was Japanese actor Hiroshi Tachi involved in idol/singer Yukiko Okada's suicide? No, that's not true: The alleged relationship between Tachi and Okada, along with various aspects surrounding her suicide, were fabricated by Japanese tabloids during the late 1980s. Testimony from her former manager, Tokio Fukuda, alongside a salvaged diary entry that outlines her suicide note, confirmed that one of the reasons behind her suicide was her unrequited love for her co-star Toru Minegishi in the drama "Kinjirareta Mariko."
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok by user @miyamotomitsuo on February 29, 2024. The video is part of a series that "investigates" Okada's suicide on @miyamotomitsuo's TikTok page. Comments (translated from Japanese to English by Lead Stories staff) in this part of the video claim that Okada's co-star in the Japanese drama series "Kinjirareta Mariko," Minegishi, took the fall and the brunt of the rumors surrounding Okada's suicide, absolving Tachi of any involvement:
The truth is Yukiko Okada was pregnant with Tachi's child. To hide this truth, Toru Minegishi became the new target [of tabloids] so that Tachi's name stays clean
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Thu Mar 21 20:02:26 2024 UTC)
The details surrounding Okada's death remain murky today, but interviews (archived here and here) with Okada's former manager Fukuda testified that Okada had attempted suicide twice the day she died. He said (as translated):
I think the reasons for the first and second suicide attempts were different. The first time, she [Okada] was thinking of someone else
Fukuda confirms that Okada had one-sided feelings for Minegishi but never mentioned Tachi. Okada's suicide note (archived here) also addresses Minegishi as the subject of her heartbreak. According to an article by a tabloid journalist (archived here), Tachi's purported relationship with Okada was a fabricated story. Additionally, there was no information in Okada's note nor have there been any official statements from Fukuda or Okada's agency addressing the rumors surrounding her supposed pregnancy.
Okada's suicide caused a media frenzy when it happened on April 8, 1986, and several copycat suicides were documented after her passing, causing media outlets to label this phenomenon "Yukko Syndrome" (archived here). Before her death, Okada was a rising singer during the "Bubble Period," releasing her chart-topping hit "Kuchibiru Network" (archived here) before her passing.
