Where Is She Now? The Idol Girl Group Member Who Dated A Criminal
During her rise to fame, a popular idol experienced an unexpected road bump in her personal life. Unfortunately, it resulted in a scandal and multiple arrests that affected her career.
Goto Maki is a J-Pop singer and model who debuted in 1999 in the girl groups Hello! Project and Morning Musume. At the time, she was just 13 years old. She went on to become the second best-selling solo artist in Hello! Project before her departure from the group in 2007.
On October 20, 2007, Goto Maki’s younger brother Goto Yuki, a former member of the duo EE Jump, was arrested for committing a robbery, along with two accomplices. 21-year-old Yuki and his accomplices–aged 18 and 19–had stolen 80 reels of electric cable worth approximately 1 million yen ($6,573 USD) from a construction site in Edogawa, Tokyo.
At the time, reports emerged that 22-year-old Goto Maki was dating one of her brother’s teen accomplices and had been for some time. The two met at Yuki’s wedding two years earlier. Their relationship reportedly ended with the arrests and subsequent trial that landed Yuki–the robbery’s ringleader–in prison for five and a half years.
Both the scandal surrounding the robbery and Maki’s desire to take her singing career in a new direction resulted in her leaving Hello! Project. Like Morning Musume, Hello! Project welcomes new members after former members graduate from the group.
Maki disappeared from the public eye after her brother’s trial before returning in 2008 by reopening her previously closed blog. Later that year, Maki redebuted under the label Avex and continued her singing career on and off as a soloist for several years. She also debuted as a radio host and model.
Maki’s career was once again rocked by controversy in 2019 after Japanese media alleged that Maki—who was now married with two children—was having an affair with an unnamed ex-boyfriend. Maki personally confirmed the reports in a blog post, telling fans that she was deeply reflecting on her mistakes as a wife and mother.
In 2020, Maki added content creator to her list of job titles by opening a gaming channel and a beauty channel on YouTube. She also continued to perform live in concert and collaborate with other artists and management companies for events. After being crowned the winner of The Masked Singer Japan Season 2, Maki released an album, Songs of You and Me!, her first music release since 2011.
Where is Goto Maki now? In September, she held a solo tour titled Goto Maki 25th Anniversary Live Tour 2024 ~pr∀yer~ as part of her 25th anniversary celebrations. In October she celebrated Halloween with this cute costume:
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Read more about Morning Musume’s members here:
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