Pop star Seiko Matsuda, 36, who has gained fame as much for scandal as for her music, announced her marriage to a dentist six years her junior Monday at Tokyo's Takanawa Prince Hotel in Minato Ward.
The ceremony started from 1 p.m. with less than 30 relatives from both families in attendance. But a throng of reporters and photographers were on hand at the hotel's chapel to cover the event.
After posing for photographers in her white wedding dress, Matsuda, 36, held a news conference and explained her reason for marrying Hiroyuki Hatano, her 11-year-old daughter's dentist, who she met less than two months ago at his office. "He is a kind, sympathetic person who understands other people's feelings," she said. "I think that's wonderful." The groom did not appear before reporters.
This is the second marriage for the coy idol known to her fans as Seiko-chan. "It might be seen as though we were rushing into marriage, but it was natural for both of us," Matsuda said.
In January last year, she divorced actor Masaki Kanda, 47, after 12 years of a less-than-perfect union in which the singer was reported to have had affairs with more than 30 men.
Born Noriko Kamachi in Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, Matsuda began her climb to fame as a teenager when she finished first out of 4,500 contestants in a "Miss Seventeen Love Idol Attack Contest."
She then went on to spin out 24 No. 1 singles in the 1980s. At the same time, she lived a fast and loose lifestyle and refused to give up her career upon marriage, a move considered to be liberating for young Japanese women.