Talent Yoshizumi Ishihara appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi) with Junji Takada on February 27th. He talked about his father, the late Shintaro Ishihara, and stories from his personal life.
Ishihara has been married for 23 years and has a son and daughter who are university students. "My youngest child will finally be 20 soon. Both of them are in university. It's not something I'd go out of my way to tell the media, and they're just normal students, so they don't appear on TV," she said.
He also said, "When I was a child, my father was there, and it was sort of natural for him to appear on TV. (Ishihara herself) has seen TV cameras since she was a child, so that might be different (from her son and daughter)."
Ishihara received the "Best Father Yellow Ribbon Award" last year. "Tetsuko, my father also received the Best Father Award. Don't you think that's strange? There's no way my father is the best father!" Ishihara said, shaking his head.
"I'm happy to receive the Best Father Award, but I actually try to make time to spend with my family, like going skiing with them or playing golf, and I try to enjoy it. My father was nothing like that. Before my father passed away, he told my younger brother, 'I'm sorry, I wasn't interested in raising children.' Isn't that amazing?" he revealed.
After listening to Ishihara's story, Takada-san responded by saying, "He's a great father! That's why he's the best father!" He has been married for 52 years, has two daughters, and currently lives with his grandchildren.
"My grandson will be in high school from April this year. It's so fast," said Takada. "I hardly talk to my wife. She likes soccer and watches it until late at night, so if I talk to her in the wrong way, she tells me I'm noisy." When asked by Tetsuko about the secret to his happy marriage, he laughed and said, "That's right. I guess it's because I don't come home very often."
