Actor Yu Shirota (39) appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi) on April 16th. He talked about his divorced parents and his thoughts on marriage.
Shirota was born to a Spanish mother and a Japanese father. His always cheerful mother has been married and divorced three times. Shirota himself had a period when he didn't see his father much. Now he makes time regularly to have meals at his father's house with his brother.
"It was a sensitive time for me, so at one point I couldn't say I was on very good terms with my father. But now we drink together and I can say we're much closer now. It seems like my father records and watches all the TV shows and productions I appear in."
When Tetsuko asked him, "You'll soon be in your 40s. How does it feel?" Shirota replied, "People of my generation are becoming fathers and mothers one after another...Right now, I'm focused on my work and what I want to do, so I can't really imagine having a family."
"All my friends around me work, get up in the morning, and take care of their children - and I think that's wonderful. I have nothing but respect for them. I consider my children a treasure because they help me have that kind of mindset," he said frankly.
"When I asked my own mother, 'What is the happiest thing you have ever received?' she answered, 'The moment you were born was the happiest gift I received,' and it made me realise just how life-changing it can be to have children."
Shirota-san thinks his nephews and nieces are cute, so he imagines that his children would be even cuter. "Marriage is not something that happens in real life. But next time, if I get the chance to be invited on Tetsuko's Room, there's a chance I might have a child of my own," he said with a smile.
