[NEWS] TOKIO's Tatsuya Yamaguchi, 2 months divorced, has been in therapy for a year and a half

[hontontoko]

"I, and a lot of other patients, were stuck in this waiting room waiting for our turn. Then this man with glasses and a mask on--despite it being in the middle of summer--came up. He was directed to the therapist's room, and just before opening the door he took his mask off and gave a polite bow. In that one moment I saw his face, I recognised TOKIO's Tatsuya Yamaguchi in surprise and remember myself thinking, 'Why would he come to this hospital?'" -- Anonymous Patient of X Hospital

Tatsuya Yamaguchi (44) held a surprise press conference in August regarding his divorce to former model A-san (40), who he got married to in 2008. Their eldest son (8) was born in 2008, their next son (6) born in 2010, and as the Yamaguchi family was believed to have a happy home life, the sudden news of their divorce shocked many.

On the conference itself, Yamaguchi said this with a bowed head: "The reason for the divorce is entirely on me." However, despite this being the first news of divorce from anyone in Johnny's, Yamaguchi's reputation did not at all worsen. In fact, when The! Tetsuwan! DASH!! (Nippon TV), a variety show in which he's one of the main personalities, came out after its hiatus in October, the ratings beat a number of records with numbers of 20% and above. With his other programs doing just as well, it seemed to many that the divorce wasn't affecting Yamaguchi's performance at all.

But it seems after--and even before--the divorce, Yamaguchi was going to the hospital regularly.

In June, two months before his divorce conference, Yamaguchi was driven by his manager to the hospital after filming in a certain studio in Tokyo. This car stopped in the parking lot of a hospital. His manager left the car alone, securing Yamaguchi's appointment, and came back to call him. Yamaguchi left the car, walking in a straight line towards the back entrance of the building and heading to his therapist's room.

"This hospital has treated many celebrities for problems, like alcoholism for example. While we accept many celebrity patients, we do our best to keep them from being spotted or interacting with regular patients as much as possible." -- Anonymous Personnel of X Hospital

Several times people have spotted Yamaguchi in the hospital, and all of those times he's come to the hospital by car. His sessions always last less than 30 minutes. In fact, Yamaguchi himself has alluded to his need for therapy in his divorce conference last August, saying "There wasn't a big reason to why we got divorced. Instead, I think it was more of everything. And because of that, we'd drown ourselves in things... like surfing, or alcohol." and it could be that Yamaguchi was referring to himself with the latter. Testimonials to his drinking include "After filming at one of our location shoots, the whole staff would always go out drinking with him. And always, his manager would have to remind him not to drink too much. A while back he never drank too much, but recently this has been happening more often..." from one of the staff members of his shows.

Speculations have arisen with regards to alcohol problems being the reason for the couple's split. However, after checking in with his agency, Johnny's completely denied any treatment happening with Yamaguchi for alcohol trouble.

"Yes, Yamaguchi has been going to the hospital, but it isn't for an alcohol addiction. Rather, the problems that led to his divorce started three years ago, and as it weakened both his mind and his body, we allowed him to seek treatment. Yamaguchi's acquaintance introduced him to the hospital and his attending therapist a year and a half ago. After that, he's been seeking counselling there regularly once a month. With his divorce in August, Yamaguchi has been working along with his doctor to bring himself back to a healthy state--both physically and mentally. That being said, he's doing his best to appear in public regardless, if only because he'd prefer it if everyone didn't worry about him."

During his press conference, Yamaguchi gave the news with the capacity to smile still intact. But it appears separation from his beloved family has been no easy task for his anxiety all the same.