Ending her marriage to Jiang Hongjie is a decision that Fukuhara Ai has chosen to "give up" in her life so far. She gave up saving this marriage that was no longer sweet, giving up the image of a "good wife" in the hearts of the Japanese people, and for the first time, she gave up responding to the expectations of the outside world. Perhaps, for Fukuhara Ai, who has been living under expectation, this is also her breakaway and change.
| Author: Huang Xianyi Wang Zhening
| Editor: Ah Ye
| Editor: Curry
On July 8, Ai Fukuhara and Jiang Hongjie issued a statement officially announcing their divorce, and the marriage incident that had been pulling for more than 5 months was finally settled.
Under Fukuhara Ai's Weibo response to the divorce, Chinese netizens expressed their support for her almost one-sidedly: "Congratulations on Ai Sauce, your blessing is behind." ”
Chinese netizens expressed their support for Ai Fukuhara in the comments section of Ai Fukuhara's Weibo.
In this 5-year, hasty marriage, Ai Fukuhara experienced the biggest changes in her life: retiring, getting married, having children, receiving countless blessings from Chinese and Japanese netizens, and falling off the "altar" in the whirlpool of public opinion in Japan.
Since the emergence of her talent for table tennis at the age of 4, Ai Fukuhara has been increasingly tightly bound by expectations from all directions, and even "kidnapped". Before retiring, her mother hoped that she would complete her unfinished table tennis dream for herself, and the Japanese people longed for her to lead the rise of Japanese table tennis; after retiring, Japanese society hoped that she could turn around and become a "perfect symbol" and become a good wife and mother.
Before the news of the marriage change came out, Ai Fukuhara responded perfectly to every expectation of the outside world. However, when the rift in the marriage is difficult to repair, Fukuhara Ai, who has always insisted on "not giving up halfway", decisively and firmly chooses to "give up".
The "genius girl" trapped by love
Before being exposed to the marriage change, Fukuhara Ai and Jiang Hongjie had always been an enviable "model couple". One is a "genius girl" in Japanese football who speaks fluent Tohoku dialect, and the other is a young and handsome table tennis player in Chinese Taipei, who was collectively blessed by the circle and fans when the two were connected.
Jiang Hongjie is the "active attacker" in this love.
When he was a young boy, at an East Asian Games, as a representative of Taiwan, he met Ai Fukuhara, a representative of Japan, for the first time. In his sophomore year of high school, he once again saw Xiao Ai, who had become a supernova in the Japanese table tennis industry, and he fell in love with him and ran to ask for a group photo.
In 2013, Ai Fukuhara's back injury recurred several times and required long-term recuperation. She felt helpless and depressed, and Jiang Hongjie sent her messages through social media at this time to cheer her up.
In the early days of the two people's relationship, Jiang Hongjie has maintained a considerate and funny image. When he spoke, he always spoke softly and gently talked to Fukuhara Ai about common hobbies; Fukuhara Ai wanted to drink milk tea, so he ran out and bought all kinds of milk tea for her to choose.
Under his "gentle attack", the pure love of Fukuhara quickly fell into love.
In 2017, the two announced their marriage. Ai Fukuhara not only issued a love declaration of "where Xiao Jie is, where I am", but also participated in many variety shows with Jiang Hongjie. The most famous "dog abuse" wish, the hope that Fukuhara Ai kissed him 100 times a day, was put forward by Jiang Hongjie when he participated in the "Happiness Trio".
Screenshot of Ai Fukuhara interview video.
However, this dreamy love is unexpectedly shattered.
On March 4 this year, a weekly article in Wenchun magazine titled "The Whole Truth about Fukuhara's Love Divorce: Mental Abuse of Taiwanese Husbands and Monster Mother-in-Law's Family" presented the details of their marriage one by one.
When Fukuhara Ai first became pregnant, she had a serious reaction during pregnancy, vomited a lot, and wanted to eat more, and as a result, Jiang Hongjie not only did not even give the most basic care, but also complained that she "would become fat by eating too much"; she went out to dress in a way that did not meet Jiang Hongjie's wishes, and she had to go home at any time to change; even if she hugged with her elderly elders, she would be accused by Jiang Hongjie of "misconduct".
The outside world was in shock. No one thought that the beautiful married life that Fukuhara Ai has always presented is actually her infinite forbearance.
And Fukuhara Ai's grievances are more than these, and Jiang Hongjie's family's attitude towards her is also jaw-dropping.
According to a number of media reports, Jiang Hongjie's sister often took photos of Fukuhara Ai and Jiang Hongjie's private life to win attention and popularity, which made Fukuhara Ai feel deeply uncomfortable; Jiang Mu once said in front of Fukuhara Ai, "You are the chicken that can lay golden eggs in our family."
Screenshot of the report.
The beautiful love that originally made Fukuhara love to fight for herself gradually made her physically and mentally exhausted.
It is reported that the "verbal violence" of the Jiang Hongjie family actually existed from the wedding day, but Fukuhara Ai has been trying to maintain the marriage. In February this year, after the two rumors of marriage, she also stood up for the first time to refute the rumors. Then, in March, after being exposed as "cheating", she immediately denied it, saying that she was just going out with a friend she worked with, and informed the public of the news that her mental condition was not good.
It wasn't until July 8 that Ai Fukuhara finally officially announced her divorce after struggling in the marriage for 5 years.
Traditional girls influenced by the family
In the variety show "Happiness Trio", Wang Nan relayed Fukuhara Ai's ideal of cooking for her husband, who waited for him at the door as soon as he returned home, asking him whether to eat first or take a shower first.
Screenshot of the video of "Happiness Trio".
Ai Fukuhara established this concept of self-dedication and service to her husband, which is inseparable from the influence of her original family.
Her father was not very good-tempered and indifferent to her. When she was a child, she was hit on the head by blocks and shed a lot of blood, but her father only said "just get a Band-Aid", and finally her mother carried her to the hospital for treatment. Since then, she has been deeply disappointed in her father.
Her mother, Chiyo Fukuhara, is the most common traditional woman in Japan, who values family and husband, and one of the biggest expectations for her daughter is to marry a good family and have both children.
Fukuhara loves to play small ears. When she was a child, she learned that Japanese women had to change their husband's surname after marriage, and began to fantasize all day about what her surname would be after marriage; even at the peak of her career at the age of 22, she learned to cook and cook under the encouragement of her mother to lay the foundation for becoming a housewife in the future.
However, her parents' marriage was ultimately a chicken feather. After her parents divorced, Ai Fukuhara did not contact her father for 5 years.
The lack of father's love and her mother's education of her from an early age have made Fukuhara eager to find emotional belonging and sustenance. Jiang Hongjie appeared at her lowest point, which undoubtedly gave her great comfort and dependence.
It is worth mentioning that Fukuhara Ai embarked on the road of playing table tennis, which was also influenced by her mother.
Her mother, a former table tennis player, began to train Fukuhara's brother to play after getting married and having children. At that time, the parents' eyes seemed to be focused on the brother, in order to get attention, Xiao Ai picked up the racket herself to try to practice, but she did not expect to be out of control.
From the age of 3, she began to train systematically, and agreed with her mother that she would "never give up halfway", train at least 3 or 4 hours a day, play 1,000 balls, and if interrupted, start all over again. At the age of 12, she became the youngest member of the national team in Japanese history, coming to China alone to compete and taking care of everything herself.
The training caused her back injury and honed her will. On the way to becoming a "genius", she silently carried all kinds of difficulties, no one listened to her complaints, she chewed the pain back into her stomach; she couldn't help but cry, then she cried out, but it was impossible to give up.
・The way Fukuhara loves to play while crying when she was a child has poked the hearts of countless people.
In this way, because of the traditional family concept established in his heart and the stoic character cultivated after his hard training since childhood, Fukuhara Ai once chose to silently bear the pain of the marriage relationship. It was not until this year, when public opinion pushed to the cusp of the storm, that it seems that she accelerated the divorce process.
Sports stars who are expected to be "kidnapped" by society
In China, which is jokingly called her "half mother's family", Ai Fukuhara, who is married, has gained countless understanding and support, while in the real "mother's home" of Japan, she faces a lot of accusations and insults.
As early as March, when the news of the marriage change had just fermented, Ai Fukuhara was hit by a large wave of Japanese public opinion due to rumors of an affair, and even lost the opportunity to explain the table tennis of the Tokyo Olympic Games. On March 28, on the Japanese media's list of Japan's "Bulun Artists", Ai Fukuhara surpassed the second place with 100 votes, becoming the "champion" of this list.
Although Ai Fukuhara first responded to the rumors of "cheating", saying that he and the man were just ordinary friends, this clarification was obviously not accepted by the Japanese people. According to the latest japanese media poll released on July 9 in the first half of the year, 31% of people still do not forgive Ai Fukuhara and continue to vote for her to the first place in the "Bulun Artist" list. However, Sasaki's husband Watanabe Ken, who cheated on many people and abused him, was "relegated" to the second place.
Why is there so much anger among the Japanese people at Ai Fukuhara's marriage?
The famous Japanese director Ryo Takeuchi once expressed his views on this matter on Weibo, which may be able to get a glimpse or two from it.
Regardless of whether the rumors of infidelity are true or not, in the traditional Japanese conception, the responsibility of the family is more on women. Rather than pursuing their own careers, running a good family and serving their husbands and children is the number one priority for Japanese women, the breakdown of the family is often blamed on the wife. Most Japanese women will also be rooted in the ideal of "becoming a good wife" since childhood.
The change in marriage has undoubtedly broken the perfect image that Ai Fukuhara once had in the hearts of the Japanese people.
At the age of 14, Ai Fukuhara was selected to become the youngest World Championship player in Japanese history. At that time, Japanese table tennis was at a low ebb, especially women's table tennis, which had long stopped in the world's top eight. For a time, the hopes of 120 million Japanese people were pressed on Ai Fukuhara.
Before departing for the World Championships in Paris, all the teachers and students of their alma mater, Aomori Yamada Junior High School, held a grand ceremony for Ai Fukuhara.
Ai Fukuhara lived up to this expectation. Not only did he finish 5th at the 2002 World Championships in Paris, bringing Japan back to the quarterfinals after 14 years, but he also led the Japanese women's table tennis team to team runner-up at the 2012 London Olympic Games, winning the first Olympic medal for Japanese table tennis.
When she announced her retirement, Tomoaki Okura, a well-known Japanese program host, said on the show: "Athletes who have grown up since the age of 3 are probably only Xiao Ai. The Japanese table tennis industry has become stronger and stronger today, and Xiao Ai has contributed to this. The famous Japanese actress Shinobu Sakaue praised her as "perfect".
Until Ai Fukuhara bid farewell to her status as an athlete, the Japanese people still retained the expectation of her positive and cute and perfect image, and continued to "wife" and "mother", the two most valued female characters in Japanese society. But this time, Ai Fukuhara did not meet their expectations.
In fact, taking the step of divorce may not be easy for Ai Fukuhara.
Since childhood, living under the scrutiny of the public, in the face of various public opinions arising from himself, Fukuhara Ai's first reaction is always to apologize. Whether it is the exposure of her relationship with tennis star Kei Nishikori in 2008, the news of a father-daughter relationship in 2013, the change in marriage in 2021, or the loss of a ball game, Ai Fukuhara will say "sorry" to the public for "living up to everyone's expectations", but it seems that he never considered whether she was at fault or whether he needed to apologize for these things.
In 2008, Ai Fukuhara apologized to the public for her relationship with Kei Nishikori.
From the beginning of learning table tennis, Ai Fukuhara was taught that "you can't give up any game halfway." For so many years, Ai Fukuhara always cried when he lost, but after crying, he wiped his tears, always turned around and returned to the table, never giving up.
Ending her marriage to Jiang Hongjie may be one of the few decisions she has chosen to "give up" in her life so far.
She gave up saving this marriage that was no longer sweet, giving up the image of a "good wife" in the hearts of the Japanese people, and for the first time, she gave up responding to the expectations of the outside world. Perhaps, as Chinese netizens said, for Fukuhara Ai, who has been living under expectations, this is also her breakaway and change.