Actress Ryoko Hirosue fined $5,700 for negligent driving causing injury
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Japanese actress Ryoko Hirosue has suspended all entertainment activities to focus on her health issues.
PHOTO: RYOKO_HIROSUE_OFFICIAL/INSTAGRAM
TOKYO – A court has fined Japanese actress Ryoko Hirosue 700,000 yen (S$5,700) for negligent driving resulting in injury after she rear-ended a trailer truck on an expressway in central Japan in April 2025, leaving a male passenger in her vehicle with a fracture.
The Kakegawa Summary Court in Shizuoka prefecture issued the fine after prosecutors sought summary proceedings against Hirosue, 45, in December 2025. She was not charged by prosecutors over allegations that she assaulted a nurse at the hospital she was taken to after the accident.
A summary indictment allows prosecutors to seek a fine through written procedures without a formal trial.
The indictment said the accident occurred at around 6.45pm on April 7 on the Shin-Tomei Expressway in Shizuoka prefecture, with Hirosue said to have been driving at about 185kmh before the crash.
The actress was taken to a hospital in the prefecture, where she allegedly kicked the female nurse multiple times
Hirosue rose to fame in the 1990s with TV series such as Beach Boys (1997) and When The Saints Go Marching In (1998). She has also starred in films, including the Oscar-winning Departures (2008).
The actress announced in May 2025 that she was suspending all entertainment activities
A notice put up on her official website said she has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a mental health condition characterised by extreme mood swings, and hyperthyroidism, a condition that can lead to unintended weight loss and heart palpitations. KYODO NEWS
