Translated by Ken chan
October 23, 1997

Newlywed pop star Namie Amuro, 20, and her husband–35-year-old Masaharu Maruyama, alias SAM, a dancer in the pop group TRF–said Thursday that Amuro would take off the whole of 1998 because she is now three months pregnant. The couple, beaming all the way through a press conference that attracted about 250 reporters, said their relationship had begun in January. They said they had been considering marriage since about August, but had only made up their minds when they discovered Amuro was expecting. The baby is due in June 1998. The couple said they had no plans for a ceremony to mark their marriage.