On August 3rd, actor Takaoka Sosuke announced that he will be retiring from showbiz. 

From August 2nd, Takaoka had been posting about his activities and feelings on Instagram. He talked about his encounters with directors Fukasaku Kinzi, Izutsu Kazuyuki, and Ninagawa Yukio as well as his thoughts and conflicts about acting. 

Then on the 3rd, he declared that he will stop acting, "As of today I will be leaving the path of acting that has been both great and challenging. I have the stamina, but my mentality is at its limit. I have gave it my all." 

He continued, "I have never once thought of myself to be great. I don't have any talent that I can be proud of. I am sorry that I wasn't able to meet your expectations. Please leave me in peace from now on." 

Finally, he stated, "To persons concerned that brought me up and supported me until now, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude. As of today, I will never be returning to acting. To everyone that have supported me, thank you very much. I am praying for everyone's happiness from the bottom of my heart. To everyone that I have been involved with, my exceptional thanks go out to you. Thank you very much for the past 21 years."

Takaoka made his debut with the drama 'Tengoku no Kiss' in 1999. He married actress Miyazaki Aoi in June of 2007, but divorced in December of 2011. Then in November of 2018, he announced that he had gotten remarried to a non-celebrity woman and had two children. 

Source & Image: Oricon