Utada and Namie are both married and they are among the 1337 pop stars in Japan, I don't understand why a member of Morning Musume can't date... shiz... :evil:
Well, Namie is divorced AND a single mom, but with all due respects to her and her career, she's not doing as well as she did in her prime. Despite that, Utada and Amuro are bad examples to compare with Yaguchi because the former aren't "idols" in the same sense that Yaguchi and the other MM members are. I think their fanbase are a bit more mature and more diverse age wise, so I don't think that you'd see
too many complaints in regards to them having relationships at this point.
The MM girls on the otherhand still have to cater to the fantasy that they are single, pure, and waiting for the right fanboy to sweep them off their feet. Granted, I seriously don't believe that all - or even MOST - MM fans in Japan still think this way, but I believe that the media over there does and could turn this into a nasty campaign against H!P if they wanted.
Overall, I think Yaguchi made the right decision, I just question the timing because of how out of the blue it really is. If we are to go by the belief that these photos in "Friday" aren't the only reason she decided to quit, then somebody out there in Japan must have had more information that has yet to be revealed. If that info is a pregnancy, marriage, or just something more personal, then she and UFA made the right decision.