Japan Entertainment News - July 2003
Henmi, Nakanishi Split? | July 29, 2003 |
 Rumors of trouble in the only recently revealed relationship between TV personality Henmi Emiri (photo, 26) and former J-Leaguer Nakanishi Tetsuo (33). She said on a recent talk show that she has given up on hopes of marriage, and was seen at a movie preview yesterday without the ring he had given her.• Sales of SMAP's single "Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana" has broken the 2 million copy mark. It is the first time in over three years that a single has reached this figure and a first for SMAP.
Interesting story? Then add it to your favorite social site:
See Ya, Nachi | July 28, 2003 |
 Abe Natsumi (21) is the latest to announce her "graduation" from the idol group Morning Musume. At a Hello! Project show in Tokyo, "Nachi" shocked fans with the news that she will leave the group next February. This will leave Iida Kaori (21) as the only surviving original member. Abe will release her debut solo single in late August.
• Rock singer and poseur extraordinaire Yazawa Eikichi (53) made a rare guest appearance at the FM802 Meet the World live event in Osaka yesterday. He sang one song "Love Fighter" and left without so much as a word to the 16,000 audience. His only such outings in recent years have been in 1997 at Wembley Stadium in London alongside Jon Bon Jovi and Rod Stewart, and a tribute to his good self in Japan in 2001. The FM802 event also featured Hirai Ken and Chage & Aska.
Interesting story? Then add it to your favorite social site:
 Sato Akira (26), better known as Mach25 bassist Shakan Bass, was one of three people arrested for marijuana possession. Sato is the most visible and popualr member of the group, often appearing on TV variety shows. Whereas such an arrest of a rapper in the US would be seen as almost essential for credibility, in Japan it's portrayed as a betrayal of the group's fans. The arrests followed investigations into the drug suppliers used by writer Nakajima Ramo (51), who was arrested back in February. Mach25 have been one of Japan's foremost hip hop groups since their hit last year with "Sons of the Sun." They are scheduled to play at several events this summer, including the Rock in Japan Festival 2003 on August 1.
Interesting story? Then add it to your favorite social site:
Nokku on Wood | July 26, 2003 |
 Former Osaka governor Yokoyama Nokku (photo, 71) has hinted at a political comeback. The former comedian was given a suspended 18-month sentence in August 2000 for sexually harrassing a student volunteer. With the 3-year suspension period almost up, he may try to make the most of the huge celebrations that will engulf the city after an increasingly likely pennant win by the Hanshin Tigers baseball team.
• Instrumental duo S.E.N.S. are to be the first Japanese to be the opening act for a Major League Baseball game. They will perform before the July 26 NY Mets-Cincinnatti Reds game at Shea Stadium. The duo have won Golden Disk awards twice for Instrumental Album of the Year and their tunes have been used in countless TV shows and commercials. They recorded their new album "The Key" in New York last year, which led to their MLB debut.
Interesting story? Then add it to your favorite social site:
The Show Must Go On | July 25, 2003 |
 Singer Higashiyama Noriyuki (36) plans to carry on his present stage production despite having a broken foot. Performing together with fellow members of the one-time idol trio Shonentai, Higashiyama broke his foot in three places doing one of his acrobatic stunts but finished the show anyway. Following the accident, which happened during the 700th performance of the group's "Playzone" show, Higashiyama was advised to take a month's rest but the Johnny's Jimusho star says he'll carry on.
• Romances in the rumor mill include TV personality Kozue Rin (23) and Nishina Masaki (21), son of samurai/yakuza actor Matsukata Hiroki; TV personality Yoshikawa Hinano (23) and actor Iseya Yusuke. Yoshikawa was married for 7 months to cross-dressing singer Izam.
Interesting story? Then add it to your favorite social site:
Record-breaking Records | July 24, 2003 |
 Rock group B'z extended their record of No.1 singles on the Oricon chart to 31, with "Yasei no Energy" entering straight into the top slot this week. Pop group Tube, best known for their summer hits, stretched a record of their own with "Oasis," their 18th consecutive Top 10 album.
Interesting story? Then add it to your favorite social site:
Odoru Success | July 23, 2003 |
 "Odoru Daisosasen 2" (Bayside Shakedown 2) set a new box office record for its three-day opening weekend, taking in ¥1.8 billion. The record was previously held by the 2001 animated hit "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi" (Spirited Away), which had a ¥1.6 billion opening. That movie went on to win an Oscar and make over ¥30 billion at the Japanese box office. "Odoru" is the sequel to the 1998 hit, which in turn grew out of a TV series. It turned Oda Yuji (35) from a heart-throb into a movie star. Co-star and veteran comedian/actor Ikariya Chosuke (71) got out of hospital just in time for the movie's opening ceremony.
Interesting story? Then add it to your favorite social site:
 Hira Takehiro (28) is a member of the "elite" in more ways than one. The son of actors Hira Mikijiro (69) and Sakuma Yoshiko (64), he went to the US at the age of 15 to study at Brown University and later graduate school at Columbia University. After returning to Japan, he entered the booming Internet company Softbank. But last year, he gave all that up to turn to acting. He appeared on stage in a show featuring his parents, who had divorced 18 years earlier, and in a production of King Lear. This week, he makes his TV debut alongside Todai graduate Kikukawa Rei in the new TBS drama "Loved to Love". Watch out for this guy!
Interesting story? Then add it to your favorite social site:
DCT Wonderland | July 21, 2003 |
 Pop duo Dreams Come True kicked off their Wonderland summer stadium tour with weekend dates in Shiga Prefecture. Vocalist Yoshida Miwa (37) and Nakamura Masato (44) only do the tour once every four years - this is their fourth time around - and have played to over a million people. This year's tour will visit six venues until the end of August.
• Popular hip hop group Rip Slyme played the biggest ever Japanese hip hop event at the Showa Memorial Park in western Tokyo yesterday. Torrential rain didn't dampen the spirits of the 52,000-strong crowd, and it stopped right on time for the 6pm start of the 2-hour show. The group currently have the No.1 album slot with "Time To Go."
Interesting story? Then add it to your favorite social site:
Toru...Kawaiii! | July 18, 2003 |
 Rumors continue of a relationship between TV personalities Kato Haruhiko (28) and Kikukawa Rei (25). Kato, appearing at a Guinness Book of Records presentation, claimed that she is just one of many female friends. The ceremony was to acknowledge a record set by elementary school kids for a 30-person version of a three-legged race. Kato and Yuka (23) were judges at the event.
• Horror manga writer turned TV personality Yamazaki Toru (photo, 33) has made his solo CD debut. The effeminate star has made a name for himself over the last couple of years and is considered the epitome of "kawaii" by Japanese women. In his latest incarnation, he dresses in frilly white clothes and dances in the style of an 80s idol singer.
Interesting story? Then add it to your favorite social site:
Hideki, Kangeki! | July 17, 2003 |
 Singer Saijo Hideki (48) gave his first press conference yesterday since his recent hospitalization with a slight cerebral infarction, caused by a blockage of the blood supply to the brain. 13 TV cameras and over 100 reporters turned out and Saijo was reduced to tears when he recounted his experience. In the evening, he gave a dinner show as scheduled in Fukushima. Saijo has released 85 singles over a two-decade career. His best known hit was "Young Man," a cover of the Village People song YMCA.
• Sakaguchi Yuzaburo, a popular actor in the 1960s, died this week at the age of 61. He was best known for his leading role in the action hero series "Gamen no Ninja Akakage."
Interesting story? Then add it to your favorite social site:
More Wedding Bells | July 16, 2003 |
 Former Takarazuka star Otori Rei (29) wed a 30-year old advertising executive at an Osaka hotel at the weekend. The ceremony was attended by around 200 people, including many current and former actresses with the all-female theater troupe.
• Popular actress Honjo Manami (photo, 28) had a wedding ceremony of a similar scale at a Tokyo hotel. The event was a closely guarded secret. The "wide show" that reported the scoop also suggested that Honjo, who's fan club was recently closed, may be considering retirement. She is a so-called "iyashi-kei" actress. The word, popular for the last year or so, literally means "healing-type" and refers to people or things that are sweet, relaxing or just "feel good."
Interesting story? Then add it to your favorite social site:
Wedding Gets!? | July 15, 2003 |
 It's rumored that comedian Dandy Sakano (36) will be getting married within the year. He and his long-term, live-in girlfriend recently moved to a more luxurious apartment in central Tokyo. Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you can't have missed Sakano and his Gets! routine. With his infectious grin and yellow tuxedo, he had a breakthrough in a TV commercial for drugstore giant Matsumoto Kiyoshi a year or so ago. Now he and his six-guns gesture are all the rage. People of all ages just love to say "Gets!" though it remains to be seen whether he can come up with anything other than that.
Interesting story? Then add it to your favorite social site:
Zatoichi Lives | July 14, 2003 |
 In a publicity move before the release of the new Kitano Takeshi version, the entire "Zatoichi" movie series is to be released on DVD. In 18 films released over a period of eight years (1960-68), Katsu Shintaro played the blind swordsman, a role that made him one of the biggest stars of his generation. A peroxide blond Takeshi has said he would never have considered reviving the role while Katsu was alive. But next month will see a televised Buddhist ceremony to mark the 6th anniversary of his death, and the September release has the full approval of his widow, popular actress Nakamura Tamao (64). We can expect a Zatoichi boom this autumn.
Interesting story? Then add it to your favorite social site:
Wedding Bells | July 13, 2003 |
 Actress Saizen Naomi (photo, 37) married Fuji TV producer Honma Ohiko (45) in what is called a "dengeki kekkon, " wedding out of the blue. The two have worked together for several years on the Fuji TV New Year drama "Stewardess P.I." They only started going out after the curtain-call party last year. The marriage registration was sumitted to the city office by Saizen's manager, as she was on location for the NHK drama "Kokoro."
• TV personality Abe Mihoko (27) announced that she and Korean soccer international Choi Sung Yong (27) are engaged to be married in December. Choi was formerly with J-League team Vissel Kobe and the pair met on an NHK Korean language program. Abe got her TV break on the TBS Saturday morning show "King's Brunch."
Interesting story? Then add it to your favorite social site:
Veteran Bit Player Dies | July 12, 2003 |
 Veteran actor Komatsu Hosei died late Friday night after being hospitalized with complications of his diabetes condition. He was 76. Best known for his many supporting roles in almost 200 movies ranging from soft porn to narration of western films, he made his screen debut in 1959. He appeared in several movies by renowned director Oshima Nagisa. He narrated the Ed Asner character in the Japanese TV version of the US series Lou Grant.
Interesting story? Then add it to your favorite social site:
Bayside Shakedown 2 | July 11, 2003 |
 There was a large press conference to promote the up-coming movie "Bayside Shakedown 2, Save the Rainbow Bridge." Attended by most members of the cast, the event was held in the trendy bayside Odaiba area where the movie is set. The star is Oda Yuji (photo, 35), who's supported by such names as Yanagiba Toshiro (42), Fukatsu Eri (30), and Yusuke Santamaria (32). Absent was veteran actor and former leader of the Drifters comedy group Ikariya Chosuke (71) who is recovering from lymphatic cancer. He is expected to attend when the movie opens on the 19th. The original movie, released in 1998, is still the 3rd biggest Japanese box-office hit, grossing over ¥10 billion. The official web site is here.
Interesting story? Then add it to your favorite social site:
Remembering Yujiro | July 10, 2003 |
 A star-studded ceremony was held yesterday to commemorate the anniversary of the death of legendary actor and singer Ishihara Yujiro. The day, as it has been on all previous anniversaries, was rainy (well, it is the rainy season after all). Ishihara and his writer brother Shintaro, now governor of Tokyo, rose to fame in the 1950s. Yujiro became one of the biggest stars of the 20th century, the Japanese equivalent of Elvis, and died in 1987 at the age of 52. His management agency, Ishihara Pro continues to provide some of the top male stars of TV and film. Yesterday's ceremony was attended by Yujiro's widow Makiko (69), his brother, and such luminaries as Watari Tetsuya (61), Tate Hiroshi (53) and Tokushige Satoshi (24), chosen as the "21st-century Yujiro."
Interesting story? Then add it to your favorite social site:
Sanpei Deshita? | July 09, 2003 |
 Chosen last year in a magazine poll as the variety act most likely to disappear this year, Sanpei (26) talked on a variety show the other night about how close he came to realizing this fate himself. The unassuming and overweight comedian became an overnight star a couple of summers ago and soon everyone was copying his "Sanpei desu!" gesture. Even a visiting Britney Spears got in on the act, with her "Buri-chan desu!" version. Sanpei made hay while the sun shone, with a slew of TV appearances and commercials. But he's yet to come up with a new routine, so he may not be around for long after all.
• The sequence to one of the most controversial movies of recent years, Battle Royale II, opened strongly at the weekend box office. It was seen by 230,000 people and pulled in over ¥300 million. It is expected to gross around ¥5 billion.
Interesting story? Then add it to your favorite social site:
L'Arc To Go On | July 08, 2003 |
 Fans of L'Arc En Ciel can rest easy. The rock band finished what was widely expected to be their final live tour in Tokyo at the weekend. But the "big announcement" following the show turned out not to be that they were breaking up but a new album, planned for next March, followed by a tour in May. Publicity stunt? You bet.
• Morning Musume's Yaguchi Mari (photo, 20) is the leader of yet another new unit to be spawned from the ever-growing Hello! Project. ZYX - the 11th unit so far - is made up of Yaguchi and five pre-teens selected from the Hello! Project Kids. Their debut single "Fly High" is due for release August 6. Yaguchi is now in three different groups, including the "sexy" Romans. • Eric Clapton (57), who announced two years ago that he would no longer do world tours, will play a series of 16 shows in Japan this autumn. It will be his 16th trip.
Interesting story? Then add it to your favorite social site:
Dewi In It Again | July 07, 2003 |
 Acid-tongued TV personality Dewi Sukarno (photo, 63) and gossip columnist Nashimoto Katsu (58) have both been issued with a court summons (again!). This case originates from early 2001, when both made accusations that actor and renowned womanizer Kawasaki Mayo (40) had been having an affair with an unnamed stage actress. She in turn sued the pair for libel in civil court. She won a claim for ¥33 million compensation against Sukarno, whose appeal to the Tokyo High Court was recently dismissed. The pair gave a pres conference yesterday to express their anger at the case, Nashimoto saying it's his job to report such rumors and that he's thinking of counter-suing. Sukarno complained that she's already had a job cancelled because of the case.
Interesting story? Then add it to your favorite social site:
Hagiwara, Wakui Split | July 06, 2003 |
 Actor Hagiwara Masato (31) and actress Wakui Emi (photo, 32) announced to the media by fax that they have divorced. They had been married since 1995 but separated for the last two years. Rumors of violence, affairs and gambling have hovered around Hagiwara for years but there was never anything made public. He is a noted mahjang player, a game usually, though unofficialy, associated with gambling.
• Following the revelation of an affair with a busty NHK presenter (see last Friday), J2 soccer manager Hashiratani Koichi (42) has resigned his post at Yamagata Montedio. But he claims that his relationship with Furuse Eri (25) was innocent.
Interesting story? Then add it to your favorite social site:
Kurosawa Jr Divorced | July 05, 2003 |
 TV personality Hayashi Hiroko (43) revealed to the Sankei Sports newspaper that she and her husband Kurosawa Hisao (57) have divorced after 23 years of marriage. Hayashi said that the couple have busy schedules that keep them apart. They recently became grandparents and have three adult children. Kurosawa is a movie producer and eldest son of the late great director Kurosawa Akira. Hayashi, a former popular idol singer, once ran unsuccessfully for election to the national government.
Interesting story? Then add it to your favorite social site:
One To Watch | July 04, 2003 |
 Shizukusa Yumi (photo, 18) is receiving a lot of FM radio airplay with her major-label debut single "Don't You Wanna See Me (Oh) Tonight?" She's already established quite a name on the indie circuit - on the Usen chart, she recently ranked as the No.1 female vocalist. And she's definitely got the looks. Watch out for this one.
• Singer and outspoken TV personality Yashiki Takajin (53) revealed that he has a hole in his lung. He's unlikely to have hospital treatment but has been advised to give up his heavy smoking. • Former Japan international soccer player and current manager of J2 team Montedio Yamagata Hashiratani Koichi (42) has been caught having an affair with a busty NHK announcer. Furuse Emi (25) works for the Yamagata regional branch of the national network, where she met Hashiratani, the father of two kids.
Interesting story? Then add it to your favorite social site:
Godzilla Roars | July 03, 2003 |
 Matsui "Godzilla" Hideki is doing well for the New York Yankees these days. Following a less than spectacular start to the season, he's been on a bit of a tear lately, hitting his second grand slam, batting .500 for the week to earn the American League's weekly MVP award - the first for a Japanese player in two years. He also leads the Yankees in hitting (.304) and has moved up next to fellow countryman Ichiro in the All-Star game voting.
• Former sumo Yokozuna (Grand Champion) turned stablemaster Takanohana has sued three publishing companies for ¥400 million over stories linking him with yakuza syndicates and suggesting that he is hugely in debt.
Interesting story? Then add it to your favorite social site:
This and That | July 02, 2003 |
 Inoue Ami (26) of the up and coming Okinawan reggae duo Amy-N-Ryoo was arrested for shoplifting. She was caught stealing a ¥12,000 bikini from a store in Naha.
• Actress Mizuno Maki (33) says she's broken up with the advertising executive she had been seeing for the last four years. • Doing better on the love front is personality Koike Eiko (22) who says she and pro wrestler Sakata Wataru (30) are "love-love." • Despite rumors that her partner of 17 years Sasaki Chikara (52) has a mistress, actress Manda Hisako (photo, 45) hinted that the couple may yet marry.
Interesting story? Then add it to your favorite social site:
Three In A Row | July 01, 2003 |
 Otake Shinobu (45) became the third Japanese in a row to win the Best Actress award at the Moscow International Film Festival. Otake - ex-wife of comedian Akashiya Sanma - won for her role in the movie "Fukuro" by director Shindo Kaneto (91). This follows wins by Ichikawa Mikako (25) in "Blue" (2001) and Miyazawa Rie (30) in the Hong Kong movie "Yuuen Kyomu" (2002).
• Comedian Shofukutei Tsurube (51) had a bit of unexpected exposure during a late-night segment of Fuji TV's 27-hour telethon. Around 2am and after a heavy drinking bout, Tsurube was fast asleep on location in Nagasaki. When woken up by presenters in the Tokyo studio, he stood up in his futon, only for his pants to fall down. The Saturday night audience got a brief full frontal exposure before the camera switched back to the studio. The station later issued an apology but still received about 200 calls.
Interesting story? Then add it to your favorite social site:
Top
|
