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Yoshizawa Hitomi Graduates from Morning Musume | May 07, 2007 |
 Yoshizawa Hitomi (22) made her final appearance last night as leader of Morning Musume. She characteristically shed no tears as the group finished their spring tour an afternoon and evening show in front of 30,000 fans at the Saitama Super Arena. Fans also got their first proper look at the group's two new Chinese members, JunJun (19) and LinLin (16). The fourth member to take on the role of leader, "Yossui" leaves after seven years and one month with the group, the longest run of any member. She suffered tragedy in January when her younger brother Hirota died in a traffic accident at the age of 16, just days after she had announced her planned "graduation" from the group. She performed as scheduled at the Osaka Dome four days later, refusing to shed any public tears. Her toughness is a vital part of her success, and she will be straight into her next job this weekend, filling in for former member Tsuji Nozomi (19), whose poor health forced her to drop out of a stage musical.
• Actor Kitamura Kazuo died yesterday of lung failure. He was 80. He had been hospitalized last month following a mild stroke and developed pneumonia. He is survived by his wife Kikuko, actress daughter Yuri (36), and son Yukiya (33), a stage actor. One of the major names in Japanese theater, he also appeared in TV dramas and movies, including Kurosawa Akira's "Tengoku to Jigoku" (Heaven and Hell) and "Nippon Konchuki" (The Insect Woman), directed by his old friend Imamura Shohei. He last appeared on stage in 2004 and last winter he filmed scenes for the yet to be finished movie "Beauty".
• Former actor Achiwa Shinsuke was found dead at a waterfall in Kagoshima Prefecture several days ago, according to a statement yesterday from the production company he ran. Police are investigating the death as a possible suicide. The ex-husband of actress Takigawa Yumi (56), he was best known for his role in the "Ultra Seven" action hero TV series. He suffered two strokes in recent years and had been in poor health since. His daughter is talento Takigawa Hanako (18).
• Comedian Hata Youku (31), better known as the Guitar Samurai, announced yesterday that he is engaged to be married. The relationship with the 33-year-old named only as "A-ko" started when he was 20. It wasn't until 2004 that Hata made his name as one of the breakthrough as one of the faces of the comedy boom. Now that he has established himself, he finally felt ready to propose, which he did in March. The couple are planning to register their marriage later this month. The surge in popularity enjoyed by young comedians in the last few years has seen a number of them marry models and actresses. But some have stayed true to the "regular" women who supported them in leaner times. In addition to Hata, there's Takeyama Takanori (36), Matsumoto Kouta (27) and Neko Hiroshi (29).
• Talento and pin-up girl Kumakiri Asami (26) has admitted that she is in a relationship with Yokohama Bay Stars pitcher Nasuno Takumi (24). A fan of the rival Hanshin Tigers team, she has taken some stick for the fact that Nasuno has said he hates the often fanatical Hanshin fans.
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