Japan Entertainment News - August 2007
Iijima Natsuki Biopic Screened in Waikiki | August 31, 2007 |
 6,500 people packed Waikiki Beach on Wednesday for its first-ever screening of a Japanese movie. the biopic about a. "Life - Tengoku de Kimi ni Aetara" is based on the novel by world famous pro windsurfer Iijima Natsuki (1966-2005), who spent his final years surfing on the Hawaiian coast. The top Japanese in his sport, he appeared in the World Cup for eight years running and lived in Hawaii and Guam. He was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2002 and returned to Japan for a transplant. As treatment failed to fend off the cancer, he turned to writing. "Tengoku..." was published in July 2004 and became a best-seller, as did a publication of his blog writing and a second novel. Among those watching Wednesday's screening were Iijima's widow Hiroko (39) and their four children. As the movie came to its climactic scene, rain began to fall. Hiroko said, "Those were Natsuki's tears of happiness falling from heaven," bringing real tears from the movie's star Osawa Takao (39). Also there for the free show was singer Nakashima Mika (24), who happened to be in Hawaii on vacation with her family.
• Young singer-songwriter Ayaka (19) helped launch the latest Final Fantasy VII game software yesterday, performing the theme song "Why" (on sale September 5) at a PR event in Tokyo. In a change from her usual tied-up hairstyle, she let her hair down, and also revealed that she and FF share the same birthday, as the software was first released on December 18, 1987.
• Popular NTV announcer Abe Akiko (28) is to quit the network at the end of September. She joined NTV in 2001 after graduating in International Marketing at Yokohama National University. She worked on variety and sports shows, and since April she has been a co-presenter of the "Sukkiri!" morning show with comedian Kato Koji (38) and talento Terry Itoh (57). She revealed on the live show last November that she planned to marry an employee of the rival TBS network who was based overseas.
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Koike Eiko Marries Wrestler Sakata Wataru | August 30, 2007 |
 Actress Koike Eiko (26) has married pro wrestler Sakata Wataru (34). She will give a press conference today to make the formal announcement, but Sakata was already spotted leaving a municipal office last night after he registered their marriage. The couple tied the knot after a relationship of five years, a period which has seen Koike develop from being just another busty pin-up girl into a multi-faceted career as an actress and talento. She first displayed her comic talents on the edgy Fuji TV show "One Night Rock 'n' Roll", and has shown a more serious face on the TV Tokyo talk show "Kamburia Kyuden" (Cambrian Palace), which she co-hosts with novelist and social commentator Murakami Ryu. She worked as a ringside commentator and spokesperson for Japan's PRIDE Fighting Championships from 2000 to 2006, where she met Sakata. He is now a member of the popular Hustle wrestling promotion managed by Takada Nobuhiko. Koike is said to have been very close to her grandfather, who passed away in August of last year, and she wanted to wait until after the anniversary of his death before getting married.
• The six-girl Osaka-based group Oreska Band have wrapped up their 7 dates on the "Warped Tour", a major punk festival event on the U.S. west coast. The schoolgirl ska-punk sextet were a big success at the Anime Expo in July and are staying in California till the end of the year to work on an upcoming Hollywood movie. The as-yet unnamed project is by the same team that put together the hit TV show "High School Musical".
• The 64th Venice International Film Festival kicked off yesterday. Japan's contender for the Golden Lion award is "Sukiyaki Western Django", Miike Takashi's take on the festival's theme: the spaghetti western. Today, director Kitano "Beat" Takeshi will become the first winner of the new "Glory to the Filmmaker" award, named after his own recent release, "Kantoku Banzai!" The 2003 Golden Lion winner said, "I'm really grateful. I'm delighted that my name will live on in the form of this award." Also representing Japan is Aoyama Shinji's "Sad Vacation", which opens the festival's Horizons section for cutting edge cinema.
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Sonin Lands Miss Saigon Lead | August 29, 2007 |
 Singer and actress Sonin (24) has landed the lead role in the latest theater production of the musical "Miss Saigon". Auditions began almost a year ago, with the original Broadway producer Cameron Mackintosh taking part in the selection process. Video of Sonin performing some of the songs from the show was sent to the U.S. and she was finally given the part of Kim in June. The production will start its run at the Imperial Theater in Tokyo next July. Miss Saigon, a love story set at the end of the Vietnam War, was last performed in Japan four years ago. The part of Kim has previously been played by such stars as Matsu Takako (30), Chinen Rina (26) and the late Honda Minako. Sonin started her career as one half of the duo EE Jump in 2000 under the guidance of Morning Musume creator Tsunku (38). After a strong start the duo split when partner Yuuki (21, younger brother of Goto Maki, a member of "MoMusu" at the time) was dropped for underage drinking and hanging out at hostess clubs. Sonin has determinedly built up a musical and dramatic career since then. She is to play the female lead in a stage production of "Petenshi to Sagishi" (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) next January.
• Young actress Nagabuchi Ayane (19) showed off her showjumping skills yesterday while filming her first movie role. She stars in "Sanbongi Nougyoukou Bajutsubu", the true story of a high school girl and the blind horse she encounters in her school's equestrian club. The eldest child of rock singer-songwriter Nagabuchi Tsuyoshi (50) and former actress Shihomi Etsuko (51), Ayane studied ballet from the age of four and had her first lead role at the age of 11. She attended the Kanto International High School, where she was a member of the equestrian club, and entered the Faculty of International Studies at Meiji Gakuin University in April. Filming is set to continue on "Sanbongi..." until next February, and the movie is scheduled to open in the autumn of 2008.
• Actor player Tanaka Ken (56) has become a father again. His wife, former actress Chikage (38), gave birth to a baby girl at a Tokyo hospital yesterday. The couple married in December of last year. Tanaka has a 19-year-old daughter from his previous 14-year marriage to actress Kotegawa Yuuko (48), which ended in 1999. Chikage is a distant relative of actress Kaga Mariko (63). Tanaka is also known as a performer of the quena, the traditional flute of the Andes.
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Luna Sea to Make One-Night Stand | August 28, 2007 |
 Popular visual-kei rock band Luna Sea are to get back together for a one-off concert, the first since the Christmas of 2000. The "God Bless You - One Night Dejavu" show is scheduled for December 24 at Tokyo Dome. That's the venue where seven years ago almost to the day they announced that they had come to the end of the road. The fact that they were at the peak of their success at the time only added to their legendary status and ensured that their "Slave" fan club has kept going strong to this day. Sources say the five members have no plans to continue performing together after the Christmas show. They have all pursued careers as solo artists or producers, with vocalist Kawamura Ryuichi (37) being the most successful. The band, made up of Ryuichi, Sugizo and Inoran on guitars, J on bass and drummer Shinya, formed in 1989 and made their major-label debut in 1992. They had their first No.1 single in 1994 with "True Blue". They had two million-selling albums and, with their well-regarded musical skills, were considered the leaders of the visual kei scene. One of their most famous episodes was when they went ahead with an outdoor show for 100,000 fans just two days after the stage had been destroyed by a typhoon. The breakup in 2000 came as less of a surprise due to the fact that the band had previously taken all of 1997 off to rest and pursue solo projects. Today's timing for the official announcement of their reunion show is due to the fact that Japan will be enjoying a lunar eclipse tonight.
• A trio of top actors appeared at a PR event yesterday for TV Asahi's remake of Kurosawa Akira's classic movie "Tengoku to Jigoku". Known in English as "High and Low", the 1963 thriller is regarded as one of the master's best works. For the TV drama version, due to be broadcast on September 8, the setting has been changed from Yokohama to modern-day Otaru in Hokkaido. Sato Koji (46) will take on the lead role of business executive Gondo, played by the late, great Mifune Toshiro. The cast also includes Abe Hiroshi (43) and Suzuki Kyoka (39). The drama is in the capable hands of veteran director Tsuruhashi Yasuo (67).
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Gackt Leads Army into Battle | August 27, 2007 |
 Following up his appearance in this year's NHK taiga drama, the enigmatic Gackt led a historical parade in Joetsu City, Niigata Prefecture on Saturday. Dressed as medieval warlord Uesugi Kenshin (1530-1578) in full armor and riding a white stallion, Gackt led the parade of about 450 people wearing samurai and other period costumes. The Kenshinko Matsuri festival is an annual event that centers around the famous warrior, most recently portrayed by the rock singer in "Fuurinkazan". The event, started in 1926 and held this year for the 82nd time, is based around the famous battle of Kawanakajima between Kenshin and Takeda Shingen. The lead up to the battle is also the climactic scene of this year's taiga series and, though yet to be aired, was already filmed earlier this month. A much larger crowd than usual, the 50,000 spectators were impressed with the touch of "authenticity" Gackt brought to the event, and he returned the compliment by encouraging them in their recovery from the recent earthquake that caused heavy damage to the region.
• Fashion model turned actress Yamada Yu (23) did some cleaning up in a Shibuya park on Sunday. For the "Shibuyamada Beauty Fiesta", she and 50 other volunteers, including comedian Haraguchi Akimasa (31), painted over graffiti in Miyashita Park near the capital's youth mecca. The urban beautification project also included the nearby Yoyogi Park.
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Orlando Bloom in First TV Commercial | August 24, 2007 |
 British Hollywood star Orlando Bloom (30) will make his first ever television commercial appearance tonight on Japanese TV. Billed as a one-night-only event, a 2-minute version of the commercial for Shiseido's men's cosmetics brand Uno will air on three networks around midnight (see Shiseido's website for details). Each network will have a different keyword after the CM, with all three needed to enter for a prize draw. The CM features the "Pirates of the Carribbean" star in a futuristic setting - in the year 2019, his character Neo is being pursued by unknown forces and uses the "New Fiber Neo" hair gel to disguise himself. The soundtrack is an "Uno" reworking of the Quincy Jones classic "Ai no Corrida".
• Comedian Nagai Hidekazu (37) is leaving his wife and 2-year-old son behind to pursue his dream of studying in New York. He plans to spend a year in the Big Apple studying English, and not just aiming for conversational level but in order to be able to perform in English. Nagai made his breakthrough in 2003 with his catchphrase "Machigainai!"
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Kimura Takuya Tackles First All-English Role | August 23, 2007 |
 With a major domestic film about to be released in a few weeks, SMAP's Kimura Takuya (34) had some other big news this week. In what will be his first appearance in an English-language movie, he has been named to an all-star international cast for the latest project by renowned Vietnamese-French director Anh Hung Tran (44). "I Come With the Rain", Tran's first movie in eight years, stars Josh Hartnett (29) as former L.A. cop turned private eye, Kline. Hired to find Shitao (Kimura), the son of a Chinese billionaire, he travels to Hong Kong where he teams up with an old friend and local cop (Shawn Yue). His search leads him to the gangster Su Dongpo (Korean star Lee Byung Hun) and his druggie mistress (Tran's wife, actress Tran Nu Yen Khe). But he is haunted by memories of the serial killer Hasford (Elias Koteas) whose crimes almost drove him insane and made him quit the LAPD. The movie is scheduled to open in the autumn of 2008, with a possible screening at next year's Cannes Film Festival. Director Tran is best known for 1993's Academy Award nominee "The Scent of Green Papaya". Meanwhile Kimura's "Hero", the movie version of Fuji TV's most successful ever drama, hits the big screens on September 8. He is joined by co-star Matsu Takako (30) and a host of major names.
• It was revealed yesterday that Fuji TV announcer Sano Mizuki (35) got re-married recently. His new bride is described only as 24-year-old A-san, an "ippanjin" ("ordinary person", or someone not in show business). They have registered their marriage and plan to hold a wedding ceremony later this month. And in October they will have an even bigger upheaval as Sano is to be transferred to New York. He was previously married to Shizuoka TV announcer Totsuka Kikuko (34) from 2000 to 2004.
• Talento Mitsuura Yasuko (36) is to return to live braodcasting today after her hospitalization last month for a cerebral aneurysm. She will resume her regular slot on an afternoon radio show and has already started doing studio recording for her many TV variety show appearances.
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Reggae Brings Infinite Love for Suzuki Sarina | August 22, 2007 |
 Talento Suzuki Sarina (30) really seems to have found her way in the world of reggae. It was revealed yesterday that Suzuki, who in addition to her regular TV variety show appearances is a reggae singer, is engaged to be married to Tela-C (photo top left), a member of the reggae duo Infinity16. The couple, who have visited Kingston, Jamaica several times together, have been living together for the last two years and are planning to get married next spring. Tela-C formed Infinity16 in 1994 and was joined by Desem two years later. After several years in New York and Jamaica, they starting performing in Japan in 2002. This March, they won first prize at the "International Cup—Garrison Showdown" World Reggae Soundclash competition in New York. With five independent label albums under their belt, in April they made their major label debut with a collaboration number "Dream Lover" with other reggae acts including Shonan no Kaze and Minmi (32). The song made the Oricon singles chart Top 10, a first for a debut by a reggae artist. Suzuki debuted as a pop singer in 1997 but switched to reggae using her real name, Kanako, in 2003. She changed that to her family name, Munehiro, in 2005.
• The Japan Today website included the following quote translated from the Shukan Gendai/Mainichi: "She's appeared in several dramas and the evaluation of her performances has been pretty much unanimous: she can't act." The quote, attributed to a "Fuji TV drama production crew member", refers to top model Ebihara Yuri but let's face it - it could just as easily apply to any number of talentos, male or female. But according to the article "Ebi-chan," who turns 28 in October, is considered past her "use-by" date in Japan's showbiz world and now finds her career at the crossroads.
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The Comedian and the Badminton Beauty | August 21, 2007 |
 Two rising stars from quite different worlds have been romantically linked. It was revealed yesterday that handsome comedian Tokui Yoshimi (32, photo top left) is dating top badminton cutie Shiota Reiko (23, photo bottom left). Tokui is the boke half of the duo Tutorial, who took the comedy world by storm when they won the annual M-1 Grand Prix and ¥10 million in 2006 while still relative unknowns. Together with partner Fukuda Mitsunori (32), he is now a regular face on TV. He is expected to go far not only because of his looks but also his comic ability, and he was runner-up in this year's R-1 Grand Prix for solo comedy acts. Shiota and doubles partner Ogura Kumiko (24) have been Japan champions for the last three years running, and just last weekend they won the bronze medal at the World Badminton Championships. The pair are known as "OguShio" are are popular as much due to their good looks as their medal-winning ability. Shiota is due to publish a photo book next month, a relative rarity for sports stars. The badminton pair and the comedy duo met when they were teamed up for a double date on a TV show in February 2006. Though the date was only meant to be for entertainment, it led to one real-life romance after a somewhat drunk Tokui expressed his feelings for Shiota. It's just a shame the word "shuttlecock" doesn't have the same comedy potential in Japanese!
• The weekend saw a new audience ratings record fr NTV's annual 24-hour charity telethon. As reported here yesterday, the broadcast centered around the 70km run by veteran comedian Hagimoto Kinichi (66). While the 18.6% average rating for the show, which actually ran for 26 hours and 24 minutes, was just short of 200%7s record of 19%, the peak rating was a whopping 43.9%. The viewing audience peaked at the end of the show as Kin-chan, who was the emcee for the first ever NTV telethon 30 years ago, reached his goal at the Nippon Budokan on Sunday night.
• Yamaguchi Sayoko, who in the 1970s was the first Japanese fashion model to achieve global fame, died yesterday of acute pneumonia. She was 57. Following her debut in 1971, she took part in collections in Paris and New York wearing clothes by designers such as Takada Kenzo and Yamamoto Kansai. Newsweek magazine named her as one of the Top 6 models in the world. She later worked in movies, contemporary dance and fashion design.
• Actress Minakaze Yoko died of pancreatic cancer at at a Yokohama hospital yesterday. She was 77. A graduate of the Takarazuka theatrical troupe, she joined the Mingei (Public Theater) company in 1959. She became a top star playing such roles as Kate Keller in "The Miracle Worker". She also worked on TV and in movies. She is survived by her husband, director Wakasugi Mitsuo, and daughter, actress Wakasugi Tami.
• Actor Nishimura Kazuhiko chose yesterday, his 41st birthday, to reveal that he is to become a father. He announced on his blog that his wife Yumi (28) is expecting their first child, believed to be due next January. The couple married in May of 2006. Yumi is an established shodouka, or calligrapher.
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At 66, Kin-chan Runs 70km Charity Marathon | August 20, 2007 |
 The TV highlight of the weekend was NTV's annual 24-hour telethon. And as usual the centerpiece of the marathon broadcast was the charity marathon run by a celebrity. This year's runner was veteran comedian Hagimoto Kinichi (66), who took over 26 hours to complete a 70km course from Kanagawa Prefecture to the Nippon Budokan in central Tokyo. "Kin-chan" completed his run at 9:05 on Sunday night, ten minutes after the scheduled end of the broadcast, having fought off the humid summer heat and intense pain in his legs and feet. From Sunday afternoon his left leg was numb and, with just 10km left to go, his suffering was such that he could no longer put a brave smile on his face. But Tokyo residents lined the streets to cheer him and somehow he found the strength to carry on. He, the audience and presenters were all in tears as he struggled the last few meters down the Budokan's steps to the stage. The theme of this year's show was "The Moment that Changed My Life", and Kin-chan's hope was that his completion of the run would inspire other senior citizens to fight on. In another segment, comedian Kazama Kampei (58) completed a decathlon and set a new Japan Masters record for the 1500m. In its 15th year, the show had raised a record ¥363 million by the end of the broadcast.
• Popular TBS announcer Kaiho Chisato (31) revealed during her regular appearance on the live "Hanamaru Market" show this morning that she is engaged to be married. She will be quitting the network at the end of September and joining her new husband in the U.S., where he currently works.
• SMAP member Nakai Masahiro (34) and sexy pop star Koda Kumi (24) refused to comment over the weekend on rumors of their romance. A big Yomiuri Giants fan, Nakai was in New York to report live on a New York Yankees game. And on Saturday, Koda was among the major artists taking part in the "J-Wave Live 2000+7" event at the Yokohama Arena.
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Summer Over Early for Orange Range? | August 17, 2007 |
 Even the rain couldn't cool down the fans at yesterday's "Matsuriina 2007", one of the summer's many outdoor music festivals. With blistering temperatures across the country, a lineup of eleven Sony Music acts led by Orange Range headed for the coast and the Riviera Zushi Marina in Kanagawa Prefecture. The event had started off under sunny mid-morning skies but turned cloudy and then rainy as a succession of young artists including Nakagawa Shoko (photo, 23), Kato Miriya (19) and Yui (20) took the stage. But the majority of the 5,000-strong crowd were there to see the chart-topping rock band from Okinawa, who are giving sales of their two recently released hits albums a bit of a boost. Five years after their debut, sales have cooled for Orange Range this year, and their last two singles "Ika Summer" and "Ikenai Taiyou", failed to reach the top of the Oricon chart. The hits albums made No.1 and No.2, but combined sales are still short of half a million. Nakagawa is particularly popular among otaku, who call her "Shokotan", and is referred to as the idol "Blog Queen". She's the daughter of the late singer Nakagawa Katsuhiko (1962-94), who as one of the few visual kei artists of the early 1980s was (generously, in my opinion) called the "Japanese David Bowie".
• To mark the upcoming visit by Carole King (65), her entire album collection and a new hits collection are to be released in a Japan-only paper jacket format. Five albums, including the classic "Tapestry" will go on sale from September 26, and five more albums on October 31. A Japan-only collection of hits, "The Best of Carole King", will be released on September 19. Together with Fergie (32) and Mary J. Blige (36), King will perform in the "Three Great American Voices" shows at Osaka Castle Hall, Saitama Super Arena and Nippon Budokan in November.
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SMAP's Nakai and Koda Kumi an Item? | August 16, 2007 |
 Several tabloid newspapers published a story yesterday saying that SMAP leader Nakai Masahiro (34) is dating sexy singer Koda Kumi (24). Management agencies for both stars refused to comment on the story, saying it was a private matter. The report coincided with the revelation that Koda had broken up with her long-term boyfriend earlier in the year. The relationship, which Koda made no attempt to hide, started before she made her breakthrough and became the country's top-selling artist. The couple were last photographed together in December. But her extreme work schedule and his move to Osaka in May of last year put a heavy strain on their relationship. The 10-year age gap aside, the media would have a field day with a romance between Koda and Nakai. But with Johnny's Jimusho controlling every aspect of its stars' lives, it may be a while before the truth is out.
• Mori Masako (48) is to release her first new album in 21 years. "Ano Koro" is a collection of covers that is largely dedicated to her late father, who died in March of last year. It's the latest step in a comeback that started with the release of two singles last summer after a bitter divorce from singer Mori Shinichi (59) in 2005. The new album is the first release since her retirement in 1986, when marriage put an end to one of the most successful idol careers of the decade.
• Japan Post has released a set of postage stamps marking the 30th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley. It will be the final set of commemorative stamps before the post office is privatized on October 1. In a world first, a combined set of stamps and a CD of Elvis' hits compiled by broadcaster Ogura Tomoaki (60) goes on sale today.
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Kamikawa Takaya Learns from Office Drama | August 15, 2007 |
 Actor Kamikawa Takaya (42) is to play his first leading role in a drama on a commercial network. From October on Fuji TV, he will star as a 40-year-old office worker forced to get by on a ¥30,000-a-month allowance in "Swan no Baka". The cast also includes Tanaka Misako (47) as his older wife and former office colleague, and Narimiya Hiroki (24) as the CEO of an IT company located in his office building. Kamikawa is often described as an "engiha haiyuu", meaning an actor who can actually act (which doesn't say much for the rest!). He admits that he has no experience of working as a "salaryman" but says that the gap between his own career and that of the nation's company employees fascinates him. After dropping out of university to work in theater, Kamikawa first gained broader fame with the NHK drama "Daichi no Ko" 13 years ago. Last year he played roles ranging from the medieval warrior Yamauchi Kazutoyo in the "Koumyou ga Tsuji" taiga period drama on NHK to a gay doctor on the Fuji TV series "Hanazakari no Kimitachi e".
• Comedian Chihara Junior (33) refused to comment yesterday on his rumored split with actress Uchida Yuki (31). The younger of the Chihara Brothers duo, he was appearing at a PR event for the French movie "Azur et Asmar". Uchida divorced actor Yoshioka Hidetaka (37) in 2005.
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Akikawa Masafumi First Classical Million Seller | August 14, 2007 |
 The song "Sen no Kaze ni Natte" has made opera tenor Akikawa Masafumi (39) a household name. And now it has finally made him Japan's first classical artist to have a million-selling release, according to sales data from Oricon. The song is based on an English poem by an unknown author called "Do not Stand at my Grave and Weep" and Akikawa's version was released in May 2006, with the Japanese translation and melody by Arai Man. But after he sang it on NHK's "Kohaku Utagassen" popular song concert last New Year's Eve, sales started to really pick up and Akikawa started popping up all over the place on TV. It became the first classical recording to reach No.1 on Oricon's singles chart and was named the best-selling single for the first half of 2007. The song was most recently used as the closing theme for a two-night Fuji TV special adaptation of "Hadashi no Gen", the famous anti-war manga based on the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. With the ongoing decline in CD sales, million-selling hits are becoming fewer and further between, with only one a year in the last four years, compared to 14 in 2000 and five in 2001.
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Kobayashi Masahiro Wins Golden Leopard | August 13, 2007 |
 Director Kobayashi Masahiro (53) has won the grand prix at a major film festival. His innovative movie "Ai no Yokan" (The Rebirth) was awarded the Golden Leopard prize and 90,000 Swiss Francs on Saturday, the last day of the 60th Locarno International Film Festival. Kobayashi took on a leading role in his own film for the first time, playing the father of a girl who is murdered by her elementary school classmate, echoing a real-life incident that took place in Japan. Having lost his own will to live, the father escapes to Hokkaido, only to meet the mother of his daughter's killer. Apart from an opening interview scene, the movie is completely unscripted. The feature was also awarded the Daniel Schmid Prize and was given a special mention by the International Art & Essay Cinema Confederation and by the Youth Jury. The recognition follows a pattern of acclaim for Kobayashi's earlier works at European festivals. He has premiered three films at Cannes and won a special mention at Locarno in 2003 for "Amazing Story". This year's festival opened in the southern Swiss city last Wednesday with the world premiere of the Japanese anime feature "Vexille" by Sori Fumihiko.
• Defending Japan's title at this year's 12th Air Guitar World Championship in Finland will be Ichikawa The Rock. He won his place with a rendition of Mr. Big's 1991 hit "Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy" during the weekend's Summer Sonic festival in Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba Prefecture. Coming in third was green-suited kids' character Gachapin rocking out to the B'z song "GiriGiri Chop". Japan won the title last year when comedian Ochi Yousuke brought home the crown with his energetic take on Jet's "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?"
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Kimura Yoshino, Iseya Yuusuke Married in Canada?! | August 10, 2007 |
 Actress Kimura Yoshino (31) and actor Iseya Yuusuke (31) are taking their real-life romance to Hollywood. The pair have been in Canada since mid-July shooting the movie "Blindness". The only Japanese among the cast, they play a married couple living in a town where everyone has been struck with a mysterious case of sudden blindness. Starring Julianne Moore and directed by Fernando Meirelles, the movie is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Portuguese Nobel prize-winner José Saramago. It is due for U.S. release next year. Kimura and Iseya first met when they worked together last year on the upcoming Miike Takashi movie "Sukiyaki Western Jango". They spent more than a month filming in a remote mountain location in Yamagata Prefecture and started dating after their return to Tokyo. They will be in Canada until October, so no doubt the three months together on a foreign movie location is the perfect chance to deepen their relationship. Born in London, Kimura made her first movie appearance in the hit "Shitsurakuen" in 1997 and has since been in dozens of TV dramas and movies. Iseya is the step-brother of fashion designer Yamamoto Kansai. His movie debut was in 1999 and his credits include "Distance" (2001), "Casshern" (2004) and this year's "Closed Note".
 Young Fukuda Mayuko (13) has been chosen from over 300 hopefuls for the upcoming "Death Note" spinoff movie. Provisionally titled "L", the movie is being directed by Nakata Hideo, the man behind the "Ring" series. Regarded as a child prodigy, Fukuda was chosen for the key part of Maki and had her hair cut into a bob style for the role. Nakata said of her, "She has a strength of character that shows in her eyes. She's been able to display a sensitivity and expressiveness beyond that of a child actress." Filming started in Saitama Prefecture at the beginning of this month. Following the huge success in Asia of the first two Death Note movies, the latest spinoff will open in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan on February 9, 2008. It's the first time for a Japanese movie to open in so many countries on the same day.
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Darvish Yu, Saeko Engaged | August 09, 2007 |
 We reported here on Japan Zone just yesterday about the romance between young baseball star Darvish Yu (20) and actress Saeko (20). Well it turns out they're engaged to be married. Saeko is two months pregnant and they plan to tie the knot after the baseball season finishes. With the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters currently on top of the Pacific League, it's likely that Darvish and his team-mates will have to defend their Japan Series title in the playoffs first. The young half-Iranian pitcher takes the mound tonight against the Rakuten Golden Eagles at the Fighters' home stadium of Sapporo Dome, and he plans to make a formal announcement after the game.
• The growing popularity of talento Oizumi Yo (34) seems to have exposed his past illegal activity. Oizumi is now an up and coming star on the national networks but was for years known only in his native Hokkaido. The weekly "Suiyou wa Doudeshou", originally shown only on HTB in Hokkaido, sent Oizumi and Suzui Takayuki on silly adventures in various locations around Japan and abroad. On one such trip to western Japan in 2000, the pair helped themselves to sand from the famous Tottori Sand Dunes. Only seven years later, when the show was broadcast in the region, did it come to light that what they had done is illegal as the dunes are designated as a National Monument. HTB has made a formal apology to Tottori City and the show will not be broadcast anymore.
• NTV announcer Suzuki Natsuko (30) may lose her job after a weekly magazine published compromising photos of her with comedian Taka (31). One half of the popular duo Taka and Toshi, he is living with his girlfriend of eight years, so the reported relationship with Suzuki is a no-no. The two were spotted at a hotel near Tokyo's Haneda Airport at the end of July. Suzuki has already been reprimanded by NTV and was dropped from her regular slot on the network's "wide show" yesterday. Ironically, she usually reports on the "off duty" activities of celebrities.
• Sakaguchi Kenji (34) is to revive his popular role as doctor Asada Ryutaro in "Iryu 2". The Fuji TV hospital drama (whose title translates as "Team Medical Dragon") was a hit in the spring of 2006 and won an award for best drama series. The sequel starts in October and will deal with serious issues such as the growing national shortage of doctors and the closures of many maternity and pediatric units.
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Another Win for Darvish Yu | August 08, 2007 |
Young baseball pitcher Darvish Yu (20) has won over fans in Sapporo over his first couple of seasons, and now he's won the heart of an equally young actress. The son of an Iranian father and Japanese mother, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters pitcher made his name as a high schooler when he threw a no-hitter at the annual summer invitational tournament at Koshien in 2004. His manager Trey Hillman has said of him, "How good do I think he can be? I think he can be the best in the world. He's not there yet ... but I think he can potentially pass a guy like Matsuzaka (Daisuke)." Tall and handsome, he looks like the hero of a baseball manga. And the hero always gets the girl, who in this case is actress Saeko (20). Currently a student in the human sciences school at the prestigious Waseda University, she has a supporting role in the upcoming movie "Closed Note", starring Sawajiri Erika (21). Darvish's father Farsa, who lives in Osaka prefecture, said the two were dating and that his son had introduced him to Saeko when he was playing in nearby Kobe.
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Court Date Approaching for Kano Sisters? | August 07, 2007 |
 Kano Kyoko (photo center, 44) has finally filed criminal charges against her younger sister. The elder of the "Gorgeous Kano Sisters", Kyoko has been claiming since the start of the year that Oyama Harue (photo left, and her real sister as opposed to her usual sidekick Kano Mika, 39) absconded with jewelry, furniture and clothes worth hundreds of millions of yen. Her lawyer held a press conference yesterday and said Kyoko had filed embezzlement charges with Tokyo police on July 6, claiming the stolen items were worth ¥270 million and also that there was an accomplice involved. According to the lawyer, fraudulent appropriation by a non co-resident family member requires a formal complaint from the victim within six months in order to prosecute, meaning charges in this case had to be filed by mid-July. Rather than seeking the return of the stolen items Kyoko said, "I've never endured anything so hurtful as the suffering this case has caused. I want an honest explanation of why she betrayed me like this." A lawyer for Harue, who worked as manager for the glamorous duo, said by fax that neither he nor his client had been contacted by police since February and that he did not think there were grounds for a criminal case against her. legal opinion is that, unless the charges are dropped, a court case is likely. Kyoko's lawyer says that she and Kano Mika are prepared to appear as witnesses, and the possibility that the secrets behind the women's mysterious wealth may come to light would make it the highest profile celebrity courtroom drama in years.
• Johnny's Jimusho sure knows how to churn out the boy bands, and the hits. The latest teen act is Hey! Say! 7, so named as all members were born in the current Heisei era (2007 is Heisei 19). Their single "Hey! Say!" has entered the Oricon chart at No.1. With an average age of less than 15, they are the youngest male group to hit the top since fellow Johnny's act Hikaru Genji in 1988. The group is actually made up of five members of the Johnnys Jr. troupe, who mainly perform as backing dancers for more established acts. As an indication of how big the youngsters could become, current superstars SMAP started out as backing dancers for Hikaru Genji.
• Speaking of SMAP, Kimura Takuya and fellow cast members walked a 50m red carpet yesterday at a PR event for the movie adaptation of his hugely successful TV drama "Hero". The event was held at the Nippon Budokan and attended by 5,000 screaming - and very lucky - fans. Demand for tickets had been such that some 400,000 people were less lucky. First aired in 2001, "Hero" is the most popular drama series ever for Fuji TV and was revived for a special last year. The movie version will open on September 8 on something close to the record number of 461 screens nationwide currently showing "Saiyuki", which stars fellow SMAP member Katori Shingo (30).
• The wife of lawyer and variety show regular Hashimoto Toru (38) has given birth to their 7th child. They now have three boys and four girls.
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Jackie Chan, Sanada Hiroyuki Share Red Carpet | August 06, 2007 |
 Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan (53) joined local actor Sanada Hiroyuki (46) on the red carpet for yesterday's Japan premiere of "Rush Hour 3". Several hundred fans turned at for the event, held at the Roppongi Hills complex in central Tokyo. Though the pair have been friends for some 20 years, it's the first time for them to work together. Sanada has been building up a presence in Hollywood features in the last couple of years and is becoming more of a box office draw. He and Chan met up at the Shanghai International Film Festival last year and decided to do something together. "I'd like to work with Takakura Ken, with Kitano Takeshi," said Chan. "I never had a chance to work with Kurosawa Akira. So now when I want to work with someone, I do it right away." He had hoped to get Sanada on board for a new movie to be shot in Tokyo in October (provisionally titled "Shinjuku Jiken") but was turned down due to a busy schedule. "Rush Hour 3" opens here on August 25.
• Actress Sakurai Atsuko (34) announced yesterday that she gave birth to her first child on Saturday. She married a TV Asahi producer in 2003.
•  On Saturday, pop diva Hamasaki Ayumi (28) made her first public appearance since her split with Johnny's Jimusho star Nagase Tomoya (28). At a PR event for the movie "Kaidan", for which she provides the theme song, "Fated", she wore a sleeveless top that would normally have revealed the "pair look" tattoo she and Nagase had on their right shoulders. But her tattoo has either been removed or was covered up with foundation.
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Songwriter Aku Yuu Dies | August 02, 2007 |
 Japan's greatest postwar lyricist Aku Yuu died early yesterday morning of urethral cancer. He was 70. Real name Fukada Hiroyuki, Aku was born in Hyogo Prefecture and his experience growing up on the island of Awajishima became the inspiration for an award-winning novel that was also adapted as a movie. But he was best known as the man behind such songs as Pink Lady's hits "UFO" and "Southpaw", Miyako Harumi's "Kita no Shuku Kara", and over 5,000 other songs that spanned all genres. The combined sales of singles he penned reached almost 70 million. After working for an advertising firm, he made his songwriting debut in 1967 and quickly established himself as a writer of hit songs for enka, pop, and anime. He was often a judge on musical talent shows and helped launch the careers of the biggest names in the Golden Age of idol singers, including Pink Lady, Yamaguchi Momoe and Sakurada Junko. He appeared well at a party held in March to celebrate 35 years in showbiz of enka singer Ishikawa Sayuri, but he had been battling cancer for several years. He continued writing music even after his hospitalization on July 10 and penned several songs for the upcoming album by Nagisa Youko.
Japan Zone entertainment news will be updated on Monday, August 6.
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New Look for George Clooney? | August 01, 2007 |
 Hollywood star George Clooney (46) showed his usual humor at a press conference in Tokyo yesterday. In town to promote his latest movie, he started off the "Ocean's 13" press conference by introducing himself, "Hi. I'm Brad Pitt. I just look much older in person." Among the reporters at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Tokyo's Roppongi were comedy duo Dainoji. Wearing their trademark tiger pattern sweatshirts, Otani Nobuhiko and 2006 World Air Guitar champion Ochi Yosuke (35) asked Clooney, "As a world famous dandy, what do you think of this look?" To which Clooney replied, "Tiger shirts, nice! Show me the back!" When they asked if he'd cast them in the next sequel, he replied, "Sure, but there isn't going to be an Ocean's 14." Later, when asked to describe his ideal women, he said, "A woman in a tiger shirt!" The Yoshimoto Kogyo duo praised Clooney's comic skills, saying they'd love to get him on stage at the Yoshimoto theater. (George's new look is "adapted" from the Reuter's press conference images)
• Actor Yoshikawa Ginji (42) will not be prosecuted in the ongoing extortion case involving talento Haga Kenji (46). Yoshikawa was arrested on July 10 on suspicion of involvement in the June 2006 incident, in which several people are accused of strong-arming a real estate developer into dropping his claim on some ¥400 million in debts, but charges were dropped due to lack of evidence. Prosecution is continuing against Haga and three others, including a former world boxing champion.
• Actress Matsushima Nanako (33) revealed yesterday that she is pregnant with her second child. She and her husband, actor Sorimachi Takashi (33), have a 3-year-old daughter. With the baby due at the end of the year, Matsushima plans to continue working for the time being.
• 17-year-old Okinawa native Kishimoto Sesiru has been chosen to represent Japan in this year's worldwide Elite Model Look competition. The annual event, which has launched the careers of such supermodels as Giselle Bundchen and Cindy Crawford, will take place in Turkey in November. Kishimoto was chosen as one of ten finalists from 3,000 original entrants. When asked what kind of model she wants to be, she said simply "I'd like for everyone to think I'm cute."
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