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Tiger, World's Youngest Jazz Drummer | April 23, 2008 |
 The young jazz drummer Onitsuka Taiga makes his recording debut today with the release of the album "Tiger!" He's probably making history too as he's still in the 4th grade! An application has been made to have him listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as "the youngest CD debut by a pro jazz drummer." To commemorate the event he held a mini-concert for 150 people at the Tsutenkaku Theater in Osaka yesterday, performing four songs with his band Tiger & The Silverbacks. As always he wore a red hat and clothes provided by his sponsor Asics, who sell his "Onitsuka Tiger" brand. Though a native of Kyoto, Taiga (9) was named after his father's favorite baseball team, the Hanshin Tigers. He received his first drum kit from his parents on his fifth birthday and picked up the instrument so quickly and developed to such a degree that he has been featured on TV for the last couple of years. He performed in New York in 2005 at the age of 7. Asked what his dream is, he said "I want to perform at Koshien (the Hanshin Tigers stadium). And I want to be the best drummer in the universe." His album is released on Columbia Music Entertainment's Savoy label.
• Actor and former member of 1980s idol group Hikaru Genji Ohsawa Mikio (39) is getting re-married. According to his management agency, he and his 24-year-old fiancee Sayaka plan to tie the knot this Saturday and that will be followed by a formal announcement. Ohsawa was married to actress Kitajima Mai (35) from 1996 to 2005 and they have one son. Kitajima married a publishing company employee last July and had a baby girl in January.
• Could TV Asahi actually stop broadcasting Yomiuri Giants baseball games live? With audience ratings continuing to plumb new lows, the network's president Kimiwada Masao (66) addressed the issue at a regular press conference yesterday. But rather than worry only about ratings dropping to a certain percentage figure, he said "the reality of the situation is that it's becoming increasingly difficult to attract sponsors. We have to consider any possibility." Ratings for the Giants night games shown over the opening month of the season hit a record low of 10.5%. The team started the season with a record losing streak, but have since improved somewhat and currently stand in fourth place in the Central League.
• Talento Ohigashi Megumi (36) yesterday made her first TV appearance since she was hit by a minibus on March 11. She was hospitalized with a broken leg and was expected to need three months to recover, but she left the hospital on March 31. Ohigashi had a brief and unremarkable career as an unsuccessful idol singer in the late 1980s and switched to the TV variety show circuit. She married baseball player Ohkubo Hideaki (38) in 1998 and now works as an occasional reporter and commentator.
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