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X Japan Lights Up Taipei Skyline | September 17, 2008 |
 X Japan leader Yoshiki was in Taiwan yesterday on the second leg of a 4-day Asian promotion tour. The visits to four countries are to promote a rescheduled "world tour," planned for the summer but postponed due to Yoshiki's injuries, and is costing ¥160 million. He flew out from Narita Airport on a private jet and was greeted in Taipei by 1,000 fans and reporters. At an event held at the Taipei 101 building, currently the world's tallest, he said that a concert originally planned for August will take place on Valentine's Day next year at the Taipei World Trade Center. He said the band planned to bring the same stage show that they put on at their Tokyo Dome reunion in March, which included the "virtual hide" hologram. Asked how he felt about finally embarking on a world tour but without the late guitarist, Yoshiki choked up and temporarily left the stage. "We really wanted to make our debut on the world stage while hide was still alive," he said. "The Tokyo reunion was fun, but it was tough as well because it really brought home to me that hide is no longer with us. The reunion of X was something we struggled with for years and years, but what helped us was the fans around the world. We're gonna put on a great show for all those fans who waited for us!" He later joined the crowd outside the building in a chorus of the fan's famous "We Are X," whereupon the 509.2m building was illuminated with a giant X. See more photos and discuss this story in our Japanese Music forum.
• Musician Kiyokiba Shunsuke (28) has left the Avex Entertainment label and the LDH management agency and set up his own. He made his debut in 2001 as vocalist of the group Exile, using his nickname Shun. Following that group's huge commercial success, he started a parallel solo career in 2004 and released his first solo album in 2005. He quit Exile at the end of March 2006 and had his first movie starring role in "Tengoku wa Matte Kureru" in 2007. He also has his own fashion label, "Eno Hundert Elf."
• Talento Nakagawa Shoko (23) is clearly the idol most beloved of Japanese computer geeks. Her "Shokotan Burogu" website recently passed the 1.5-billion pageview mark, making it by far Japan's most popular celebrity blog. Which makes her the ideal choice for computer security company Symantec as their new campaign girl for the Norton product range. She attended a PR event in Tokyo yesterday for the "Norton 2009 Series," which went on sale earlier this month. Reinforcing her image as an idol that geeks can identify with, she said her latest thing is checking out online photos of other idols.
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