Monthly Archives: November 2007

Singer Hitomi (31) chose a strange date to announce her impending divorce from her husband of five years. She and design company employee “U-san” (38), formerly a rapper with the hip hop group Gasboys, married on November 2 2002, so her announcement on her blog yesterday came on their 5th anniversary. Sources say they have not yet filed for divorce but plan to do so soon. They have no children. Hitomi is with the Avex record label, who refused to comment on what they said was a private matter. She started out as a magazine model and made her CD debut under producer Komuro Tetsuya in 1994. Her discography includes eight original albums and more than 30 singles.

• Miike Takashi’s 2000 film “Audition” was the only Japanese feature to be included in Time magazine’s recent Top 25 horror films of all time. The listing is probably not one all horror fans will take too seriously (it includes Disney’s 1942 classic “Bambi”) but it would have been unforgivable not to have included at least one Japanese movie. Especially considering how influential Japanese horror has been in Hollywood in the last few years.

The Chunichi Dragons had to wait 53 years for their second Japan Series crown, and they won it in perfect style in front of their home fans last night at the Nagoya Dome. Surprise starter Yamai Daisuke and star closer Iwase Hitoki combined to pitch the first ever perfect game in the 57-year history of the Japan Series, totally dominating the Nippon Ham Fighters to clinch the series 4-1. Yamai struck out six over eight perfect innings and Iwase retired the final three batters in order in the ninth. Losing pitcher Darvish Yu (20), who got the win in game 1, only gave up the one run and struck out 11, showing again why he is considered the best young hurler in the country. Journeyman power hitter Nakamura Norihiro, who had four RBIs in five games, was in tears as he was named Series MVP. After becoming one of the best hitters in Japan in the 1990s, he failed twice in attempts to make it in the Major Leagues and took a huge pay cut to play for the Dragons this season. It is his first ever Japan Series title.

The series was an exact reversal of last year, but this time the Dragons were on a roll having swept the Hanshin Tigers and the Yomiuri Giants in the first-ever Central League playoffs. It was third time lucky for manager Ochiai Hiromitsu, whose teams had fallen at the final hurdle in and 2006. Fighters coach Trey Hillman, who will lead the Kansas City Royals next season, said, “They outpitched us, they outhit us and they threw a perfect game at us and that’s pretty good.” He was philosophical about the last game of his five years in Japan, “This was a very rewarding experience for me,” he said. “I like to think I’m a better person because of the time I’ve spent in this society.”

• Talento couple Fujii Takashi (35) and Otoha (26) became proud parents on October 31. Married since July 2005, they announced the arrival of their baby girl to the media by fax yesterday. Also a mother for the first time is singer/songwriter Michiyo (28), who revealed on her website yesterday that she recently had a baby girl. She made her debut in 1997, produced by SharanQ, whose vocalist Tsunku is the man behind the Hello! Project.

Rakugo-ka and talento Hayashiya Ippei (36) announced at a Rakugo Association press conference in Tokyo yesterday that he plans to take on his late father’s stage name. Real name Ebina Taisuke, he will become the second Hayashiya Sampei, with a series of events to mark the succession from March 21, 2009. His father, one of the leading figures in rakugo during the postwar period, passed away in 1980, leaving the Sampei name unused for almost three decades. Though normally Ippei’s elder brother would have been expected to take his father’s name, he instead succeeded as the 9th generation Hayashiya Shouzou (44) last year. That was said to have been because he has been more successful as a talento and media personality than a rakugo-ka. He was penalized earlier this year for tax evasion.

• It seems that former idol singer Akasaka Akira (34), busted for drugs at the weekend, had been having a bad year. His lawyer revealed yesterday that he and his wife of six years divorced at the end of March, with her retaining custody of their son. Akasaka has said that he first started using amphetamines in April. He is still being held at the Ohtsuka olice station. Fellow former Hikaru Genji member Sato Atsuhiro (34) apologized to his close friend via the media for not having realized the trouble he was in. He also apologized to Akasaka’s fans for the inevitable cancellation of a dinner show that had been scheduled for December.

• Japan-based singer Agnes Chan (52) performed in Beijing yesterday, her first concert since undergoing surgery for breast cancer last month. The charity concert at the Great Hall of the People marked the 35th anniversary of the normalization of ties between China and Japan. In the audience was her 81-year-old mother, who had flown in from Hong Kong. Chan sang 17 songs in English, Japanese, Cantonese and Mandarin. The concert had originally been planned for September 25, but was postponed due to a metformin with the Communist Party Congress. Chan was found to have breast cancer in mid-September and underwent surgery in early October.