Yearly Archives: 2007

Japan’s main Live Earth event was held Saturday at the Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo. The only major problem was when fans rushed forward during the Linkin Park set, knocking over barricades and forcing the band to leave the stage for 15 minutes. Koda (photo, 24) was the main local artist and gave a typically dynamic performance. In keeping with the global warming theme, she went with the hot pants look. The full lineup of for the 9-hour, 78-song show was: Genki Rockets, Rise, Ayaka, Otsuka Ai, Ai, Xzibit, Abingdon Boys School, Cocco, Linkin Park, Koda Kumi and Rihanna. A separate event was held at the Toji temple in Kyoto on Saturday night, featuring a one-time-only revival of Sakamoto Ryuichi’s legendary band Yellow Magic Orchestra, Michael Nyman and Rip Slyme. Over the 24-hour period, shows were held in Sydney, Shanghai, Johannesburg, London, Hamburg and Rio de Janeiro.

• Talento Yasuda Misako (25) admitted yesterday that she and actor Kashiwabara Shuji (28) have split up. Appearing on the Sunday morning live show “Akko ni Omakase!”, she revealed that they had broken up at the end of May. “He’s a really kind guy and I respect him, but, well…love is difficult, isn’t it?”, she told the show’s veteran hostess, Wada Akiko (57). Insisting she was over the split, she said it was a mutual decision. The pair met in 2005 when they co-starred in the movie adaptations of the popular manga “Luna Heights”, and they started dating last summer.

• Talento Hasegawa Rie (33) is tight-lipped about her rumored romance with rapper Rino Latina II (33). Appearing Saturday at a PR event for Pedro Almodovar’s latest movie “Volver” in a pink summer yukata, she refused to answer questions about the first reported romance since her split with actor Ishida Junichi (52) at the end of 2005.

• Traditional musicians ZAN recently performed at an event to promote the release of their U.S. debut album “Shiku”. Featuring Kominato Akihisa (28) on vocals and shakuhachi, and Ichikawa Shin (31) on koto, the group had to overcome the April 2006 death of its leader Sunagawa Norikazu in a climbing accident. “Making our debut in the U.S. was a dream we all shared. We want the whole world to know about these wonderful Japanese musical instruments.”

• Chubby talento Uchiyama Shinji (25) has admitted that he is currently embroiled in a court case with his ex-girlfriend. The 30-year-old woman, with whom he lived for eight years, has sued him for ¥500 million in compensation following their breakup as well as unpaid wages from her job at the company he runs. Their split is said to have resulted from Uchiyama’s reported affair in January, though he has denied both the report and that the couple’s relationship was a common-law marriage. He has also disputed her claim for wages, saying she was paid for her occasional work for “Mago no Te”, a home nursing service.

Could there be romance happening between actress Yonekura Ryoko (31) and retired soccer star Nakata Hidetoshi (30)? Today’s issue of women’s weekly “Josei Seven” has photos of the two enjoying a dinner date in Tokyo late month. They spent about three hours relaxing at an Italian restaurant in the fashionable Azabu district. Yonekura’s agency insist they met by chance and were both there with friends. She is currently appearing in the new TBS drama series “Katagoshi no Koibito”, which started last night. Nakata, who was previously linked with actress Miyazawa Rie (34), is said to have returned to his home in Paris.

• A comic impersonator has been arrested in a bizarre incident. Eizawa Yosaku (real name Mita Masami, 46), an Eizawa Yokichi lookalike, got into a drunken argument with fellow impersonators at an apartment in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture in the early hours of Thursday morning. He chewed up the earlobe of Tsuntsuku (Tanaka Kenji, 43), a lookalike of Morning Musume guru Tsunku, leaving a wound that will take several weeks to heal.

The first half of 2007 has been a tale of two princes. Topping Oricon’s new twice-a-year Fresh Star Rankings is young golf sensation Ishikawa Ryo (15), popularly known as “Hanikami Oji” (The Shy Prince). A first-year high school student in Tokyo, he found overnight stardom in May when he became the youngest player ever to win a professional golf tournament. Comparisons to Tiger Woods inevitably followed. But the ranking was the only good news yesterday for Ishikawa, as he failed to make the cut in the Japan Amateur Championship. Second in the rankings is Waseda University baseball pitcher Saito Yuuki (19), known as “Hankachi Oji” (The Handkerchief Prince), who shot to fame with his superhuman performance at last summer’s national high school baseball tournament. He also recently led Waseda to its first All-Japan Intercollegiate Championship in 33 years. He earned his nickname at Koshien last summer with his habit of wiping the sweat from his brow with a blue handkerchief as he led his team to the championship. The pitcher he beat at Koshien, Tanaka Masahiro (18), was ranked fourth. He turned pro and now plays for the Rakuten Golden Eagles. Topping the female rankings by a huge margin was actress Nagasawa Masami (20), followed by singer Yui (20) and U.S. import Leah Dizon (20).

• Talento Umemiya Anna (34) has quit her management agency, it was revealed yesterday. Though she had only recently restarted her acting career, it seems she quit Stardust Promotion on June 30, the same day that her ex-boyfriend Haga Kenji (45) was arrested on extortion charges. The pair were a high profile celebrity couple from 1994 to 1999, even publishing a book of nude photos together. A pregnant Umemiya married a businessman in June 2001 but they broke up a year and a half later. Her ex-husband was convicted on illegal gambling charges in July 2004.

Meanwhile, investigators spent three hours searching Haga’s ¥300 million apartment in Tokyo’s Meguro district yesterday. Ironically, only a couple of days before his arrest, Haga had been proudly showing off the 29th-floor apartment on the TBS variety show “ObirajiR”.

Minor talento Sakamoto Issei (36) was stabbed on Sunday morning following a car park argument. While parking his car at a neighborhod supermarket in Inage, Chiba Prefecture, he almost hit another car. This led to an argument with a man described as 60 years old an unemployed (often a euphemism for a yakuza). The man punched Sakamoto and stabbed him in the chest and was arrested on the spot. (Reports failed to mention if the man was further incensed by Sakamoto’s cheesy photos!) Real name Itoh Fumio, Sakamoto’s brief claim to fame was in the early 1990s when he debuted with the stage name Shin Kase Taishu. The name was a sarcastic move by the Interface Project management agency after they lost a court case to use the name Kase Taishu when that popular talento quit the agency. His showbiz career never really took off and in 1997 he quit only to try out a s pro wrestler in 1999. After that bid failed, he worked as a used car salesman, long-distance truck driver and restaurant manager. He is currently trying his luck again as a talento, but also working a couple of nights a week at a host club in Tokyo’s seedy Kabukicho district.

• TV Asahi announced at its regular press conference yesterday how it will handle coverage of the Diet elections if Japan’s soccer team reaches the final of the Asia Cup. With both events scheduled for July 29, the soccer would be broadcast live and the election results shown in one segment of the screen. The network also announced that oral proceedings in the court case initiated by “TeleAsa” and managing director Hayakawa Hiroshi against publisher Kodansha and others will begin on September 3. The plaintiffs are seeking ¥200 million in compensation and a published apology for an article claiming financial irregularities at the network that appeared in the “Shuukan Gendai” magazine last month.

Popular rock band Road of Major are to break up. The quartet announced the decision yesterday, saying they don’t plan to hold a farewell concert. The upcoming DVD “Golden Road Films” (on sale July 18) will be their final release. Made up of leader/bassist Matsumoto Kenichi (27), vocalist Kitagawa Kenichi (26), guitarist Kondo Nobumasa (24), and (23) on drums, the band was formed as a project on the TV Tokyo audition show “Hamaraja” in 2002. They played 50 shows in 100 days with the aim of building a big enough fan base that their debut single would make the Top 50 of the Oricon chart. If they succeeded, they’d sign with a major label; if they failed, they’d break up. Things went well, and “Taisetsuna Mono” entered at No.16, finally reaching No.2 and selling over a million copies. They were the first ever independent band to enter the Oricon chart at No.1 with their 2003 eponymous debut album. Although a major label deal followed in 2004, they never managed to reach the same heights again. The artificial nature of the band meant that the members often had different musical ideas and they finally decided to go their own ways.

• The popular TV Asahi period drama series “Hissatsu Shigotonin” is making its comeback after 15 years, with some help from Johnny’s Jimusho. Long-time star Fujita Makoto (74) will revive his role as “assassin for hire” Nakamura Mondo in an upcoming special, but the new series will become a vehicle for Shonentai member Higashiyama Noriyuki (40). The special will feature two other Johnny’s stars, Tokio’s Matsuoka Masahiro (30) and Ookura Tadayoshi (22) of KanJani8, so the show will have pretty boys for all ages. Fujita said, “The Hissatsu series is a brand name. I want (Higashiyama) to take it over and keep it going forever.” The special airs on July 7 at 9pm.

Actress Okina Megumi (27) is giving the IT business one more try. She has been romantically linked with Kasahara Kenji (31), CEO of Mixi, Japan’s hugely successful social networking service. A graduate of Tokyo University, the entrepreneur is said to be worth in the region of ¥90 billion. Okina married Fujita Susumu, president of IT company Cyber Agent, in 2004 year but they were divorced by the summer of 2005. That romance was part of a boom in eligible showbusiness women going for high-profile and wealthy IT types. After the split, Okina was linked with a variety of guys, including a stage actor, a surfer from Hawaii, the actor son of a former prime minister, even a handsome Buddhist priest. But it looks like she has returned to the money. Though Kasahara is something of a protege of Fujita, his personal wealth is considerably bigger. So Okina can be said to be moving up the ladder of fortune.

Talento Haga Kenji (45) was arrested on Saturday, along with a senior member of the yakuza, a former world boxing champion and one other. Osaka prefectural police arrested Haga, former WBA and WBC super flyweight champion Watanabe Jiro (52), Kawakita Toshikazu (69), a gang leader affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi syndicate, and Hatsushika Yuji (57), described only as unemployed. Police say that in 2001, the debt-ridden playboy Haga sold shares in an unlisted Tokyo-based medical consulting company at triple their actual price to an acquaintance, a real estate company president in Osaka. The man was reluctant to pay ¥370 million for the shares but Haga called him hundreds of times with guarantees that the investment would pay out five-fold. In the end, only ¥120 million was used to buy shares in the man’s name, the rest of the money being used to buy shares in the name of Haga’s company and to repay his debts. The consulting company almost immediately declared bankruptcy and the man started looking for his money back. In June last year the accused, excluding Haga, presented him with a document saying Haga would return only the handling fee of ¥10 million, forcing him to sign under threat of violence or worse. And of that money, Kawakita and Hatsushika are said to have taken more than ¥6 million. Haga claims that the matter is settled as he returned the money as described in the document. Only Hatsushika has owned up to the allegations. Until this incident came to light, Haga had managed to convince the showbiz world that he had repaid his debts through his hard work running a successful jewelry business. He got married in Hawaii in October of last year.

• The career of singer Kahara Tomomi (32) is on the rocks again. A top J-pop star under Svengali-like Komuro Tetsuya in the mid-1990s, she has tottered from one emotional crisis to another since a romantic breakup with the producer in 1999. She was released by her management agency, Production Ogi, at the end of last week after several months of sudden cancellations, drunken collapses and an ongoing history of prescription drug dependency. President Ogi Toru (64) said, “It really is regrettable and heartbreaking. She needs to get medical treatment right away, deal with her addictions, and get back on her feet again as a person. As long as she’s dependent on tranquilizers and sleeping pills she won’t have a contract with us.” Her regular TV slot and concerts planned for this month have been canceled, and her fan club has been disbanded. Her contract with Universal Music has also been canceled.

• TM Revolution vocalist Nishikawa Takanori (36) has admitted his romance with actress Otsuka Chihiro (21). The two appeared together this spring in the stage musical “How to Succeed”. Nishikawa was formerly married to Puffy member Yoshimura Yumi (32).

Two big J-pop names are to provide the theme tunes to anime features this summer. “Beautiful World”, the upcoming single from Utada Hikaru (24), will be the signature tune for the latest “Evangelion” movie adaptation. Director Anno Hideaki (47) is a big Hikki fan, and he approached the singer directly about taking part in the project. The single is due for release on August 29 and the movie opens on September 1. Meanwhile, “Naruto” fan DJ Ozma jumped at the chance to lay down a track for “Naruto – Shippuden”, the latest movie version of the popular TV Tokyo anime series. “Lie, Lie, Lie” will be in stores on August 1, and the movie opens on August 4.

• A wake was held at a branch of the Anrakuji temple in Tokyo last night for actor-comedian Tani Kanichi, who died of a brain aneurism on June 25. He was 74. Real name Nishimura Masaaki, as an actor he was best known for the late-1950s TV superhero series “Gekko Kamen”. He was also the only surviving member of Three Pockets, a vaudeville comedy trio that also included legendary “Tora-san” actor Atsumi Kiyoshi (1928-1996) and Seki Keiroku (1928-2006). A funeral is being held this morning.

• It’s been a while since we reported on any J-Leaguers here. But now we have a reason, as national team defender Nakata Koji (27) is romantically involved with actress Kato Ai (24). Though Nakata played French team Marseilles in 2005 and transferred to Basel in the Swiss league in 2006, the couple have been dating for three years. Currently in the off season, he was recently spotted with Kato on a dinner date in Tokyo. Their management agencies refused to comment on the story.

Young British actor Daniel Radcliffe (17) was welcomed by screaming fans at Narita Airport yesterday as he made his second trip to Japan. This time he’s here to promote the fifth in the Harry Potter movie series, his first visit in December 2002 being to plug “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”. The world premiere of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” will be held tonight at the Roppongi Hills complex in central Tokyo and a press event will be held tomorrow. The movie will be in theaters from July 20. The series is the only one in which each movie has grossed over ¥10 billion in Japan, but box office totals have been dropping since the first movie made over ¥20 billion in 2001. Warner Brothers is aiming to clear over ¥100 billion in Japan for the entire 7-episode series and are creating maximum hype for the latest movie. It’s the first time for a Harry Potter movie to premiere outside the U.K.

• A couple of showbiz divorces were revealed this week, although both actually took place last year. It turns out that actor Takasugi Kou (42) and actress Takada Shoko (39) have been divorced since April 2006. The couple met while working together on the 1998 NHK drama series “Yanchakure” and married in December 2003. Takasugi tends to play mainly police and soldier supporting roles, such as in the “Odoru Daisosen” (Bayside Shakedown) movie series. Takada works mainly in theater. Also split are actress Toda Keiko (49) and actor Inoue Junichi (48), who also met through their work. The pair divorced last December after more than 16 years of marriage. Toda is a supporting actress best known for her role in the popular Fuji TV comedy drama series “Shomuni”. It is her second divorce.

• Former Morning Musume member Tsuji Nozomi (20) recently tied the knot with actor Sugiura Taiyo (26). A representative submitted their marriage registration documents on their behalf at a Tokyo municipal office. They chose the first taian, the most auspicious day on the Shinto calendar, after Tsuji’s 20th birthday. She is about four months pregnant, a development that forced her to pull out of several showbiz commitments. The couple plan to hold a small wedding ceremony in July, but have no plans for a big reception.

• Also several months pregnant are actress Yada Akiko (28) and singers Sakaki Izumi (38) and Minmi (32). Yada married actor-singer Oshio Manabu (29) in November of last year. She is due to have her baby in late autumn in Los Angeles, where the couple are currently based. Sakaki, who married actor Sakaki Hideo (37) in December 2005, is expecting twins in November. She will take maternity leave after a concert in Tokyo scheduled for July 8. Minmi, a singer with the group Japanese Reggae, announced this week that she’s expecting her first baby in December. The father is Wakadanna (31), a member of popular reggae group Shonan no Kaze. The couple met in 2001 when he was living in Kingston, Jamaica. They have announced no plans to marry but may tie the knot after the baby is born.

Singer/actress Tsuchiya Anna is the latest Japanese star aiming to go global. Her upcoming international tour is being touted as the “first world tour by a Japanese female singer”. Starting June 30 in Los Angeles, the 12-show tour will take in Korea, Taiwan and finish in Tokyo on September 1. By my count, that’s only four countries. And she isn’t even really going it alone, as she’ll be appearing during festivals and events such as the “Anime Expo Ax 2007” in L.A. and Summer Sonic at home. A bit more impressive is the fact that a CD/DVD release of her greatest hits album will go on sale in 42 mostly European countries, a record for a Japanese artist. It will be in stores from July 4. Her popularity in Europe comes mainly from her theme song to the anime series “Nana” and an appearance at an anime expo in Paris last July. In France, she is called the “Japanese Madonna”. Her next single, a double-A-side “Bubble Trip/Sweet Sweet Song” (jacket above) is due for release on August 1.