Yearly Archives: 2007

The new pop trio Gyaruru has its second lineup before it has even got off the starting line. The group was first announced last month, with the members being former Morning Musume Tsuji Nozomi (19), “ogui” (glutton) talento Gyaru Sone (21, photo center) and “meganekko” (glasses girl) idol Tokito Ami (19, right). But Tsuji dropped out within weeks after announcing her pregnancy and impending marriage. The future of group was in doubt until yesterday, when a replacement was announced. Stepping in for Tsuji is Abe Asami (22, left), the younger sister of former MoMus member Abe Natsumi (26). She’s no stranger to “gyaru” fashion, as that was her look when she was first scouted as a high school student. With Sone taking the stage name ‘Sonene’ and Tokito going for ‘Amimi’, Abe will be known as ‘Abebe’. The group’s debut single, “Boom Boom Meccha Macho”, will be re-recorded in time for its scheduled June 20 release.

• Veteran newscaster Chikushi Tetsuya (73) revealed yesterday on his nightly “News23” show that he has lung cancer. The disease was diagnosed early enough that it can be treated, so he is going to take a break from the TBS show while undergoing treatment.

• It was revealed yesterday that actress Hosho Mai (30) recently got married. According to a source, she married 37-year-old graphic designer, named only as N-san, on March 6. The couple registered their marriage at a municipal office in Tokyo. They met through a mutual friend in 2004 and dated for about two years. They have no plans for a press conference or wedding ceremony. Hosho is best known for her roles in TV dramas such as Fuji TV’s popular “Shomuni”.

• The latest issue of weekly magazine “Shuukan Asahi” reveals that cross-dressing singer-actor Miwa Akihiro (72) failed to report a traffic accident in March. According to the article, Miwa’s car struck a motorcycle while both were making a right turn on the junction of Komazawa-dori and Kannana-dori in Tokyo. The motorcyclist reported the accident to local police an hour later, but Miwa failed to do so. Papers have been filed against him for professional negligence resulting in injury and failure to report an accident. His management agency says the matter has already been financially settled between the respective insurance companies.

Wada Akiko has called the recent announcements by Tsuji Nozomi (19) “irresponsible”. The former Morning Musume member revealed her wedding plans and her pregnancy just days apart. Tsuji and actor Sugiura Taiyou (26) say that their decision to marry was made months ago, but “Akko” (57) – always one to speak her mind – said that the timing was obviously calculated. Wada, also known as the God Sister, appeared on her weekly Saturday show on NTV just two days after having surgery to remove polyps from her colon. Though clearly not back to full strength, she felt the need to put the young upstart in her place. “She says she’s going out with the guy, going to get married, then reveals she’s pregnant. It’s all too neat,” she said. “The kid has no sense of responsibility.” Indeed Tsuji’s untimely pregnancy has left a lot of people in the lurch. She dropped out of a stage musical and recently graduated MoMus leader Yoshizawa Hitomi (22) had to step in to cover for her. And the future of Gyaruru, a new pop trio that was launched just days before her announcement, is up in the air.

• Fuji TV announcer Watanabe Kazuhiro (30) is going for a Lucky Seven wedding. A presenter on the “Mezamashi Terebi” morning show, he announced yesterday that he is to get married on July 7. His met his fiancee while both were studying at Seijo University and they started dating on January 1, 2001. So the 7/7/07 date for their wedding seemed the ideal next step. It’s also the date of Tanabata, one of Japan’s most famous – and romantic – festivals. Also called the Star Festival, it comes from an ancient Chinese legend based around the one day of the year when the two stars Vega and Altair, usually separated by the Milky Way, come together.

Japanese-Taiwanese actor Kaneshiro Takeshi (33) joined director John Woo (61) in Beijing yesterday to promote the troubled movie “The Battle of Red Cliff”. With a ¥9-billion ($75 million) budget, making it the biggest independent film ever, and the first of two episodes to be released before the Beijing Olympics in 2008, the movie has drawn huge interest. But Woo has had a ton of trouble with his casting. Chow Yun-Fat was the biggest name on the bill but left just three days after shooting started last month, citing lack of preparation time. His role as Zhao Yun, a general of the Kingdom of Shu, was given to Hu Jun; Watanabe Ken was cast as Cao Cao, the last Chancellor of Eastern Han Dynasty, but was dropped following protests over a Japanese actor playing a Chinese historical figure; and Tony Leung rejected his original role and was lured back with Chow’s part; Taiwan-born Kaneshiro was brought in to replace Leung in the role of Zhuge Liang, the legendary strategist of the Kingdom of Shu. The movie is based on the greatest battle described in the “sangokushi”, or Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the great Chinese historical novel written in the 14th century. As the battle of Red Cliff is said to have involved over a million soldiers, Woo has set up several units to film various scenes. Sangokushi is the Japanese reading of the Chinese classic, and has spawned a series of hugely popular manga, anime and computer games. Asked about his late arrival to the project, Kaneshiro said “I’ve been a big fan of the manga and game versions since I was small, so I know the story.” He is certainly no stranger to Chinese historical epics, having just finished “The Warlords” with Jet Li and Andy Lau.

• Popular actor Tsukamoto Takashi (24) is the latest young star to announce a shotgun wedding. His fiancee is a 31-year-old office worker who he met in the autumn of 2003. They started dating in May 2005, found out she was pregnant in February,and got engaged on April 14. Meanwhile, former Morning Musume member Tsuji Nozomi (19) and actor Sugiura Taiyou (26) held a press conference yesterday to talk about their wedding plans. Sugiura said he proposed on March 10 though it wasn’t until a week or so ago that Tsuji discovered she was pregnant. They plan to marry on her 20th birthday but have no plans for a ceremony this year.

Japan Academy Award-winning movie “Ashita no Kioku” (Memories of Tomorrow) is set to open in the U.S. later this month. Despite his long career, Watanabe Ken (47) made his debut as a leading man in the movie and he was also executive producer of the project. Since it opened in Japan in May of last year, he has been jetting round the world promoting it to foreign buyers with the same passion he showed during the domestic promotion campaign. As he is based in Hollywood these days, a U.S. release was his main priority. His recent work on Hollywood productions, most recently Clint Eastwood’s “Letters From Iwo Jima”, and his appearance as a presenter on the Oscars have opened a lot of doors for him. The story of “Ashita…” is about a successful middle-aged marketing executive and his wife as they struggle to deal with his early-onset Alzheimers, a theme that resonates beyond national borders. There’s also fact that, despite lacking the support of a TV network that is behind most Japanese movies, the feature made a solid ¥2.2 billion at the box office and received five Japan Academy Award nominations. Watanabe won for the first time as best actor. It opens on 120 screens today in South Korea, and in New York on May 18. It will be in theaters in Los Angeles from June 8 and in San Francisco from July 13.

• Music producer Kobayashi Takeshi (47) is on the verge of divorcing singer Akko, vocalist of his J-pop group My Little Lover, and looks set to marry singer Hitoto Yo (31). It was an affair with Hitoto, exposed in the weekly gossip magazine “Friday” in January, that brought an end to Kobayashi’s 11-year marriage. He and Akko, together with guitarist Fujii Kenji (38), formed My Little Lover in 1995. They married the following year and have two children. Fujii left the group in 2002, and it became Akko’s solo project last November. She kicked off a nationwide tour on May 7, with Kobayashi in attendance.

Rock singer-songwriter Nagabuchi Tsuyoshi (50) is planning a comeback to the big screen after eight years. Movie director Fukusaku Kenta (34) was among the big names attending a PR event yesterday to launch Nagabuchi’s first album in four years, “Come On Stand Up!” The pair decided it was time to put some much-needed “macho” back into Japanese movies. “They say the Japanese movie industry is healthy these days, but it’s all weepies and comedy,” said Fukusaku. “The male action movies my father loved so much are dying out. I want to make use of Nagabuchi-san’s physique and make a real fight movie.” Their relationship goes back to the 1988 TBS drama “Tombo”, directed by Kenta’s father, the late Fukusaku Kinji (1930-2003). With the wiry, “junky” look of his younger days, Nagabuchi won rave reviews for his starring role as the yakuza Ogawa Eiji. These days he’s a lot more buffed and hangs out with such fighters as K-1 star Kohiruimaki Takayuki (29) and sumo grand champion Asashoryu (26), both in attendance at yesterday’s event. Fukusaku Kinji directed such violent classics as “Jingi Naki Tatakai” (Battles Without Honor and Humanity) and “Battle Royale”, but his death in 2003 forced his son take over at the helm of “Battle Royale II”. No details of the latest movie project are available but it will be Nagabuchi’s first movie role since the “Tombo” follow-up “Eiji” in 1999.

• Rocky Wada (53), a popular TV and radio personality in Hokkaido, has been arrested for paying for corrupting a minor. Police say that last summer he met a high school girl, who was 15 at the time, through a “deaikei” mobile website. He arranged to meet her at a hotel in Tomakomai City and paid her ¥15,000 for sex. Following his arrest in Sapporo yesterday, he said he has no memory of the incident. Real name Wada Norio, he is the host of two long-running shows based around his knowledge of western rock music. Both TV Hokkaido and FM North Wave are planning to cancel his shows.

The truth is out about Tsuji Nozomi (19). It turns out that the reason the former Morning Musume member recently dropped out of a planned stage musical is that she is two months pregnant and planning to get married on her 20th birthday. She and actor Sugiura Taiyou (26) started dating last year and visited each other’s family homes at the end of the year. The diminutive Tsuji, who debuted with Morning Musume in 2000 at the age of 12, was always one of the group’s most popular members. After she “graduated” from the group in 2004, she formed the duo “W” with Kago Ai (19), only to see that go down in flames when Kago was fired from the Hello! Project in April. Tsuji was swiftly named to lead a new trio called Gyaruru just two weeks ago, but was diagnosed with an acute stomach ulcer days later. Given the news of her pregnancy, it’s likely she is also suffering from morning sickness and will most likely soon be on maternity leave so the future of Gyaruru is unclear. Of the more than two dozen girls who’ve been members of Morning Musume over the last ten years Tsuji will be just the third to get married. Sugiura made his break in 2001 playing the lead role in the “Ultraman Cosmos” action hero series on TBS. In 2002 he and his younger brother Takao made their singing debut as the duo Ex. Bold. His latest project is the movie “Zero Kara no Kaze”, scheduled for release in December.

• Happy news too for talento couple Fujii Takashi (35) and Otoha (26). The couple, who married in July 2005, are expecting their first baby in November. Fujii is best known for his character Matthew Minami, who appeared in the Hollywood movie “Lost in Translation”.

• “Spiderman 3” is off to a flying start. It broke the ¥3 billion barrier at the box office in just six days since it opened on May 1, a new record for a Hollywood movie. It’s been seen by over 2.5 million people, way more than the 800,000 who have been to see “Babel”, which opened three days earlier.

Yoshizawa Hitomi (22) made her final appearance last night as leader of Morning Musume. She characteristically shed no tears as the group finished their spring tour an afternoon and evening show in front of 30,000 fans at the Saitama Super Arena. Fans also got their first proper look at the group’s two new Chinese members, JunJun (19) and LinLin (16). The fourth member to take on the role of leader, “Yossui” leaves after seven years and one month with the group, the longest run of any member. She suffered tragedy in January when her younger brother Hirota died in a traffic accident at the age of 16, just days after she had announced her planned “graduation” from the group. She performed as scheduled at the Osaka Dome four days later, refusing to shed any public tears. Her toughness is a vital part of her success, and she will be straight into her next job this weekend, filling in for former member Tsuji Nozomi (19), whose poor health forced her to drop out of a stage musical.

• Actor Kitamura Kazuo died yesterday of lung failure. He was 80. He had been hospitalized last month following a mild stroke and developed pneumonia. He is survived by his wife Kikuko, actress daughter Yuri (36), and son Yukiya (33), a stage actor. One of the major names in Japanese theater, he also artery-diseases-info.com dramas and movies, including Kurosawa Akira‘s “Tengoku to Jigoku” (Heaven and Hell) and “Nippon Konchuki” (The Insect Woman), directed by his old friend Imamura Shohei. He last appeared on stage in 2004 and last winter he filmed scenes for the yet to be finished movie “Beauty”.

• Former actor Achiwa Shinsuke was found dead at a waterfall in Kagoshima Prefecture several days ago, according to a statement yesterday from the production company he ran. Police are investigating the death as a possible suicide. The ex-husband of actress Takigawa Yumi (56), he was best known for his role in the “Ultra Seven” action hero TV series. He suffered two strokes in recent years and had been in poor health since. His daughter is talento Takigawa Hanako (18).

• Comedian Hata Youku (31), better known as the Guitar Samurai, announced yesterday that he is engaged to be married. The relationship with the 33-year-old named only as “A-ko” started when he was 20. It wasn’t until 2004 that Hata made his name as one of the breakthrough as one of the faces of the comedy boom. Now that he has established himself, he finally felt ready to propose, which he did in March. The couple are planning to register their marriage later this month. The surge in popularity enjoyed by young comedians in the last few years has seen a number of them marry models and actresses. But some have stayed true to the “regular” women who supported them in leaner times. In addition to Hata, there’s Takeyama Takanori (36), Matsumoto Kouta (27) and Neko Hiroshi (29).

• Talento and pin-up girl Kumakiri Asami (26) has admitted that she is in a relationship with Yokohama Bay Stars pitcher Nasuno Takumi (24). A fan of the rival Hanshin Tigers team, she has taken some stick for the fact that Nasuno has said he hates the often fanatical Hanshin fans.

Former comedian and Osaka governor Yokoyama Nokku died of throat cancer on Thursday. He was 75. His former comedy partners Kamioka Ryutaro (65, No-sleepiness.com “Punch”) and Aoshiba Fukku (68, Yokoyama “Hook”) were among the friends and family in attendance at a wake held in Hyogo Prefecture yesterday. There is speculation that a major farewell event will be held at the Kyocera Osaka Dome. Real name Yamada Isamu, Nokku was born in Kobe in 1932. He joined the Yoshimoto Kogyo agency at the age of 23. Six years later he, Kamioka and Aoshiba became the Manga Trio, as Yokoyama “Knock”, “Hook” and “Punch”. They specialized in comedy routines based around current news. The trio broke up in 1968 and Nokku went into national politics, though continuing to do showbiz work. He was elected to the Diet four times from ’68 to ’89, missing out only in 1974. He left the Diet in 1995 and ran successfully in the Osaka gubernatorial election. He won a second term by a record margin in 1999 but was caught up in a sexual harassment case soon after. He was given a suspended prison sentence for harassing a female college student in his car during the election campaign. The media backlash was extreme and he retired from showbiz. He made a couple of guest appearances last year but his health was already failing. Kamioka was one of the senior members of the showbiz community when he retired in 2000, in part because of the fate of his good friend. Yesterday was his first appearance before TV cameras since then but he declined to make any comment.

The Yomiuri Giants slump continues. Despite the fact that they are having a good season so far and are top of the Central League, the audience rating for their televised night games in April was the worst ever. At 10.8% in the Kanto region, it was well below last year’s record low of 12.6%. Ironically, the bad news came on the same day that the Kyojin, as they are known in Japanese, won their milestone 5,000th game. The 5-3, 11-inning win over the Chunichi Dragons at Nagoya Dome also saw the first ever save as a pro for ace pitcher Uehara Koji. The Giants’ first ever win came on July 3, 1936.

• Singer Aikawa Nanase (32) is pregnant again. She revealed yesterday on her official website that she is currently 6 months pregnant with her second child. She is currently in recording and says she will go ahead with her annual July 7 concert. With her name including the kanji for the number seven (nana), she chose that date for a show to commemorate her 10th year in showbiz in 2005. The band put together for that event included former X Japan guitarist Pata, former Luna Sea drummer Shinya, and former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman. Aikawa married in February 2001 and had a baby boy the following September.

“Spiderman 3” opened in theaters across the country and elsewhere in Asia yesterday, several days before the U.S. Costumed fans formed lines up to 150m long for the morning show at theaters in Tokyo, proving that the huge PR for the movie is paying off. Distributor Sony Pictures said that some 400,000 people saw the movie on the opening day, well above the number for the first two installments in the series. At that pace the movie looks set to meet their box-office target of ¥10 billion. In 2005, “The Da Vinci Code” was seen by 930,000 people in the first week, making over ¥9 billion. Yesterday was officially a regular work day but many people have taken Tuesday and Wednesday off to have a full 9-day Golden Week holiday. Audiences were boosted by the fact that discount tickets were available yesterday, the first day of the month and so “Movie Day”, and today, as Wednesdays are “Ladies Day”.

• Freelance announcer Nagai Minako (41) revealed yesterday that she gave birth to her second child in February. She married Hori Kazutomo (41), president of IT group Cybird in 2001 and they had their first child that year. Nagai plans to appear at a Mother’s Day even in Yokohama on May 13.