Yearly Archives: 2007

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have suddenly cancelled their Japan dome tour. Due to start at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka today and move to Tokyo Dome on March 22-23, the sold-out tour was called off on Saturday. The reason given was that vocalist Anthony Kiedis (44) has come down with bronchitis. Disappointed fans will have to wait to hear from promoters Smash about ticket refunds and any rescheduling of dates. For now they say they are aiming to reschedule the shows for the autumn. Kiedis has been told to take 10 days rest, which would mean the band’s tour of Australia should go ahead as planned. The 9-date tour is due to start in Adelaide on April 7.

• The Cannes golden boy and the Oscar nominee are to make their anime debuts. Actor Yagira Yuya (16) and actress Kikuchi Rinko (26) will provide their voice talents for the anime omnibus feature “Genius Party”. The pair will play the young couple at the center of a segment called “Baby Blue”, directed by Watanabe Shinichiro. The movie is scheduled to open here in July, and will be shown at the Japan Festival in New York next February. Yagira became the youngest ever winner of the best actor award at the Cannes International Film Festival in 2004 for his breakthrough role in “Nobody Knows”. While Kikuchi’s role in “Babel” earned her a nomination for this year’s best supporting actress Oscar.

• Actress and singer Koizumi Kyoko (41) made her first concert appearance in three years on Friday. She performed three songs at an environmental event in Tokyo at the request of Kobayashi Takeshi, who produced her first million selling hit. And Koizumi is to make her radio comeback after 19 years. “Kyon-Kyon”, as she is know to fans, will host the Nippon Housou show “All Night Nippon” for one night only on March 26. She was the first-ever idol singer to host the show, which she did for two and a half years during the peak of her popularity in 1986-88. Marking her 25th anniversary in showbiz, this week she will also release a greatest hits album “K25 – Koizumi Kyoko All Time Best”.

Call it a new era in Japan-China relations. The man behind Morning Musume has decided to give the group a more international look, and producer Tsunku (38) announced yesterday that the latest addition to the lineup will be two Chinese teenagers. The first audition was held in Beijing last year and included those who failed to qualify for the local “Super Girl” auditions. Chosen from that group was Li Chun (19, photo left), known as “Jun Jun”. 16-year-old Qian Lin (photo right) has been appearing on Chinese TV since she was in elementary school and was introduced to Tsunku through a friend. She has already appeared as a backing dancer on the Hello! Project national tour in January and is nicknamed “Lin Lin”. Both girls need to take dance, vocal and Japanese language lessons, but judging from their photos, they will blend easily among the Japanese members. They will make their first appearance on the “Hello! Morning” show on TV Tokyo on March 18. Officially part of the 8th version of the lineup, which also includes the recently added Mitsui Aika (14), they will perform in front of fans for the first time at the May 6 concert which will mark the “graduation” of leader Yoshizawa Hitomi (21).

• Academy Award nominated actress Kikuchi Rinko (26) is living with a handsome Argentine talento, according to the latest issue of weekly magazine “Friday”. Her agency refused to comment on the story, but it was confirmed by the management of Aletta Federico (26), who also said he accompanied Kikuchi to last month’s Oscar ceremony. The two are said to be sharing an apartment in central Tokyo. Kikuchi, who received widespread praise for her role in “Babel”, is currently in Europe filming her next project. Aletta speaks Japanese, English and Italian as well as his native Spanish.

• Actress Hara Fumina (25) and former J-League soccer player Nakanishi Tetsuo (37) are to get married next week. Their management agencies made the announcement yesterday, in Hara’s case including a mention of the fact that she is not pregnant and that she plans to continue working. The couple met in 2002 on a soccer program but didn’t start dating until January of last year, and Nakanishi proposed last Christmas. Hara made a name for herself in last summer’s TBS drama series “Taiyou no Uta”, while Nakanishi is now a soccer commentator. He started his J-League career with his hometown team of Nagoya Grampus Eight, later moving to Kawasaki Frontale. While on the bench for a Grampus game, he had the dubious distinction of being the first J-League player to receive a red card without even setting foot on the pitch. He retired in 2000.

Singer and actor Suzuki Hiromitsu died yesterday of liver cancer at a Tokyo hospital. He was 60. He made his name in the late 1960s as the vocalist of The Mops, a band that was part of the “group sounds” era and introduced psychedelic rock to Japan. They managed to survive longer than any other group of their genre, breaking up in 1974. The members kept in touch after the split, but had not seen each other for some years. The band’s songwriter, Hoshi Katsu (58), visited Suzuki in hospital just the day before he passed away. In the 70s Suzuki became a successful character actor and TV talento and appeared in a series of movies and TV dramas. He was found to have cancer just three months ago.

• Actress Daichi Mao (51) is getting married again, and this time is going for a younger man. The former Takarazuka top star announced her engagement to interior designer Morita Yasumichi (39) on her official homepage yesterday. The couple met at the end of last year and plan to hold a wedding ceremony in August. Daichi was married to actor Matsudaira Ken (53) for 13 years until their divorce in December 2003 (best known for his buy augmentin online roles, after the split Matsudaira went a bit wild, reinventing himself as the sparkling kimono-wearing “Matsuken” and recording a smash hit samba record. He remarried in 2005). Morita, also a divorcee, designs shops and restaurants both in Japan and abroad and his trademark is his shoulder-length brown hair.

• In Tokyo yesterday promoting their latest movie were Hollywood stars Cameron Diaz (34) and Jude Law (34). “The Holiday”, directed by Nancy Meyers and also starring Kate Winslett and Jack Black, opens here on March 24.

Pop singer Koda Kumi (24) was Japan’s best-selling artist again last year. She was in Tokyo yesterday to receive the 21st Nihon Golden Disk Award, given to the artist with the most sales during the year. Koda amassed 2006 sales of 3.5 million albums, 2.41 million singles, 140,000 music videos, and 12 million downloads, giving her a total in the region of ¥20 billion. The singer, whose sex appeal has always been central to her success, said she lost two kilos for yesterday’s presentation. And she was showing lots of skin as usual in a bright emerald green dress. The award makes it two years in a row that Koda has easily eclipsed the sales record of fellow Avex star Hamasaki Ayumi. But she’s not resting on her laurels and today sees the release of a new single, the love ballad “But/Aishou”.

• 2,500 Chinese fans got a chance to see some of Japan’s top young pop stars in action yesterday. Former Morning Musume member Goto Maki (21) and other J-pop stars performed at the “Nicchu Super Live” joint Japanese-Chinese concert in Beijing. The show was held to kick off a year of sports and cultural events that marks the 35th anniversary of the normalization of relations between Japan and China. Also on stage were singers Hirahara Ayaka (22) and Atari Kousuke (26), boy band w-inds, and local artists Ji Minjia (24) and Han Xue (24). The day before, about 1,000 screaming fans caused a mass panic at the airport as they awaited the arrival of the three members of w-inds. The arrivals area echoed with fans singing the group’s debut song “Forever Memories”, and some tried to chase the group’s car in a taxi after they left the airport. Yesterday’s concert will be broadcast on NHK satellite on April 12.

Entrepreneur and playboy Nojiri Yoshitaka (34) is to settle down with popular model Tanami Ryoko (32). The pair are planning to get married this summer. Nojiri is a member of the so-called “Hills-zoku”, or Hills Tribe, the rich and famous people who live in the Roppongi Hills complex in central Tokyo. He is the founder of the wedding planning company Take & Give – Needs, which has facilities across the country and was listed on the Nasdaq Japan index in 2001. He has had a string of widely publicized relationships with celebrities. The most recent was with actress Shaku Yumiko (28), but they broke up last summer. Nojiri was also romantically linked with actress Umemiya Anna (34) after her brief marriage ended in 2003, as well as TV announcers Uchida Kyoko (30) and Takeuchi Emi (29). Tanami has been a model for magazines such as “JJ” and “Classy” and is considered a fashion leader for Japan’s OL’s (office ladies). She is also an actress, having made her movie debut starring in “Ame Yori Setsunaku” in 2005. Other Hills-zoku entrepreneurs who married celebrities include IT company owner Ozeki Shigeo (32), who married talento Yamaguchi Moe (29), and Cyber Agent president Fujita Susumu (33), who won and then lost the heart of actress Okina Megumi (27).

• Another soon-to-be trophy wife is talento Kanda Uno (31). She and pachinko company president Nishimura Takuro (36) yesterday announced plans to hold their wedding in the autumn. The pair had originally talked of marrying in April but their busy work schedules have been blamed for the delay in plans. Uno suggested that they would hold the ceremony at a Shinto shrine, as actress Fujiwara Norika and comedian Jinnaiu Tomonori did last month.

• Already married is comedian Takakura Ryo (26). His agency announced yesterday that he and indie band vocalist Rika (21) tied the knot on February 17 after an 18-month relationship. Takakura is one half of the manzai duo Sanbyoshi.

Talento Iijima Ai (34) has confirmed the rumors about her retiring from showbiz. On yesterday’s edition of TBS’s “Sunday Japon” she made the statement she had so doggedly avoided a week before, saying she will quit by the end of this month. She denied another rumor that she would be moving to New York, saying she planned to continue living in central Tokyo. As widely speculated, she said the main reason for her decision is her deteriorating health, which caused her to miss the show twice at the end of last year. She has suffered from bladder and kidney infections. The former top porn star made the crossover to variety TV in the early 1990s and became hugely popular with young women. Her frank and uncompromising autobiography “Platonic Sex” was a million-seller in 2001. She is expected to hold a formal press conference once she has finalized matters regarding her existing contracts.

• Actress Ishihara Mariko (43) yesterday admitted that she had a criminal record in the U.S. She held a press conference to explain her two arrests, in 1997 and 2003 on stalking charges, that were revealed last week by a weekly gossip magazine. The 1997 case, in which she received a 20-month suspended sentence, came about when she wrote some 30 letters to a musician on the advice of a fortune teller, who she claims defrauded her of some ¥40 million. The letters included death threats, which she buy flagyl er online by a jealous band member. The 2003 case, in which she broke a restraining order taken out by another musician, led to her imprisonment in Las Vegas for more than 4 months. One of Japan’s top actresses in the late 1980s, she left the country in 1991, and only finally returned to showbiz here last year. She immediately upset things by publishing a book revealing the names of several top stars she had affairs with in her youth. And she is currently directing a movie based on the book.

• When asked yesterday about the recent marriage of her old boyfriend, actress Adachi Yumi (25) simply said, “Yokatta desu ne. Omedetou gozaimasu” (That’s good. Congratulations). The age difference of 21 years was often cited as a main cause of her split with actor Kuroda Arthur (46), but the problem obviously wasn’t on his side as he married a woman 23 years his junior on February 25. Adachi herself can afford to be generous, after marrying comedian Itoda Jun (33) at the end of 2005 and having a baby last year. She said she hadn’t heard about Kuroda’s marriage until Saturday.

Popular singer songwriter Angela Aki (29) is getting married again, according to her official website. The lucky man is 41-year-old “A-san”, who has worked with her as a music director since before her major label debut. They plan to register their marriage today. Angela was born in Tokushima Prefecture but the family moved to Hawaii when she was in junior high and later to Washington D.C. Her mother is Italian-American and her Japanese father is Aki Kiyoshi, the owner and co-founder of the major AEON chain of English conversation schools. Angela started playing the piano at the age of three and continued her interest in music after moving to the U.S., where she graduated from George Washington University and also had a short-lived marriage. She returned to Japan in 2003 and made her indie debut with the mini-album “One” in March 2005. She moved to the major Sony Music label and released “Home” in September of the same year. Her big successes to date include singing “Kiss Me Goodbye”, the theme for Final Fantasy XII, and performing at the venerable Nippon Budokan in December 2006. She is known for her bilingual ability, “haafu” looks and trademark glasses. She is scheduled to perform her latest single “Sakura Iro” on tonight’s edition of “Music Station”.

24-year-old Yamazaki Midori is Race Queen Of The Year ’06-’07. She was presented with her award at the KDDI Design Studio in central Tokyo yesterday. The award has led to showbiz careers for former winners such as Yoshioka Miho (2000-01) and Morishita Chisato (2001-02).

• JASRAC, the association that protects Japanese artists’ copyright, has published an unusual warning on its homepage. Following the demands of songwriter Kawauchi Kouhan (87), the site warns against anyone singing the altered version of his 1971 song “O-fukuro-san”. The warning applies to any singer and even the country’s thousands of karaoke bars, but of course is indirectly aimed at enka singer Mori Shinichi (59), who has been singing the disputed version of his signature tune for some thirty years. His much-publicized attempts to meet with and appease the elderly songsmith have only resulted in making him more angry. Kawauchi has said he won’t allow the singer to perform any of his songs again, a demand Mori has said he will respect until he receives forgiveness. JASRAC recently received attention abroad when it made demands for the removal of thousands of Japanese video clips from the popular YouTube service.

• The recent showbiz baby rush extends to Europe, too. Former popular actress and model Goto Kumiko (32) recently gave birth to her third child in Switzerland. She is married to retired French Formula 1 racer Jean Alesi (42). And former Fuji TV announcer Nakamura Eriko (37) had her second baby this week. She and her French businessman husband live in Paris.

Southern All Stars vocalist Kuwata Keisuke (51) has put out his first original song in four and a half years. “Konna Boku de Yokattara” is being used for the new American Express TV commercial that airs from today. The commercial features Kuwata, who is the first musician to take on the company’s image character role previously portrayed by Robert De Niro, Tiger Woods and Watanabe Ken. Two versions of the commercial were filmed in January using locations as diverse as Kyoto, Okinawa and Thailand. The recording is Kuwata’s first since the album “Rock and Roll Hero”, released in October, 2002. No plans to release the song as a single have yet been announced.

• Tamashiro Chiharu (29), vocalist of the popular duo Kiroro, is expecting her second child in August. She and her fellow Okinawa native husband married in January 2005 and had their first child in February of last year. Tamashiro has been on “maternity leave” since then. Musical partner Kinjo Ayano (29) is also the mother of a young child, born in November 2005. But the duo plan to perform at a one-off event in Okinawa in June, their first concert appearance since two years ago when both were pregnant. Kinjo is releasing a new solo album of piano music today.

• His star may have fallen but Michael Jackson can still rake in the bucks. A spokeswoman for Positive Productions, the company promoting a pair of fan events this week said, “We don’t think the ¥400,000 yen ticket is too expensive. It simply responds to Michael Jackson’s value as a global star, fans’ acknowledgement of that and their willingness to pay for it.” Fans can meet the former Prince of Pop at a party on Thursday and have their photo taken with him. Similar events were held last year.

On his latest trip to Japan, Michael Jackson (48) took over the Bic Camera electronics store in Tokyo’s downtown district of Yurakucho yesterday for two and a half hours. Staff formed a barricade around the store’s emergency exit, but Jackson sneaked in through the main entrance around 10:15pm. He and several children spent a couple of hours mostly in the toy section and left shortly before 1am. Even at that late hour, about 200 fans and curious onlookers were on hand to scream their love and surround his car. Sources say Jackson originally wanted to go to the chains Shibuya store but was refused. Jackson is expected to visit Tokyo Disneyland today and will be attending fan events on March 8 and 9.

• Respected actress Terajima Shinobu (34) recently married French creative art director Laurent Ghnassia, her management announced yesterday. The couple started dating after meeting through work in the autumn of 2005 and tied the knot on February 26. They are currently living together and plan to hold a wedding ceremony and reception in the near future. Ghnassia is the the former artistic director for fashion brand Agnes b.

• Actress Sakurai Atsuko (34) and TV Asahi producer Shimakawa Hiroatsu (35) are expecting their first baby. The couple married in May 2003 having met the previous year on the TV Asahi drama series “Omiya-san”. Meanwhile, Da Pump member Ken (27) is one step ahead, his wife having recently given birth to their first child. His management announced yesterday that his wife gave birth to a baby girl on January 26. They have named their daughter Kairi. The couple got married last July after a nine-year romance. And already on baby number four is talento Nakayama Hideyuki (39), whose wife, former Takarazuka top star Shiraki Ayaka (39), gave birth to their fourth son on March 2.