Yearly Archives: 2007

Singer Utada Hikaru (24) and filmmaker Kiriya Kazuaki (38) have divorced. And it was revealed that her parents also divorced yet again last year – for the seventh time! Just as her marriage to Kiriya was announced on Hikki’s website four and a half years ago, on Saturday she used the same website to reveal that they had divorced the previous day. She thanked fans fopr their support and apologized for the sudden announcement. She cited different views of the future and a lack of communication due to her business international work schedule as the main reasons for the split. Kiriya posted his message on the same site, an indicator of the one-sided nature of their respective levels of success and fame. The two met in 2000 during the design of the sleeve for Hikki’s 7th single, “Can You Keep a Secret?” Two years later, she underwent surgery for ovarian cancer and just five months later they were married. They worked together in several different capacities, one being Utada’s title song for “Casshern”, Kiriya’s 2004 debut as a movie director. He also supported her during her attempt the same year to break into the U.S. market. According to a friend of the couple, neither of them are particularly sociable or talkative types and so communication was a problem for them. Utada, whose parents have divorced and re-married each other a ridiculous seven times since 1981, was looking to him as an older man who could support her emotionally. She made no mention of the split during her live appearance on Friday’s “Music Station”, where she performed her new single “Flavor of Life”. Bittersweet is probably the flavor one would use in English to refer to her life right now, though she referred to it as being like “green pepper tempura”.

• Former porn star turned popular TV regular Iijima Ai (34) hinted on her blog at the weekend that she plans to retire from showbiz at the end of March. She appeared as scheduled on yesterday’s edition of “Sunday Japon” on TBS but didn’t give details of her reasons. She missed the show twice at the end of last year due to health problems with her liver and bladder. When quizzed by other panel members, she seemed reluctant to discuss the matter but retorted “Don’t you ever feel like quitting?” With contracts often running from April to March, she may announce soon that she will quit after her current four regular shows finish their run.

Japanese fans will be the first in the world to get a look at the latest in the Spiderman series. Stars Tobey Maguire (31, photo left) and James Franco (28, photo right) were in Tokyo yesterday as it was announced that the world premiere of “Spiderman 3” would be held at the Roppongi Hills cinema complex on April 16. The movie, again directed by Sam Raimi and originally scheduled for worldwide release on May 5, will now open in Japan first on May 1. Made on a budget of $300 million (¥36 billion), the latest in the series is also the most expensive. But the previous two movies have done very well in Japan, bringing in ¥14 billion between them.

• The drama is turning into a farce. Enka singer Mori Shinichi (59) is going out of his way to apologize to Kawauchi Kouhan (87), but each time he only succeeds in making the elderly songwriter madder than ever. Having previously being refused a meeting at Kawauchi’s hotel in Tokyo, Mori and his staff made the 1,200km journey from the capital to his home in Hachinohe but found no one at home (Kawauchi was seeing his doctor and slamming Mori to the media in Tokyo at the time). In the tradition of a visiting guest, he left a souvenir on the doorstep. Yesterday Kawauchi described Mori’s intrusion into his home as “ilegal entry”, said he had returned the souvenir to Mori’s office, and called his recent behavior a “cheap drama” and Mori himself a “liar”. He insists he has no intention of meeting with Mori or allowing him to perform any of his songs ever again. The drama began last month when Mori canceled a meeting with Kawauchi at the last minute. He was to apologize to Kawauchi for performing an altered version of his 1971 hit “O-Fukuro-san”, though he had already been doing so for almost 30 years.

• The master and the pupil were reunited under new circumstances. Recently elected Miyazaki Prefectural governor Higashikokubaru Hideo (49) was in Tokyo yesterday to receive a special award. Formerly a comedian under the name Sonomanma Higashi, he found himself in the awkward situation of having higher social status than his old mentor, Kitano “Beat” Takeshi (60), who presented him with the award. It was the first meeting for the two since the election, but the always acid-tongued Takeshi took no prisoners, emabrrassing the former Takeshi Gundan member time and again. Another recipient of an award from the master funny man was announcer Yamamoto Mona (35), who is with the same Office Kitano agency. He was the only one who covered for her last year after she was caught up in a scandal with a married politician.

Can one studio really hold these two egos? For the 1,000th edition of his “Sanma No Manma” talk show, comedian Akashiya Sanma (51) has chosen fellow comedy veteran Kitano “Beat” Takeshi (60) as his special guest. The show was recorded in Tokyo yesterday, with the pair sharing a bottle of ¥1.9-million Romanee Conti wine and reminiscing about old times. They both achieved huge fame and notoriety on the “Ore-tachi Hyokinzoku” show in the early 1980s, building on that success to become two of the biggest names in Japanese showbiz. While Takeshi has fitted work as an actor and movie director in between his frequent talk and variety show appearances, Sanma has stuck almost entirely to the variety circuit and remains Japan’s most high-voltage talk show host. One of his several regular shows, “Sanma No Manma” has been on the air for 22 years. For some reason the special will air in Tokyo on Fuji TV at the late hour of 2:05am on April 6, though in the Kansai area it will be on March 23 at 7pm.

• Actor Oda Yuji (39) is to team up with actress Iijima Naoko (39) for the first time in 11 years. The pair will co-star in the new TBS drama series “Jodan Ja Nai!”, set to run on Sunday nights starting April 15. The romantic comedy tells of 40-year-old Keita (Oda) who marries a 20-year-old woman (Ueno Juri) only to discover that her mother is an old flame (Otake Shinobu). Laid off from his job, Keita finds work at a family restaurant run by Iijima. The last time the two appeared together was in another popular TBS drama, “Mahiru no Tsuki” in 1996, in which Oda co-starred with Tokiwa Takako. A bit of trivia: Iijima is one of those rare people whose birthday falls on February 29.

• Nagabuchi Ayane (18), daughter of singer Nagabuchi Tsuyoshi (50) and former actress Shihomi Etsuko (51), is to make her showbiz debut. And she will hit the ground running, having landed the starring role in the new movie by director Sasabe Kiyoshi (49). The budding actress has studied ballet and Japanese dance and is said to be proficient in English.

The “Gorgeous Kano Sisters” drama has escalated. Though her elder sister Kyoko (44, photo center) earlier this month reported to police that she stole jewelery worth ¥400 million, a lawyer for Oyama Harue (photo left) stated yesterday that she took only what belonged to her when she moved out of her Tokyo home in January. She has also insisted that the items she took are worth far less than her elder sister claimed. On hearing that her sister had decided to file a criminal complaint and sue her for the return of the items, she replied that she would answer the case in court. It was widely speculated that the whole affair was simply a stunt by the never publicity-shy sisters to promote a new book by Kyoko, but it now looks like the matter will go to the courts. Such a court case would probably reveal to the public for the first time much of the financial dealings of the Kano Sisters, the funding of whose extravagant lifestyle has always been something of a mystery. Another mystery is the man in Harue’s life, described as a Belgian whose family is connected with the jewelery business, and whom she met in France two years ago. He is said to have been living off her in her Tokyo home, but she was hoping to marry him.

• Actor Takamatsu Hideo died of a heart attack at his home on Monday morning. He was 77. A popular character actor in many TV dramas such as “Judo Icchokusen”, which ran on TBS from 1969 to 1971, he was working right up until his death. He started working last Thursday on location in Ibaraki Prefecture for a new TV Tokyo drama. Complaining that he was feeling unwell, he returned to his Kanagawa prefecture home by express bus on Sunday night. His wife, former fashion model Yoko (71), awoke on Monday morning to find his body cold and lifeless. A TV Tokyo spokesman said the network has yet to decide whether to re-shoot or even continue making the drama.

Ah well, maybe next year. Japan failed to produce its first acting Oscar in 49 years last night as Kikuchi Rinko (26) lost out to Jennifer Hudson (25) for the best supporting actress award. The relatively unknown Kikuchi has had a dream ride with her new found fame and success in the movie “Babel” and remained pretty upbeat. “The awards are over now, so I’ve completely ‘graduated’ from Babel. The Oscars were really fun and a great experience. Through this movie I’ve learned so much and the world has opened up for me.” She’s already working on her next Hollywood project, co-starring with Rachel Weisz and Adrien Brody in “The Brothers Bloom”.

Meanwhile, Clint Eastwood’s gritty WWII film “Letters From Iwo Jima” was pipped for the best picture award by Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed”, the remake of Hong Kong flick “Infernal Affair”, which also won Scorsese the best director Oscar on his sixth nomination. Forest Whitaker and Helen Mirren won the best actor and actress awards, with Alan Arkin recognized as the best supporting actor.

Filmed entirely in Japanese with a Japanese cast, “Letters…” failed to become the first totally foreign-language movie to win best picture and of its four nominations it took only the award for best sound editing. But the movie’s star, and 2004 best supporting actor nominee, Watanabe Ken (47, shown with wife Minami Kaho) got his moment in the spotlight. Together with veteran French actress Catherine Deneuve, he presented a feature on the 50-year history of foreign films at the Oscars. He spoke in confident English that no doubt made him the envy of many a Nova student! Another Japanese who missed out this year was makeup artist Tsuji Kazuhiro (37), who was nominated for his work on the Adam Sandler movie “Click”.

• Guitarist Ohmura Tasshin (31) has quit the rock trio Kururi. The band will continue as a duo with Kishida Shigeru (30) on vocals and bassist Sato Masashi (30), who is also president of their record label “Noise McCartney Records”. Another former member of the band is drummer Christopher Mcguire (31), who was later briefly with Kid Dakota in the U.S.

• Actress Itaya Yuka (31) has married stylist Furuta Hirohiko (40). The two first met about 12 years ago, but started dating in 2005.

Veteran rakugoka Sanyuutei Enraku (74) left his audience in tears yet again in Tokyo yesterday. But while they are usually tears of laughter, yesterday his fans were filled with mixed emotions. The former host of popular NHK show “Shoten” was hospitalized with a brain hemorrhage in October 2005 and made his comeback to the stage a year later. He said that he would use yesterday’s performance to decide his future. It was standing room only at the National Engei Hall and some members of the audience could be seen wiping tears from their eyes during his 45-minute act. But Enraku announced after the show that he was bringing his 53-year career to an end, saying “It’s no good, no good at all. I’m going to retire as a storyteller.” He added that he would be embarrassed to ask people to pay money to see him when he can no longer perform at his best. He will most likely continue to make occasional appearances as a guest performer, and plans to continue as leader of the Enraku Ichimonkai school of rakugo. All but one of his apprentices are in their 50s and 60s and have become stars, and he has said he would like to continue until Ouraku (29) also reaches the top level. Enraku has been buy ventolin inhaler treatment for nine years and his poor health forced him to retire after 23 years as the host of Shoten last year. He had been a performer on the show since its start in 1966.

• Johnny’s Jimusho idol Takizawa Hideaki (24) fell on a staircase and fractured his nose last Friday. But the show must go on, so he and partner Imai Tsubasa (25) performed two scheduled concerts as Tackey & Tsubasa in Nagoya over the weekend. Takizawa missed Friday’s recording of the TBS show “Zubari Iuwayo!” and had to wear a face mask for the concerts. His injury is expected to take a month to heal.

Enka singer Mori Shinichi (59) has been trying to make up with composer Kawauchi Kouhan (86) but with no success. Kawauchi is furious with Mori for singing an altered version of his 1971 hit “O-fukuro-san” and has refused to let him perform any of his songs or to even meet with him. Mori and his staff tried to meet with Kawauchi without an appointment at his Tokyo hotel yesterday but were turned away. Mori left a letter and said he would return every day until Kawauchi agreed to meet him. Kawauchi checked out of the hotel last night. (See earlier stories for more details)

• The online music business continues to show solid growth in Japan. Last year’s revenues from music downloads totalled ¥53.4 billion, an increase of 56% over 2005. Of the total, about 90% was downloaded to mobile phones. This was the first time the total exceeded that of CD single sales, which were at ¥50.8 billion, and it is fast catching up on revenues from DVDs and other music video recordings, which were ¥56.8 billion. Excluding download sales, the total revenue from music-related software was &408.4 billion, continuing an 8-year slide from 1999’s high of ¥607.4 billion.

Madonna (48) has been chosen as the latest international celebrity to promote a new luxury apartment complex in Tokyo. In a sign that Tokyo’s property market is indeed on the up, the singer will appear in TV, web and newspaper advertising for a new 33-floor high rise in the Ariake bayside area. The TV commercials are directed by fashion designer and long-time Madonna collaborator Steve Klein. The Brillia Mare Ariake complex is being built by a trio of companies including Tokyo Kenbutsu, whose spokesman said Madonna suited the area’s “international image”. They won’t be revealing the amount paid to the Material Girl, but the advertising budget is thought to be about 3% of the development’s total sales value. There are 1,081 apartments in all, so assuming a conservative average price of ¥50 million, that adds up to more than ¥1.6 billion ($13.5 million) in advertising alone. Madonna is likely to get a decent chunk of that. But with the project not due for completion till March 2009 and Ariake being built on land reclaimed from Tokyo Bay, what happens if an earthquake wipes out the whole area in the meantime?

Tokyo Kenbutsu used French actor Jean Reno to help sell apartments in Kinshicho three years ago, while Orix Real Estate are currently using the star appeal of Leonardo DiCaprio (32) to sell their “Re-Tokyo Project”. As for local talent, Mitsui Fudosan have enlisted the enduring popular appeal of SMAP and actress Kuroki Hitomi, and Hollywood-based Watanabe Ken has been signed up by Nomura Fudosan to plug a development in the Tokyo sleeper town of Urayasu that goes on sale next month.

The “Gorgeous Kano Sisters” know that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. Yet they insisted yesterday that all the fuss about their missing “sister” is not a stunt. A third “sister” is said to have absconded with some ¥500-million worth of jewelry. Kyoko even reported the matter to police earlier this month. The “sister”, who worked as a manager for the other two celebrities, went missing earlier in the year along with the borrowed items. The media wanted to talk about nothing else at a PR event for the sisters’ latest book, “Love & Sex”. All the fuss certainly won’t hurt book sales, though Kyoko insisted that it would harm its image. Yeah, right. As younger “sister” Mika wept beside her, she also added that the stress had caused her to lose 5kg in two weeks. Could there be a diet book on the way, too?!

• Another TV network has had to fess up to a “netsuzou” scandal. TV Tokyo president Sugaya Sadahiko (68) apologized to viewers, sponsors and comedienne Yamada Hanako (31) for faking the content of one of its shows. Sugaya will take a 20% cut in salary for one month, while four executives were punished. The show, broadcast on January 6, featured Yamada on a yoga diet, and included what it said was blood samples showing how her circulation had improved, though it was actually a director’s blood that was shown. TV Tokyo, which was caught in a similar case in January 2005, has severed ties with Human View, the production company responsible for the show.

• In Tokyo yesterday promoting his latest movie was Hollywood star Nicholas Cage (43). With him was “Ghost Rider” director Mark Steven Johnson. At a press conference, Cage was joined on stage by talento Moto Fuyuki (55), who calls himself a Nicholas Cage lookalike. But standing next to one another, he had to admit the resemblance was non-existant.

• Guns ‘n’ Roses are following up last year’s summer festival appearance with a full Japan tour. Their first Japan tour in 14 years will kick off at the Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba Prefecture on April 14-15, followed by Nagoya’s Rainbow Hall on the 18 and two dates at Intex Osaka on April 21-22. After achieving mega-success in the late 1980s and early ’90s, the band broke up in 1993. Vocalist Axel Rose (45) put together a new lineup in 2001 and the Japan shows will be the first of a world tour in support of the upcoming album “Chinese Democracy”.

• Singer Suga Shikao (40) cancelled a radio appearance yesterday due to acute bronchitis. He was scheduled to appear on the local radio station FM Sendai, but has been advised to rest. he has a couple of concerts coming up at the end of the month in Tokyo to commemorate the tenth anniversary of his debut.

It seems that enka singer Mori Shinichi (59) has bitten the hand that feeds him. Songwriter Kawauchi Kouhan (86) is furious that Mori has been performing a version of his best-known hit, “O-Fukuro-san”, that is different from the one he wrote. The weird thing is that the hit dates back to 1971 and Mori recorded the new version, with a verse added at the beginning, as long ago as 1977. He held an emergency press conference before a televised NHK concert yesterday, and insisted that nothing had ever been said about the matter and that he left such things in the hands of his staff. Kawauchi retorted that he has been protesting about it for six or seven years. After watching a video of Mori performing on last New Year Eve’s “Kohaku Uta Gassen”, he insisted on a meeting with the singer and his staff last weekend. Mori cancelled at the last minute saying he had a cold. This was the last straw for Kawauchi, who insists he will never meet Mori again or allow him to perform any of the more than 30 songs he wrote for him. He has even made this formal with JASRAC, the organization that protects artist copyright, and says he is prepared to take legal action if Mori performs his songs. The singer had planned to perform “O-Fukuro-san” yesterday, but made a last-minute switch. The song, whose title means “Mother”, is dedicated to Mori’s own mother, who commited suicide in 1973. The added verse is an apology for being a bad son and a futile request to be scolded one more time. A bad start to the year for one of enka’s top stars, who also had a rough time in 2006 when he had a messy split with Masako, his wife of almost 20 years.

• Singer-songwriter Onitsuka Chihiro (26) is coming back after an absence of more than two years. She plans to release a new single at the beginning of summer, to be followed up by her first original album with Universal Music. Her 11th single, and to date her only release with the label, was in October 2004. She has been on hiatus since failing to renew her management contract with Sony Music Artists the following January. She was the victim of a stalker in July of 2005. It wasn’t until a magazine article in September 2006 that she gave any indication that she was still writing songs. Her latest recording is being produced by the renowned Kobayashi Takeshi (47), best known for his work with Mr. Children and married to My Little Lover vocalist Akko.