Yamamoto Mona (30) admits she was a “jackass”! The newscaster, forced to quit the TBS show “News23” in October following revelations of an affair with a married politician, continues to submit herself to humiliation as an act of repentance. She made her first public appearance yesterday since the scandal, taking on the role of “Jackass Japan Section Chief” in a PR event for the movie “jackass number two”. Directed by Jeff Tremain and again starring Johnny Knoxville and Bam Margera, the sequel continues to exploit the success of MTV’s show based on crazy, dangerous and irresponsible behavior. In an effort to restart her career, Yamamoto is going along with the spin that her own lifestyle was similarly reckless. Her only TV appearance after leaving News23 was on Beat Takeshi‘s Ultra Quiz revival at the end of the year, on which she was the constant butt of jokes. “jackass…” opens on January 13.
• DJ Ozma is enjoying the benefit of his recent Kohaku scandal. The singer caused an uproar on the New Year’s Eve song contest when he and his dancers appeared wearing costumes that, at a glance, made them seem naked. Hundreds of complaints flooded into NHK, who issued an apology. But the flamboyant Ozma has been totally unapologetic and his single “Age Age Every Kishi” has shot up the Oricon chart. It jumped from 107 to 42, the largest ever rise credited to the “Kohaku effect”. Meanwhile, at No.1 on the singles chart is Mr. Children’s “Shirushi”. And on top of the album chart is Koda Kumi with “Black Cherry”.
• Japan’s ace pitcher threw his last baseball in public before he heads off to join the Boston Red Sox this week. Matsuzaka Daisuke (26) took part as a guest in an exhibition game between amateur teams on Sunday. Though his new MLB contract forbids him from playing elsewhere, he threw a ceremonial opening pitch to Ibaragi Golden Goals owner, comedian Hagimoto Kinichi. Matsuzaka wore a No.1 shirt for the Yokohama Samurai, who are based in his hometown. He was also roped in to throwing a closing pitch, this time to another special guest, veteran actor Watari Tetsuya. He leaves for the U.S. on Thursday. It’s surely no coincidence that the date – 1/11 – is similar to the amount the Sox paid to negotiate with him – $51,111,111.11!
• Traditional dancer Hanayagi Juraku died from emphysema on Sunday at a Tokyo hospital. He was 88. Designated as a Living National Treasure in 1991, he was a leading figure in kabuki buyo who also choreographed dance performances abroad and by the Takarazuka theatrical troupe.
Perhaps the biggest showbiz story over the New Year came from NHK’s continuing struggle to revive its annual Kohaku Uta Gassen show on December 31. For several years, the show has seen its once-dominant audience ratings drop lower and lower despite ever-increasing appeals to younger TV viewers. Things were no better this year, with a live apology, the second-worst ever ratings, and tragedy striking the crew. The network was inundated with complaints about a naked DJ Ozma and his topless dancers – in fact, the singer was wearing a semi-realistic looking appendage and the girls were wearing costumes that made them look naked. But the fuss caused NHK to make an apology on air. The network later said they had not anticipated the incident as the performers had used different costumes in rehearsals, though it was the same performance Ozma had used during his recent nationwide tour. He and his dancers performed the same routine later that night on TBS, with no fuss. Meanwhile, tragedy struck earlier in the day, when a member of the NHK crew collapsed during final rehearsals. The 56-year old man had been filling the role of Olympic gold medalist Arakawa Shizuka during rehearsals when he collapsed. He died in hospital on New Year’s Day.