Up and coming actress Maki Yoko (26) announced yesterday that she got married last week. Her husband is described simply as 26 years old and not in show business. The two tied the knot on November 11, an auspicious “taian” day on the traditional calendar. Maki also revealed that she’s pregnant and expecting the baby in the early summer of next year. She said she plans to continue working as long as her condition allows and resume her career after the baby is born. Considered a very versatile actress, she was inspired to take up the craft after watching the Adachi Yumi vehicle “Rex” as an elementary school student. She started acting on the stage in 1999 and made her big screen debut in “Drug” (2001). She had supporting roles in such hits as “Battle Royale II” (2003), “Pacchigi!” (2005), “Juon” (2005), and “The Fast and the Furious 3 – Tokyo Drift” (2006), before making her breakthrough in last year’s Fuji TV drama “SP.” A movie version of the drama is scheduled for release next year. Despite Maki’s impressive resume, media reports never fail to mention her 92cm chest and she has never been shy about showing it.
• Talento and former Morning Musume member Kago Ai (20) revealed on her blog at the weekend that she is suffering from Meniere’s disease. The condition is an inner ear disorder that can affect both hearing and balance, and can cause vertigo and hearing loss.
• Actress Shingyoji Kimie (49) attended a PR event yesterday for the publication of her new memoir, “Mezame” (Wake Up). No doubt she hopes sales of the book will help her troubled financial situation. She married musician Oguchi Hiroshi (57) in 1993, but his failed business led to divorce in 2005 and Shingyoji filed for bankruptcy in 2006. “I used to think I was the most unfortunate person in the world,” she said. “But writing this book has helped me wake up and start a new life.”
• Johnny’s Jimusho idol group Arashi finished their Asia concert tour with two shows in Shanghai over the weekend. It was the first show by a Johnny’s group in China, where their CDs are not on sale. But thanks to the Internet (and more than 1,000 visiting Japanese fans) the two 11,000-seat shows were sold out. The tour, which marks the group’s 10th anniversary, also took in Tokyo, Taipei and Seoul.
Popular actor Toyokawa Etsushi (46, 
An emaciated and exhausted looking Keiko (36) attended a memorial service for her late father in her hometown of Usuki City yesterday. It was the singer’s first public appearance since the arrest of her husband, music producer Komuro Tetsuya (49), on charges of copyright fraud. She bowed repeatedly in apology to reporters but refused to make any public statement. She and family members attended the Buddhist memorial service to mark the first anniversary of her father’s death, after which the media pursued them from the temple to their home. Keiko’s management agency made a point of releasing a statement yesterday, insisting that the couple had neither divorced nor considered doing so, an attempt to finally squash rumors that have circulated since the arrest.
A former member of the vocal group Toshi Itou and Happy & Blue held a press conference yesterday to announce that he had undergone a sex change operation. Takeshita Kousuke (36) worked as a host for about a year before joining the group from 1995 to 2004, and the event was held at a popular host club in the Kabukicho entertainment district of Tokyo. Since quitting the group, Takeshita lost touch with the other members as he underwent surgery and ongoing hormone treatment, and only contacted group leader Toshi (68) at the end of October. Toshi said he had been surprised by the news but insisted that he would helping Takeshita launch a solo singing career next year with the stage name Katharine. Last year, singer Nakamura Ataru (23) became the first artist with gender identity disorder to perform on NHK’s annual “Kohaku Uta Gassen.” With reportedly Toshi still heavily in debt (in the late 90s his debts were around ¥1.3 billion), he would no doubt welcome a chance to make a comeback with his group. Their biggest hits were in the mid to late 1970s.
Japan lost a couple of stars from a bygone age in the last few days. Dave Hirao, vocalist of the group The Golden Cups, died yesterday of esophageal cancer. He was 63. The Golden Cups were one of the biggest acts of the “group sounds” scene of the late 1960s. They are best known for such hits as “Nagai Kami no Shojo” and “Aisuru Kimi Ni.” They were heavily influenced by western music and most band members took on western names, though only guitarist Kenneth Ito had any foreign blood. Keyboard player Mickey Yoshino went on to form the hugely successful Godiego. The band reformed for an NHK special and some concerts in 2004.
Congratulations to the Seibu Lions, who clinched the Japan Series for the first time in four years last night against the Yomiuri Giants. The win completed a comeback from 3-2 down in the series and came at the Giants home ground of Tokyo Dome. After the game, the team gave the traditional “do-age” to portly manager Watanabe Hisanobu, though they clearly had less trouble with young pitcher Kishi Takayuki (photo), who won two games and was chosen as series MVP. Among the celebrity Lions fans joining the celebrations were actress Yoshinaga Sayuri (63), who attended game 3 of the series, and singer Matsuzaki Shigeru (58), who sang the team’s theme song for this season.
One of the most famous and popular faces of Japanese journalism has passed away. Chikushi Tetsuya died today of lung cancer at a Tokyo hospital. He was 73. His battle with cancer became a very public affair in May 2007 when he revealed that he was stepping down after almost 20 years as the main presenter of the “News23” TBS late night news show. He made occasional appearances on the show when there were major news developments, but he looked gaunt and wore a wig in place of his once flamboyant hairstyle. A native of Oita Prefecture, he attended high school in Tokyo and graduated from the prestigious Waseda University, where he would later become a guest professor. He became a journalist for the Asahi Shimbun newspaper in 1959 before becoming editor of the Asahi Journal magazine in 1984. He started his own long-running news show on TBS in 1989.
Enka singer Mori Shinichi may yet be able to sing “Ofukuro-san” once again. The song was his signature tune for many years, but a dispute with the man who penned it changed all that last year. Kawauchi Kouhan severely criticized Mori for making changes to the lyrics of the song without his permission. And when Mori reacted as if it was no big deal, the aging Kawauchi had a fit and insisted that Mori would never sing any of his tunes again, asking the JASRAC copyright association to make it legal. Once he realized the corner he was in, Mori tried repeatedly to apologize to Kawauchi, but the writer refused all approaches right up until his death in April. Some seven months later, it seems the dust may have settled. Mori is to give a press conference today, and he is expected to announce that he has persuaded Kawauchi’s family to allow him to sing the song once more. There are still those who insist the old man’s wishes be respected, but it now seems likely that Mori and NHK will milk the situation with his performance at the “Kohaku Uta Gassen” on New Year’s Eve. At least he should stick with the version originally penned by Kawauchi.
More details continue to emerge following the arrest of music producer Komuro Tetsuya (49) yesterday by the special investigation department of Osaka District Court. It seems that Komuro tried repeatedly to sell the copyrights to more than 800 songs and was looking for ¥1.8 billion. He was turned down by several potential buyers, including a major advertising firm, before agreeing to a deal for ¥1 billion with an individual investor. Having already handed over half the money, the investor realized it was a scam as Komuro had already transferred the rights to the Avex Entertainment record label. It was revealed yesterday that Komuro had used ¥300 million of the money to repay loan sharks. The investor won a ¥600-million court settlement against Komuro, whose failure to pay up ultimately led to his arrest. Also arrested were Kimura Takashi (56) and Hirane Akihiko (45), both executives from Komuro’s company Tribal Kicks. The company sponsors the Oita Trinita J-League soccer team, but has had trouble paying its annual ¥70 million sponsorship money since 2005. And it was revealed that Komuro and his wife, Globe vocalist Keiko (36), have been living separately for the last several months. She had increasingly been spending time at her family home in Oita Prefecture. Her mother runs the upscale Ryotei Yamadaya restaurant in Usuki city, while her sister is the owner of the Usuki Fugu Yamadaya restaurant in Tokyo.
It seems that one of the wealthiest people in the Japanese pop industry just got too greedy. Producer and musician Komuro Tetsuya (49,