Yearly Archives: 2011

Celebrities big and small turned out at shrines and other venues across the country to throw beans. The “mamemaki” (bean throwing) ceremony is the central part of the annual Setsubun festival that marks the spring equinox in the traditional Japanese calendar. One of the common traditions is to throw dried soybeans at “oni” or demons to drive out bad fortune (“oni wa soto!”) and invite in good luck for the year ahead (“fuku wa uchi!”). Though it isn’t a national holiday, big crowds turn out every year to see celebrities perform the mamemaki ceremony.

Among yesterday’s events were: actress Ueno Juri (24) and Chiba Prefectural governor Morita Kensaku were at the Narita-san Shinshoji temple, east of Tokyo. Ueno is the star of this year’s taiga historical drama series on NHK; enka veteran Kitajima Saburo (74, photo center, profile) and members of the “Kitajima Family” were at the on Takao-san Yakuoin temple in the western suburbs of Tokyo. Kitajima, who is celebrating 50 years in showbiz, also performed his new single; and kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjuro (64) was at the Misonoza theater in Nagoya, where he will start his final series of appearances from tomorrow. He no doubt wants to put memories of last year behind him, with his health problems and his son, kabuki star Ichikawa Ebizo, caught up in an assault case scandal.

Members of the rock band Kuroyume recorded an NHK radio show yesterday in which they apologized to fans disappointed by their all-too-brief comeback concert last weekend. Vocalist Kiyoharu (42, left) and bassist Hitoki (38, right) spoke about the January 29 “secret live” show in Shinjuku, which was called off before the band had even finished one chorus of their first song. The band’s first show since their “last concert” in 2009 attracted a crowd of 5,000 people and the anger of Tokyo metropolitan police. The band had planned to perform seven songs but were pulled off stage after about a minute. “We didn’t get to explain to the fans so we want to do that over the radio,” said Kiyoharu. The NHK show will be broadcast on February 8 and Kuroyume are scheduled to perform the “XXXX The Fake Star” show at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium on February 26.

February 9 marks the 20th anniversary of Kuroyume’s debut in 1991, and the band will release “Misery,” their first single in 13 years. Other than last year’s revival show, the band have been on an extended break since 1999. Kiyoharu did four years (1999-2003) as the vocalist of the band SADS, putting out a handful of albums.

The numerical date of February 2nd can be referred to as “fu-fu” in Japanese, which also means a married couple. And as yesterday was an auspicious “taian” day on the traditional Japanese calendar, it was a particularly good day to get married. But still, management for actor Hosokawa Shigeki (39, photo left) and former Shape Up Girl Mise Mamiko (41, photo center) took the media totally by surprise when they announced that the pair had tied the knot yesterday. They registered their marriage at a Tokyo municipal office and Mise announced the news yesterday evening on her blog.

The two are said to have been friends for about 15 years and met when Hosokawa was working mainly as a model. His break as an actor came in 2005 when he landed the starring role as the “Kamen Rider Hibiki” action hero. In addition to his acting, Hosokawa is known for his interest in home appliances, and his new bride is said to share that hobby. Romance blossomed between them about a year ago and Hosokawa proposed last autumn. The Shape Up Girls were a group of four shapely pin-up models who worked the variety show circuit, usually wearing bikinis, in the mid-1990s.

Also getting hitched yesterday was talento Horikoshi Nori (photo right), for whom the occasion was even more auspicious as it was her 29th birthday. She met with reporters at the offices of her Hori Pro management agency and showed them a hand-drawn caricature of her 41-year-old husband, an esthetic dentist. The couple plan to hold a wedding ceremony in the summer. Horikoshi is perhaps best known for her terrible cooking on the show “Ai no Apron” a few years ago.

Southern All Stars vocalist Kuwata Keisuke (54, profile) delighted fans with a surprise live performance yesterday. The hugely popular singer, who spent much of last year battling esophageal cancer, appeared at an event for 800 fans at the Zepp Fukuoka live house to promote his upcoming album “Musicman.” The audience had been expecting just a “shichokai” (listening party), a sneak preview of the new album, but as the intro played to the single “Ashita Harerukana” a spotlight revealed Kuwata walking on stage. He went on to do a powerful 30-minute set that convinced the audience that he has made a full recovery. Though he performed by satellite on the NHK “Kohaku Uta Gassen” concert on New Year’s Eve, this was his first time to sing in front of fans since he made a guest appearance at a solo show by his wife, Hara Yuko (54), last July.

In addition to the live performance, fans got to hear the the whole 70-minute, 17-track album. They also got the first look at videos for the songs “Soreike Baby!” and “Gekko no Seijatachi (Mister Moonlight).” Promoters Amuse said that there would be a total of seven similar events across the country, but refused to say whether Kuwata would be appearing again. “Musicman” is his first solo album in nine years and is sure to be one of the year’s biggest hits. It was originally scheduled for an October 2010 release, but now goes on sale February 23.

Talking about his hospitalization and surgery last year, Kuwata told fans, “Your origami cranes and lucky talismans gave me a real boost. I’m here today thanks to your prayers and warm words of support. Thank you so much!”

Korean pop artists continue to do well on the Japanese charts. The hugely popular Tohoshinki (known overseas as TVXQ) was reduced from five members to just two (Yoon Ho, 24 and Chan Min, 22) during a troubled year in 2010, but the duo have seen their “debut” single shoot straight to the top of the Oricon weekly chart. “Why? (Keep Your Head Down)” sold more than 230,000 copies in its first week, making it the second best release week for a foreign artist. The only single to have done better was “Break Out,” released in early January 2010 by the original Tohoshinki lineup. The group now has a total of nine No.1’s, also a record for a foreign artist.

The single release was timed to coincide with two concerts by several acts from the SM Entertainment stable of K-pop artists in Tokyo last week. For local fans, the “SMTown Live” shows were the first chance to see their Korean idols in just over a year. But Tohoshinki will be back soon, appearing at the Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba Prefecture on February 8 to promote their new single.

Meanwhile, at No.2 on the Oricon singles chart is AKB48 member Sakano Yuri (19), whose solo debut “Dear J” has sold 163,000 copies. On top of the album charts is “Supergood, Superbad,” the solo debut from NEWS member Yamashita Tomohisa (25). The Johnny’s Jimusho aidoru has been building a solo career overseas and last weekend launched his first tour of Asia with two shows in Hong Kong.

Japanese-Korean Ikemen Collaboration

Yesterday saw the launch of a new collaboration between young Japanese singer-actors and a Korean dance-vocal unit. D★Date is a pop offshoot of the D-Boys group of Japanese “ikemen” (handsome) actors, while Choshinsei is a six-member K-pop boy band also known by their translated name of Supernova. The two groups will face off at a special live performance at Universal Studios Japan on March 21 and recording projects are in the works. Media reports say the groups just “hit it off” when they met by chance at a Tokyo record company last month, but there’s little doubt that the collaboration is manufactured. D★Date debuted in December, with the single “Ato 3cm no Mirai” entering the Oricon chart at No.7, and are scheduled to release a follow up single in the spring. Member Seto Koji (22) is currently appearing in this year’s NHK taiga historical drama series “Go.”

Kara Coming to Tokyo This Week
Another K-pop act that have grabbed a lot of headlines recently, though for mixed reasons, are coming back to Japan. The five-member female unit Kara are said to be arriving in Tokyo on February 3 and will be in town for about a week to film the TV Tokyo drama “Urakara.” The group only recently announced that they would be getting back to work with the original lineup, after contractual disputes had them on the verge of breaking up at the end of last year, so filming of the mini-series has been considerably delayed. The episode scheduled to be aired on February 4 will be replaced by a digest of the first three episodes.

Actor Kawamura Yosuke (27) announced on his blog yesterday that he got married at the weekend. He and a former middle school classmate (26) tied the knot on Saturday, and she is expecting a baby in June. The couple, who were reunited at a school reunion, are already living together in Tokyo but have set no date for a wedding ceremony or reception. They chose Saturday to register their marriage as it was the fifth anniversary of the death from cancer of Kawamura’s mother.

Kawamura has been a professional actor since 2001 but got his big breakthrough in 2008 in the hugely popular TBS baseball drama series “Rookies.” A movie adaptation of the series was a major hit the following year. Kawamura has landed roles in two drama series this year: Fuji TV’s “Tokyo Control,” hyped as the world’s first 3D TV drama, started last week; and “Nankyoku Tairiku,” on the TBS network and starring Kimura Takuya (38), will air in the autumn.

Erika-sama Firm on Divorce
Actress Sawajiri Erika (24) was mobbed by reporters at Narita Airport yesterday on her return from what was described as a brief vacation in Malaysia. Quizzed about her ongoing divorce negotiations with “hypermedia creator” Takashiro Tsuyoshi (46) she said, “The documents are in safe keeping in Spain. We have to wait until a certain date, and then I will file them.” The couple spent much of their brief married life in Spain after tying the knot in Japan in January 2009. Sawajiri was accompanied on her latest trip by Takano Yuri (63), owner of a nationwide chain of beauty clinics, who has been her most visible supporter and professional sponsor over the last year.

New York/Tokyo based production company TK Digital today launches Japan Flix, a new digital distribution venture that makes never-before-released Japanese films available for the first time in the United States. “There are so many great films made each year in Japan, that never get a chance to find an audience abroad. Our goal is to provide a new platform to introduce these films to an audience who otherwise would not have access to them,” says Takayama Teru, founder and president of TK Digital/Japan Flix.

Partnering with various Japanese distribution companies, Japan Flix offers a highly convenient distribution method for these otherwise hidden gems, as each of their releases will be available to download through the iTunes Store (in HD when available.) Online, viewers can browse an easy-to-navigate catalog that includes information and trailers for each film, and from there select a film to view. There are links to the iTunes store, where you can choose to either purchase or rent the film. Japan Flix has launched with an initial wave of titles, which includes the hit horror film “Teke Teke,” which stars AKB48’s Oshima Yuko, and the latest installment of the horrific and popular Tomie franchise, “Tomie vs. Tomie” (photo). There will be subsequent new releases every month in a wide range of genres – drama, horror, action, romance comedy, cult, yakuza, and more.

Japan Flix website

X Japan drummer and band leader Yoshiki announced yesterday the the rock group are releasing the single “Jade” in the U.S. on March 15. The track will be their “single debut” in North America, following their long-awaited first concert tour there last year, and the first release based on the 3-year contract they signed with EMI last November. The band are said to be in negotiations for the single to be concurrently released throughout Asia and Europe. It is their first single since “The Last Song” in 1998, a title that for almost a decade seemed to be sadly appropriate.

“Jade” is a rock number that pays tribute to the band’s late guitarist Hide, and was recorded with the help of arranger David Campbell (62). He has worked on over 450 gold and platinum albums, including releases by Michael Jackson, Metallica and his son, Beck. The jacket for the CD single is to be shot in Japan today, but will not feature the band members. The promo video will come in two versions and feature live footage shot at shows in the U.S. last year.

The approach of debuting in the U.S. with the release of a single rather than an album is not common, and (with the typical pomp reserved here for X Japan) is being compared with how the Beatles first entered the U.S. music scene in January 1964. There are plans to release two more singles (“IV” and “Born Free”) before putting out an album in the summer. Yoshiki said he has a lot of confidence in the album, which is about 50/50 new and old songs.

Revenue figures released this week show that the movie industry had a record year in 2010. The annual report from the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan, commonly known by the Japanese abbreviation of Eiren, said that the box office total for the year was ¥220.7 billion, up 7.1% from 2009. Thanks largely to the increased revenue and publicity generated by such 3D hits as “Avatar,” the total was the highest ever, beating the previous record of ¥210.9 billion in 2004. The total number of moviegoers was 174 million, the highest figure since 1975.

Though the number of domestic movies was down by almost 10% from 2009, local productions had another strong year, grossing more than imports for the third year running. But it was the Hollywood 3D blockbusters and their higher ticket prices that had the highest individual box office traction, with “Avatar” grossing ¥15.6 billion, “Alice in Wonderland” at ¥11.8 billion, and “Toy Story 3” with ¥10.8 billion. The biggest homegrown box office success was, once again, a Studio Ghibli anime feature. “Karigurashi no Arrietty” (The Borrower Arrietty) grossed ¥9.25 billion.

Johnny’s Jimusho aidoru group Arashi already hold plenty of music-related records, but now they reckon they deserve to be in the Guinness Book. The five-member group have filmed a total of 60 versions of their new TV commercial for the new “Android au” smartphone from the KDDI mobile network. Their management have applied to be included in the Guinness Book of World Records under three different categories: the most versions of a TV commercial shown on terrestrial channels within a 24-hour period; the most shown on a paid channel in an 8-hour period; and the most shown during a single 30-minute TV show.

Noripi’s Ex Questioned by Police
Takaso Yuichi (42), the ex-husband of former aidoru star Sakai Noriko (39) was recently questioned by police after being reportedly drunk and sleeping rough, according to the Sports Hochi newspaper. Quoting a statement from Tokyo police, they say a drunk man was reportedly seen sleeping on the street in the entertainment district late on Tuesday night. When they realized it was Takaso, who along with his ex-wife was arrested and tried last year on drug charges, they checked his belongings and gave him a urine test. The test was negative and he was allowed to go home the same day.