Category Archives: Entertainment News

International marriages are on the increase in Japan, and that has to be a good thing for such an insular country. But yesterday saw the all-too-sudden end of one such high profile marriage, as J-pop diva Hamasaki Ayumi (33) announced to her fans that she and her Austrian husband are getting divorced today. Ayu posted a message to her online fan club shortly before midnight last night, saying that she and Los Angeles-based actor Manuel Schwarz (31) were calling it quits after being married for a little over a year. A lawyer for the singer is to file the divorce papers in Las Vegas today. Sources say there will be no alimony payments or divorce settlement.

One of the reasons given for the divorce in the Japanese media is that Hamasaki, who initially agreed that the couple should live in the US, has felt a strong desire to stay in Japan in the aftermath of last March’s earthquake and tsunami disaster. Her fund-raising efforts, such as the sale of specially designed t-shirts, have raised tens of millions of yen for disaster relief. Hamasaki spent a week in Hawaii earlier this month, with no sign of her husband, and is said to be currently working overseas.

Last year was something of a roller coaster ride for Hamasaki. She wore a white wedding dress for her appearance on NHK’s “Kohaku Uta Gassen” on New Year’s Eve, 2010, where she sang “Virgin Road,” the Japanese expression for walking up the aisle. The very next day she flew to Las Vegas to get hitched in a small wedding chapel. In September she was forced to drop out at the last minute from a planned appearance in the 25th anniversary special of TV Asahi’s “Music Station” when she suffered a bout of acute pharyngitis in the US.

Ever the professional, Hamasaki has tried to put a brave face on things for her fans. On January 14, she posted a hint of what was to come on Twitter, saying “B thankful 4 the bad things in life. 4 they open my eyes 2 the good things I wasn’t paying attention before;)” and later “Tabidachi no junbi dayo. I’m on my way to future.” Two days later it was her husband’s turn as he re-posted a tweet from guitarist Slash, a famous quote from legendary British prime minister Winston Churchill, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

It’s been a fairly quiet start to the year in the Japanese entertainment world. On the scandal front, up-and-coming presenter Miyane Seiji (48) revealed just over a week ago that he has a 4-year-old child born outside of his marriage. His Japanese Wikipedia page now lists his family as one daughter, one lover, one “kakushigo,” the term used to describe a child hidden or kept secret. Meanwhile, moves seem to be afoot to restart the showbiz career of the more thoroughly disgraced master emcee Shimada Shinsuke (55). Yoshimoto Kogyo management agency CEO Ohsaki Hiroshi (58) has publicly expressed his desire to see one of Japanese TV’s biggest stars back at work after his career was derailed last year following the exposure of his yakuza connections. Soon afterwards it was revealed that his voice will appear in the upcoming debut movie by Yoshimoto comedian Nagahara Seiki (47), who himself appeared in Shimada’s 1991 movie directorial debut, “Kaze, Slowdown.” Coming just four months after Shimada’s very public early retirement last August, such a speedy return is only possible for someone of his earning status and connections within the industry. But it also undermines the police’s concerted efforts to rid showbiz of its ties to organized crime.

Though the new year saw the loss of a few from the older generation of stars, some showbiz couples have welcomed new additions to their families. One of the most recent additions is the baby girl born at the end of last week to comedian Date Mikio (37) and freelance announcer Kumagai Maiko (41). Date blogged that work had kept him away from the delivery, and also revealed that Kumagai had suffered a miscarriage about a year ago. The couple married last September. Date is one half of the manzai duo Sandwichman, and his comedy partner Tomizawa Takeshi (37) also became a father last April.

Recently married is comedian, Inomoto Takafumi (33) of the manzai duo License. The Yoshimoto management agency announced yesterday that he and his ippanjingirlfriend of 10 years registered their marriage at a Tokyo municipal office on Saturday. Inomoto has ranked 4th for the last several years running in a Yoshimoto poll of its most handsome stars, while his still single comedy partner Fujiwara Kazuhiro (34) ranked No.1 for the last three years.

Another veteran Japanese movie star has been lost to cancer. Nitani Hideaki died at the Keio University Hospital in Tokyo on January 7 of lung cancer. He was 81. His funeral will be held on Wednesday at the Zojoji temple in Tokyo and presided over by his widow, actress Shirakawa Yumi. Perhaps most widely remembered as the star of the classic TV Asahi detective show “Tokusou Sazensen,” which aired from 1977 till the mid-80s, Nitani was already a major star before that show, appearing in many action movies from the Nikkatsu studio. He could probably be ranked as the studio’s third star of the 60s behind Ishihara Yujiro and Kobayashi Akira. He left Nikkatsu in 1971 and thereafter worked mainly on TV, usually typecast as the laid-back, middle-aged male character. He also served as an executive director of the Japan Actors Union and was involved in an NPO establishing schools in Cambodia. His daughter, former actress Nitani Yurie, is CEO of the Try Group company.

New Showbiz Arrival
Happier news of the childbirth front, with two stars having a New Year baby. Management for actress Koyuki (35) and actor Matsuyama Kenichi (26) announced yesterday that the couple became parents of a baby boy on January 5. Yesterday also saw the start of NHK’s latest yearlong taiga (historical drama) series, with MatsuKen in the title role of Taira no Kiyomori, a general of the late Heian period. The couple (photo left) married in April of last year and Koyuki announced her pregnancy in September around the time she was promoting her latest movie, “Tantei wa Bar ni Iru.” She plans to continue her career after a few months of maternity leave.

MisuChiru to Release Hits Collection
Mister Children (photo right), one of Japan’s most popular rock bands, announced yesterday that they will release two albums of hits to commemorate the 20th anniversary of their 1992 debut. Track details have not been announced but will no doubt include such hits as “Sign” (2004) and “Shirushi” (2006). The band will release “Mr Children 2001-2005 (Micro)” and “Mr Children 2006-1010 (Macro)” on May 10 and will support the albums with a major nationwide concert tour. MisuChiru, as they are popularly known, have not released a single since 2008’s “Hanabi.” They released a pair of hits albums in 2001 to mark their first decade, and they saw sales of over 5 million copies.

Sad news over the Christmas weekend as the Japanese showbiz world lost several of its veteran actors. Irigawa Yasunori (photo left) died of rectal cancer at a Kanagawa Prefecture hospital. He was 72. Given just months to live when the cancer was discovered during surgery in August 2010, he held a press conference in March of this year to announce his refusal to undergo treatment that might have extended his life. He continued to work and had hoped to survive long enough to see the screening of his final movie “Bitter Coffee Life,” which is due for release next May. The movie tells the tale of a terminally ill cafe manager and his interactions with his customers. Three times married and divorced, Irigawa is survived by five children and five grandchildren.

The world of kabuki theater lost two of its established actors of the postwar era. Iwai Hanshiro (photo right) died of multiple organ failure at a Tokyo hospital in the early morning of December 25. He was 84. Just hours later kabuki actor Kataoka Roen VI died of a heart attack at a Shinjuku hospital. He was 85.

Real name Nishina Tadayoshi, Iwai was born the eldest son of a nihon buyo (traditional dance) family and made his stage debut in 1935. He went on to establish himself in a wide variety of famous kabuki roles. He also had an active career on the big screen, including an appearance in Kurosawa Akira’s “The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail” (1945). He battled health problems since 1997 when he made his final stage appearance. He is survived by three daughters, all of whom are in show business. The most famous is Nishina Akiko (58), whose 1979 marriage to actor Matsukata Hiroki (69) was famously opposed by her father.

Part of a kabuki family that extends back to the mid-17th century, Kataoka made his stage debut in 1934 and took the name Roen in 1959. His father, actor Kataoka Nizaemon XII (1882-46), his mother, brother and two maids were murdered by a live-in pupil with an axe in 1946.

We here at Japan Zone would like to wish all our readers a very Merry Christmas! We are having a rare white Christmas here in Nagoya. The snow started falling in the afternoon and by this morning (it’s now St. Stephen’s Day or Boxing Day) there was a blanket of snow across the city. Japanese workers still have a few days till their New Year’s break, and as December 31 is a Saturday it’ll be a fairly short break for most people this year.

Japan has always been a country that makes the traditions of other countries somehow its own. You see Santas everywhere although Christmas is celebrated in an almost totally secular way. And while China is seen by many as Japan’s greatest rival, if not an enemy, the Japanese will soon be celebrating an essentially Chinese tradition as we enter the Year of the Dragon. Personally I’m looking forward to 2012 because I’ll be a “toshi otoko”, having been born in the animal sign of the coming year. And it means I’ve made it through one more 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac.

Last night’s final episode of the NTV drama series “Kaseifu no Mita” proved that the right star can still pull in a huge audience. It got a phenomenal average audience rating of 40% in the Kanto region and was well over 30% across the country, according to the Video Research company. The rating peaked at 42.8% in and around Tokyo. It is the highest rating for a TV drama in more than a decade and the best since the TBS series “Beautiful Life,” which starred perennial heartthrob Kimura Takuya, scored 41.3% in March 2000. And it handily beat the 37.6% scored by “Good Luck,” another KimuTaku vehicle that aired on TBS in 2003.

The secret to the show’s success was the lead role of Mita, a housekeeper who is completely devoid of emotion, played by popular actress Matsushima Nanako (38, profile). She helps a devastated family rebuild after the husband’s affair leads his wife to suicide. While some TV viewers were mystified by the character’s expressionless performance, it clearly touched a nerve with the general public. It also continues to pay off for Matsushima, who has landed the lead in Fuji TV’s spring season offering, “Lucky Seven.” It’s her first primetime Monday 9pm drama lead role since Fuji’s “Yamato Nadeshiko” in 2000. Since then she lost much her popularity to actresses of her generation, such as Shinohara Ryoko (38), and maintained a somewhat diluted career as she married actor Sorimachi Takashi (38) and gave birth to two children. As her husband’s career hasn’t been too stellar of late – his most recent drama had a rating of only 9% – he is said to now be the “kaseifu” or housekeeper of the family.

One of Japanese TV’s longest running shows came to a close last night. Old school to the bitter end, the “Mito Komon” jidai-geki ran on the TBS network since August 1969. The last episode, an extended special that featured many past regulars, drew an audience rating of 13.9% in and around Tokyo and over 17% in Nagoya. Not stellar figures but respectable enough for a show that had long lost its appeal for the younger demographic.

The show told the fictional traveling tales of the historical daimyo (regional lord) Tokugawa Mitsukuni (1628-1701), with five actors playing the lead role over the years. The original and best remembered was Tohno Eijiro (1907-94), who played the role for 13 years. Satomi Kotaro (75) was the last, having played a different supporting role in the series some years next to Tohno. The show always built to a climax, when the unarmed main characters would be engaged in a swordfight with the villains. One of Mito Komon’s sidekicks would wield his master’s inro (a case bearing his family crest) and shout the famous catchphrase, “Kono mondokoro ga me ni hairanuka” (Can you not see this emblem?). Whereupon the goateed star’s true identity would be revealed and the villains would instantly surrender and beg forgiveness. See the short video clip below.

Lyricist Matsumoto Reiji died yesterday in what police believe was a suicide, setting himself on fire outside his home in Tokyo. He was 68. His wife found him badly burned but still conscious on the street in front of his Setagaya home at around 4:40am. Police later found a discarded lighter and the canister of an oil heater near the scene. Matsumoto was rushed to hospital and declared dead shortly after 10am. No will or suicide note has been found but his family say that he seemed to be troubled recently and likely had health problems. A music industry colleague reported that Matsumoto had undergone gall bladder surgery in May.

A former chief purser for Japan Airlines, Matsumoto joined the Pony Canyon record label in his early 30s after a chance encounter with the company president. He started as a director and then became a lyricist, writing popular songs for a wide variety of artists that ranged from teen aidoru’s to such mega-stars as Ishihara Yujiro (1934-87) and Morishige Hisaya (1913-2009). He wrote the last song that Morishige recorded, “Izuko e.” His many enka hits included several for Ishino Mako (50), and ironic in view of the manner of his death, the title of Ishino’s final single before she retired in 1981 was the Buy Arimidex Online Usa “Burning Love.” He also wrote a song for the 100-year-old twins Kin-san and Gin-san, who were a media sensation in the early 1990s.

J-pop queen Koda Kumi (29) took the showbiz world by surprise when she announced on her official website early this morning that she is about to get married. She and guitarist Kenji03 (27, band photo 2nd from left) of the band Back-On are planning to tie the knot before the end of the year. Koda said, “He is a wonderful person who completely accepts me as I am and creates an atmosphere where I can relax and be myself.”

The couple are with the same management agency and worked together professionally before they started dating this spring. And to get the standard J-media checklist out of the way, they are not yet living together and Koda is not pregnant. She was of course famously linked with SMAP leader Nakai Masahiro (39) back in 2007, a relationship that was never publicly acknowledged.

Kenji03 collaborated with Koda’s younger sister Misono (27), performing under the stage name Me, on a single back in February. He was a member of Kumi’s backing band for the Avex a-Nation concert in the summer, while she collaborated with Back-On vocalist Teeda on a single in August.

Once again a celebrity steps over the line, feels the full force of the law and gets wiped off the TV map. In this case the perp is Dante Carver (34) of Softbank commercial fame. NHK say they will delete his appearances in already recorded episodes of the kids show “be Ponki Kids,” while other companies that Dante pitches for are reviewing the seriousness of the situation. In a statement the BS Fuji network described the case as “extremely regrettable.” The American actor’s offense? Doing an illegal U-turn and getting caught with an expired international driver’s license.

According to the Meguro police station in Tokyo yesterday, Dante was nabbed doing the naughty U-turn on Route 246 in Shibuya on July 2. They filed papers with prosecutors at the end of November because they found that his license, issued at the beginning of the year in the U.S., was invalid since he had not used it for the minimum three months in that country. Dante’s management agency issued a suitably groveling apology, while a Softbank spokesperson said the company had not had enough time to study the situation.

Popular young pro golfer Ishikawa Ryo (20) got caught for exactly the same offense in June and, after undergoing police questioning, held a press conference to publicly apologize.