Category Archives: Entertainment News

Actor Nishina Masaki and actress Takigawa Hanako officially tied the knot yesterday, they announced on their blogs and by fax to the media. Nishina (28) is the eldest son of actor Matsukata Hiroki (68) and actress Nishina Akiko (57), while Takigawa (22) is the daughter of the late actor Achiha Shinsuke (1940-2007) and actress Takigawa Yumi (59). The younger couple’s relationship was first reported in January of last year when they traveled to Guam, and they announced their engagement back in October.

Yokozawa Takeshi (photo left), the man who created some of Japan’s best-loved comedy shows, died yesterday at a Tokyo hospital of pneumonia. He was 73. A native of Gunma Prefecture, he joined Fuji TV in 1962 after graduating from the prestigious Tokyo University. He worked in a variety of divisions before moving to TV production in 1974. In 1980, he was a leading force behind the show “The Manzai,” which led to a boom in the double act form of standup comedy that remains so prevalent to this day. He later went on to produce two legendary shows – “Oretachi Hyokinzoku,” which made superstars of Kitano “Beat” Takeshi (63, photo center, profile) and Akashiya Sanma (55, photo right, profile), and “Waratte Iitomo,” the vehicle for the comedy and hosting talents of Tamori (65, profile) which has been on the air every weekday afternoon for 28 years.

In 1990 Yokozawa also took on the post of president of Virgin Japan, and he quit Fuji TV in 1995 to become president of the Tokyo branch of Yoshimoto Kogyo (profile), the major talent agency that represents most of the top comedy acts in Japan. He also worked as a professor at Kamakura Womens University and as a media commentator.

The world of kabuki has lost one of its leading veterans. Nakamura Tomijuro V, designated a Living National Treasure, died at a Tokyo hospital on Monday night of cancer. He was 81. His final performance was at the Shimbashi Enbujo theater in Tokyo last November, during which his failing health forced him to drop out and enter hospital.

Real name Watanabe Hajime, he made his first stage appearance as Bando Tsurunosuke IV in 1943, and became popular through his collaborations with Nakamura Senjaku II (79). He took the Tomijuro stage name in 1972 and enjoyed a career that spanned not just kabuki but also TV (such as the 1974 NHK taiga drama Katsu Kaishu”) and movies, including “Gakko II.” He was designated by the government as a Living National Treasure in 1994 and in 2008 was officially recognized for his contributions to the arts.

In 1996, he married Masae (48), a former actress who was 33 years his junior. They had two children, with Tomijuro becoming a father at the ages of 69 and 74. He had been scheduled to perform alongside his son Takanosuke (11, photo right) from January 2. The young actor took to the stage yesterday, the day after his father passed away.

More than two years after setting off on his Earth Marathon, comedian Hazama Kanpei (61) arrived back on Japanese soil in the early hours of Tuesday. He has sailed the Pacific and Atlantic, and run across North America, Europe and Asia before sailing between China and Fukuoka on the southern island of Kyushu. About 2,500 fans braved the early morning cold and rain to join his wife Mitsuyo, his two grandchildren and the mayor of Fukuoka at the city’s marina to welcome home the popular comedian.

Up to Hazama’s arrival back in Japan, the combined distance he has covered is estimated at about 40,400km. He now faces the final challenge – running the last 620km across western Japan to his goal in Osaka, where he is scheduled to reach the Osaka Castle Hall on January 21. The momentous event will be televised live.

A New Year TV special showed Hazama in tears as he ran the final few kilometers through the Chinese coastal city of Qingdao. During his mammoth run across Eurasia, he was told that he was suffering from prostate cancer. But even that discovery only temporarily sidelined him and he spent several weeks undergoing treatment in the U.S. before getting back on the road in Turkmenistan last June.

NHK executives must be feeling very thankful to singer Kuwata Keisuke (54, photo). He is being given much of the credit for the decent TV audience ratings announced for “Kohaku Uta Gassen” on New Year’s Eve. The show managed an average rating of 42.5% for the second half, the third year in a row that it has stayed above the 40% mark. In 2009, the main attractions were rare appearances from Susan Boyle (49) and Yazawa Eikichi (61), while this time around it was recent developments in Kuwata’s personal life that drew many viewers. The show was his first public appearance in almost six months, during which time he has been in a battle with cancer. His performance of two songs, including his latest release, “Sore Ike Baby!!” drew even higher ratings in some parts of the country, 48.1% in Nagoya and 49.6% in Niigata. NHK also announced that they had a 40% increase in votes from viewers on the song contest.

Other attractions on the show were a live hookup with the Yokohama Stadium, where actor/singer Fukuyama Masaharu (41) had his ponytail ceremonially cut off. He grew his hair for the lead role in last year’s NHK taiga drama series “Ryomaden.” And there was the 34th appearance by veteran Wada Akiko (60), despite the fact that she suffered neck and back injuries in a car crash during final rehearsals for the show.

The big surprise news of the New Year was Hamasaki Ayumi’s Las Vegas wedding. Ayu (32) and Los Angeles-based Austrian actor Manuel Schwarz (30) tied the knot on New Year’s Day in a small chapel in the Nevada city. The couple met last August in L.A. when he was cast as her bridegroom in a promotional film for her song “Virgin Road.” Ayu wore a wedding dress when she performed the song on NHK’s “Kohaku Uta Gassen” on New Year’s Eve (photo left). She was less formally attired in a surprisingly candid shot released this week (photo right).

On New Year’s Day, the pair were spotted by reporters at Narita Airport on their way to the U.S. It wasn’t until the next day, Japan time, that Hamasaki’s fans learned of the Las Vegas chapel wedding via her online “Team Ayu” fan club. She referred to ‘Manny’ as her “Last Angel,” a reference to another of her songs.

NHK came close to losing one of its top stars for tonight’s “Kohaku Uta Gassen.” Wada Akiko (60), a regular performer on the annual New Year’s Eve song contest for more than three decades, was injured in a traffic accident on her way to rehearsals at the NHK studios in Shibuya on Wednesday. She suffered injuries to her neck and back but soldiered through much of the rehearsals nonetheless before being taken to a nearby hospital by ambulance. She is said to have suffered cervical and lumbar sprains and requires about 10 days rest to recover. A consummate pro, Wada plans to fulfill her commitment to the live broadcast. But as leader of the Kohaku female red team, she would normally be on stage a lot even when not singing. NHK say they will consider her role in the show depending on her condition.

The accident happened on Wednesday afternoon as the Mercedes in which Wada was riding in the back seat was hit from behind while waiting at a signal to enter the NHK car park. The driver of the other car, a man in his 30s, said he mistook the accelerator for the brake. Wada was involved in a traffic accident in February 2000, in which she suffered a broken leg.

Actress Kichise Michiko (35) announced on her blog today that she got married on Christmas Day. She said she met her husband, a 45-year-old entrepreneur who works both in Japan and overseas, about five years ago when she was considering a career change from modeling to acting. Standing 167cm tall, Kichise was scouted by a modeling agency while working at a cafe in her hometown of Asakura in Fukuoka Prefecture. She moved to Tokyo at the age of 20, where she landed regular work for fashion magazines and in TV commercials. The last few years have seen her win accolades for her TV appearances in such dramas as “Liar Game” (2007) and “Bloody Monday” (2008). She landed her first leading role in the NTV drama “Mousou Shimai” in early 2009.

Yesterday APF Tsushin president Yamaji Toru (49) spoke publicly for the first time about his convoluted relationships with talentos Omomo Miyoko (45) and Asagi Kuniko (46). He acknowledged that he and Asagi were married shortly after his 2006 divorce from Omomo, and that they had been having an affair for a couple of years before that. He and Asagi divorced about a month ago, and the whole tangle of their various relationships became public when Omomo posted about it on her Twitter account last week.

Asagi and Yamaji began working together on TV more than a decade ago. Asagi was married to musician Matsumoto Akihiko (47), with whom she has a 16-year-old daughter, from 1994 to 2006, while Yamaji and Omomo were married between 2003 and 2006 (Yamaji also has a child from a previous marriage). So their relationship was an extra-marital affair for both parties. From her public statements, Omom clearly still holds a grudge against Asagi and the various parties will probably need some time to come to any kind of mutual understanding, let alone be able to appear together on TV.
Related stories:
Asagi Named as the “Other Woman” on Twitter (Dec. 21, 2010)

Last night, manzai duo Waraimeshi were finally crowned as M-1 champions. The pair – Nishida Koji (36) and Nakanishi Tetsuo (36) – have entered the nationwide comedy knockout competition every year since it started in 2001. They made the finals for the last nine years running and were runners-up three times. This year they came out on top of 4,835 acts from across the country. Waraimeshi received not only ¥10 million in prize money but also an elevated status in the comedy hierarchy.

The annual contest is organized by the major Yoshimoto Kogyo talent management agency and held at the TV Asahi studios in Tokyo. It was announced that it will come to an end this year, but Waraimeshi vowed to see M-1 continued at Yoshimoto’s Nanba Grand Kagetsu theater in Osaka. The show enjoys strong TV audience ratings, though last night’s broadcast got less than 20% as it was up against a live figure-skating broadcast on Fuji TV.