Category Archives: Entertainment News

Actor Sato B-saku (61) is the latest celebrity to announce that cancer has forced him to put his career on hold. The rumors began yesterday after it was revealed that he was stepping down from his role in an ongoing production at the Mitsukoshi Gekijo theater in Tokyo for health reasons. As he underwent surgery for stomach cancer in May 2008, the media speculated that a recurrence of the same condition was the most likely explanation. Today he acknowledged that a growth had been found in his stomach, though as yet it is not known if it is malignant or januvia-sitagliptin.net.

Sato will continue to perform until August 19, after which Matsumura Yuki (46), who was already appearing in the play, will take over his role for the last three shows of the Tokyo run and carry on in the role during a nationwide tour until the end of September.

In an effort to boost the sagging audience rankings of its morning drama slot, NHK took everyone by surprise by naming established actress Inoue Mao (23, photo left) as the star of next year’s 50th anniversary series. “Ohisama” will air at 8am on Mondays through Saturdays from March 28, 2011. It is set in the Nagano Prefecture towns of Matsumoto and Azumino, and tells the story of a teacher who becomes a maker of soba (buckwheat noodles). The original script is by Okada Yoshikazu (51, photo right), who also wrote one of the more popular morning dramas, “Churasan,” in 2001.

At a press conference yesterday, the media were visibly taken by surprise when the leading actress’s name was announced. But Inoue herself admitted to having been bowled over by her choice for a morning drama role, something she had dreamed of since she was a girl. “It’s seen as a gateway to stardom for young actors and the auditions are very competitive. I had half given up that my name would ever be called, so I was very surprised,” she said. She added that she had watched the 2007 series “Chiritotechin” without missing a single episode. “I thought it seemed like a tough job. Portraying the life of one person for such a long time, it must need both physical and mental strength.”

The NHK morning drama slot is usually reserved as a vehicle to launch the career of a promising young actress, such as Tanaka Miri and Konishi Miho. During the 1960s to 80s, the morning drama slot enjoyed solid audience ratings of 30-40%, but that has fallen to around 10% in recent years. The current series, “Gegegeg no Nyobo” had the worst ever ratings for an opening episode, and though it has since been doing reasonably well, it rarely breaks the 20% barrier.

A surprise appearance yesterday in central Shibuya by South Korean pop newcomers Kara drew an unexpectedly big crowd. With schools on summer break, the Tokyo shopping district was even more overflowing than usual with young people. So when the female pop quintet were announced on a stage in front of the iconic 109 building, a crowd quickly began to form. The group were making their major label debut in Japan and performed their debut single “Mister,” which made it to No.5 on the Oricon daily chart rankings.

They were scheduled to appear for 30 minutes, including interviews and a photo shoot, but as the crowd built to an estimated 3,000 people and started spilling out onto the roads, it was decided to cut the event short after just the one song. Disappointed fans will have a chance to meet the group at an event in Shin Kiba on August 14.

Popular actress Tomosaka Rie (30, photo right) and singer Suneohair (39, photo center) are planning to get married within the year, it was revealed yesterday. The couple have already told friends about their plans, less than a year after they started dating. It would be the second marriage for Tomosaka, who divorced from theatrical producer Kawahara Masahiko (41) at the beginning of 2008 and since has custody of their son (5). Suneohair has previously been married twice to the same woman, with whom he has two children.

Tomosaka made her showbiz debut in a TV commercial for Toyota in 1992. She has gone on to become a regular in TV and movie roles, and won a Golden Arrow best newcomer award for a stage role in 2000. Given name Watanabe Kenji, Suneohair was an independent musician until 2002, when he made his major label debut. He had some stage experience from his college days and first worked on the big screen in 2003. He landed his first starring role in the movie “Aburakusasu no Matsuri,” in which he and Tomosaka played a husband and wife and also performed a duet for the ending theme. Filming started last November and the movie is scheduled to open in the late autumn. Suneohair is also known for contributing the ending theme for the anime adaptation of the popular shojo manga “Honey & Clover.”

Singer-songwriter Utada Hikaru (27, profile) shocked her fans yesterday by announcing that she will be taking an indefinite break from music. In a blog update yesterday she didn’t give many details but said that she will complete her scheduled activities for the rest of this year, including the release of a second singles collection in the autumn. The album will also include 4 or 5 five new songs. She will then concentrate on other aspects of her life, “It could be two years, it could be five, I don’t know.”

Though still in her mid-20s, Utada already has a 12-year career under her belt, as well as an unfinished university course,a brush with cancer and a failed marriage. But she acknowledges that in some ways she has yet to grow up and says she needs to do so as a “person” rather than as a “musician.” She thanked fans and the staff at the EMI label for their ongoing support and asked for their patience and understanding.

The dream is finally realized. 18 years after X Japan held a press conference in New York to announce their U.S. concert debut, it finally happened as the band took to the stage at the Lollapalooza rock festival in Chicago yesterday. They stuck to their hard rock/speed metal numbers for a 5-song set that included English language versions of the classics “Rusty Nail” and “Kuranai,” the more recent “Jade” and “I.V.” and ended with the fan favorite, “X.”

The front rows of the audience were dominated by Japanese faces, some with the elaborate fashion, makeup and hair that X Japan and their fans established as the dress code of visual kei rock. And unlike many of the locals, they certainly didn’t need any encouragement to sing along or make the traditional X symbol with their forearms. Many were reduced to tears, especially when slow motion images of the band’s late guitarist Hide were projected on a screen during an interval.

X Japan return home for two shows at the Yokohama Nissan Stadium next week, before returning to the U.S. for a full North American concert tour. The tour was scheduled to start in October but the date for the opening show has been announced as September 25 in Los Angeles, where drummer and band leader Yoshiki is based. Plans to go on a European tour from January were also revealed yesterday.
Related stories:
X Japan Announce First US Tour (Jul. 9, 2010)
X Japan Named to Lollapalooza Lineup (Apr. 7, 2010)

Three members of Morning Musume (profile) are to leave the super aidoru group in the fall. In what is usually referred to as “graduation,” Kamei Eri (21, photo right) and Chinese members JunJun (Li Chun, 22, photo left) and LinLin (Qian Lin, 19, photo center) will perform with the group for the last time during their upcoming nationwide tour. Founder and guru Tsunku (41) said that the 9th round of auditions, the first in four years, will be held to bring fresh blood into the group.

It is the first time that three members will leave the ever-evolving lineup at once. In the case of Kamei, who joined in 2003, it is so that she can undergo treatment for atopic dermatitis. The two Chinese members, who were added in 2007 to help expand the fan base base in Asia, are to undergo preparations to launch singing careers in their home country.

Actor Ishida Junichi (56) and pro golfer Higashio Riko (34) held their wedding reception yesterday in Tokyo. The event, attended by about 350 guests, was held at the Fuji-no-ma ballroom of the Imperial Hotel. Riko was given away by her father, former baseball manager turned commentator Higashio Osamu (60), who said, “I leave everything up to Junichi-kun. I hope they will go through life with a par score.” The event also featured a surprise gift for Riko’s mother – a performance by singer Matsuyama Chiharu (54) of his song “Ozora to Daichi Nonakede.” The happy couple actually tied the knot last December at a ceremony held in the wine country of California. There was no mention in the media of why the reception was held yesterday rather than the originally announced date of July 12.

It is the third marriage for Ishida, a renowned playboy. At a press conference, when asked about the chances of her groom’s infidelity, Higashio joked, “I guess the chances are high. But I’m more concerned with looking after him in his old age!” Actor Ishida Issei (35), Junichi’s son from his first marriage, said it would take him a while to get used to having a mother-in-law who is a year younger than him.

Some young stars in Tokyo this week, with their high profile dads in tow. Hollywood big shot Will Smith (41) was in town with the whole family, though it was actually his son Jaden (12) who was working. He and co-star Jackie Chan are promoting their remake of “The Karate Kid” and attended the Japan premiere at the Roppongi Hills complex in central Tokyo last night. At the Roppongi Hills Arena, they appeared on stage for about 2,000 fans. The movie will be released here, like the 1984 original, with the title “Best Kid” on August 14.

Also appearing for fans yesterday was Stevie Wonder (60), and he too brought his son along. He is celebrating his 50th year in the music business, while son Mumtaz (25) is a highly regarded R&B/hip-hop artist/producer/singer. Stevie is scheduled to perform at the Summer Sonic music festival this weekend, and is also promoting his new album “Love, Harmony & Eternity,” which went on sale here on Wednesday.

A couple of actresses were involved in minor traffic accidents recently, according to stories on the Sankei Shimbun website. Police at the Akasaka station in central Tokyo say that Enami Kyoko (67) failed to check her rear view mirror before pulling onto Route 246 in Minami Aoyama on the evening of August 2. She hit a car driven by a 33-year-old Yokohama man that was coming from behind her. Neither driver suffered any injuries.

Meanwhile, Hasegawa Kyoko (32) was stopped in the parking lot of the Samezu driving test center in Tokyo on August 3 when her car was hit by a vehicle driven by a middle-aged woman. Again, neither driver suffered any injuries.

New Addition to Musical Family
Musicians Wakadanna (34) and Minmi (35) became the proud parents of a second baby boy in New York yesterday. Minmi gave birth to their first son in November 2007 and she and Wakadanna, a member of the reggae unit Shonan no Kaze, got married on the same day.