Category Archives: Entertainment News

Just a week after announcing that Kuwata Keisuke (54) had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer, management for the hugely popular singer said yesterday that he has undergone surgery. In a brief statement, the Amuse agency said the operation was a success. “He was able to speak immediately after the anesthetic wore off, and surprised the doctors by being able to walk a little the next day.” The agency didn’t give details of the surgery, but today’s issue of the “Josei Seven” magazine says that Kuwata was admitted to a Tokyo hospital on July 30 and underwent a 6-hour operation on August 2. It said that the Southern All Stars vocalist will remain in intensive care for a few days at least but is thought likely to make a full recovery within the year. And of course he has the loving support of his wife and fellow band member Hara Yuko (53).

The shamisen duo Yoshida Brothers this week embarked on their latest tour of the United States, starting in New York on Tuesday. The Hokkaido-born brothers Ryoichiro and Kenichi Yoshida played at the Highline Ballroom, after warming up with an earlier sold-out performance at the Otakon convention in Baltimore last weekend (photo).

While commercially still a long way from the sales of mainstream J-pop acts, with their youth and rock sensibilities the Yoshida brothers have brought a whole new audience to the world of Tsugaru shamisen music. They have teamed up with rock and pop artists to create a form a crossover music that is frowned upon by the shamisen elders but goes down well with audiences in Japan and overseas. The duo will be playing seven more shows in the U.S., in Cambridge MA on Thursday, Chicago on Saturday, the San Francisco and L.A. next week. For more details, see the Domo Music Group website.

Comedian Hachimitsu Jiro (35) and former aidoru singer Saito Hitomi (28) are maried, the Yoshimoto Creative Agency announced last night. The couple are said to have registered their marriage yesterday but have no plans for a wedding ceremony or reception. The article made a point of saying that Saito is not pregnant. Real name Takano Jiro, Hachimitsu (which translates as Honey) is one half of the Yoshimoto manzai duo Tokyo Dynamite, while Saito was the leader of Hello! Project aidoru group Melon Kinenbi. The group played their last concert in May, and Saito announced her retirement from showbiz. Hachimitsu was a fan of the group, often going to concerts, and he and Saito started dating at the beginning of this year.

Movie Critic Commits Suicide
Movie critic Konno Yuji recently commited suicide at his Tokyo home, according to the Metropolitan Police. He was 66. Konno was found hanging by the neck at his apartment in Daikanyama, where he lived alone. He had been dead for several days. With a background in magazine editing, Konno became a regular guest on the early 1990s late night show “11PM.” He was known for his soft-spoken but unrestrained style.

Actor and Johnnys Jr. member Ikuta Touma (25) has landed probably the best movie role going. Directed by Tsuruhashi Yasuo (70), the latest big-screen adaptation of “Genji Monogatari” (The Tale of Genji) has a budget of over ¥1-billion. It is based on the classic novel written at the beginning of the 11th century by Murasaki Shikibu, a lady-in-waiting for the emperor. It is considered to be one of the finest works in Japanese literature and the world’s earliest novel.

The tale revolves around the romantic life of the central character, a son of the emperor who for political reasons has been relegated to the status of a commoner. Given the surname Minamoto, but known to readers as Hikaru Genji, he is portrayed as strikingly handsome, an image that has fixed his place in the popular culture (Hikaru Genji was the name of a hugely popular 1980s Johnny’s Jimusho group). The role has been given to some of the most popular and handsome young movie stars of each generation, including Hasegawa Kazuo in 1951 and kabuki actor Ichikawa Raizo in 1961. On TV, the role has gone to music icon Sawada Kenji (1980) and Johnnys star Higashiyama Noriyuki (1991).

That image adds pressure to the portrayal by Ikuta, who joined profileJohnny’s Jimusho in 1996 but only made his big-screen debut this year in “Ningen Shikaku.” That was the first of three starring roles this year (the others are “Seaside Motel” and “Hanamizuki”) that are expected to mold him into a movie star, under the guidance of the svengali-like Johnny Kitagawa and powerful producer Kadokawa Tsuguhiko. The movie is expected to have a late-2011 release.

Conductor Ozawa Seiji (74) wants the world top know he has won his battle with cancer. Making his public comeback yesterday, he looked considerably more frail than he did when he revealed his esophageal cancer back in January. Nevertheless he was on the podium conducting a chamber orchestra as they rehearsed for the annual Saito Kinen Matsumoto festival in the resort area of Shiga Kogen, Nagano Prefecture.

Following surgery to remove his gullet in late January, he returned work a week ago to prepare for the festival, which he founded in 1992. At a press conference afterward, he offered words of support to singer Kuwata Keisuke (54), who announced last week that he has been diagnosed with the same condition. Both he and Ozawa were diagnosed at an early stage, vastly increasing their chances of a full recovery. “He’s 20 years younger than me, so I’m certain he’ll be fine,” Ozawa said. “But it’s very important to get a regular checkup.”
Related stories:
SAS Singer Diagnosed With Cancer (Jul. 29, 2010)

SMAP Announce New Shanghai Shows
After the disappointment of their canceled China show in June, SMAP are scheduled to perform there in October. The group were to play their first ever overseas concert at the Shanghai World Expo on June 13 but organizers canceled the appearance at the last minute due to crowd safety and security concerns. The group have just embarked on their first nationwide tour of Japan in two years and will head over to China for two shows at the Shanghai Gymnasium on October 9 & 10.

X Japan Add D.C. to Tour
X Japan have added a Washington D.C show to the lineup for their North American tour. The announcement came as band leader Yoshiki and guitarist Sugizo performed a couple of songs at the “Otakon2010” convention in Baltimore on Saturday. With Yoshiki on piano and Sugizo trading his guitar for a violin, they played a couple of their most popular ballads, “Endless Rain” and “Forever Love,” for the audience of 10,000.

The manager of visual-kei rock band Vistlip was killed in the early hours of this morning in a car crash. According to Nagano Prefecture highway police, a van carrying members of the band and staff hit the wall inside a tunnel on the Joshinetsu Expressway. Band manager Sakakibara Asako (31) was thrown out of the vehicle and died on the spot. The vehicle belonged to vocalist Matsushita Tomo (24), who along with the other six passengers suffered minor injuries. The band were returning from a show in Kanazawa city. Vistlip had a minor hit last year with “Ozone,” the ending theme for the anime series “Yugioh.”

Kabuki star Ichikawa Ebizo (32) and freelance announcer Kobayashi Mao (28) held their wedding ceremony and a massive reception in Tokyo yesterday. The couple, who registered their marriage back on March 3, held a Buddhist-style ceremony at the Prince Park Tower Tokyo hotel in Shiba Koen with about 20 family members. It included making their vows in front of a statue loaned – for the first time ever – by the Narita-san temple, to which the Ichikawa stage family have been attached since the 17th century.

More than 1,000 guests were invited to the hotel for a reception that cost about ¥500 million. The guest list included political figures, sports stars and just about every major name in showbiz. Of course all the big names of kabuki were there, including those of Ebizo’s generation who have helped revive the popularity of the traditional theater. Ichikawa Somegoro (37), Nakamura Shido (37) and Nakamura Kantaro (28) each poured a glass of wine for the groom. Shido got a laugh when he said he’d been told not to make a speech as it was bad luck – he is divorced from actress Takeuchi Yuko (30).

Among the other celebrants were former prime ministers Mori Yoshiro (73) and Koizumi Junichiro (68), and singer Hirahara Ayaka (26), who performed her hit “Jupiter” in a live satellite hookup from Shimonoseki, where she was performing in concert. One surprise of the evening was a video of Ebizo’s secret visit to Vietnam, where he dug up a ruby that was used to make a necklace for his bride, ruby being her birthstone. The reception also featured a 2m-high wedding cake.

Between the morning wedding ceremony and the drawn-out, elaborate reception, the happy couple were on the go for a full 11 and a half hours.

Japan has a couple of strong contenders in the running for this year’s Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival, as the lineup for the competition was announced yesterday. “Noruwei no Mori” (Norwegian Wood), the first ever adaptation of Murakami Haruki’s cult novel, is the high-profile choice. With Vietnamese-born French director Tran Anh Hung at the helm, it stars two of Japan’s most highly rated young actors in Matsuyama Kenichi (24) and Oscar nominee Kikuchi Rinko (28).

It will be up against the latest movie from popular director Miike Takashi. “13-nin no Shikaku” (13 Assassins) stars the always solid Yakusho Koji (54) and is a remake of a 1963 samurai drama that is famous for its 30-minute climactic fight scene. The chambara style of movie (even with its weird choice of “Desperado” by The Eagles as its theme tune) might have an edge with a festival jury that is headed by American director Quentin Tarantino.

2010 marks the 67th year of the Venice event, the oldest film festival in the world. To date there have been three Japanese winners of the grand prix: Kurosawa Akira‘s “Rashomon” (1951), Inagaki Hiroshi’s “Rickshaw Man” (1958), and Kitano Takeshi‘s “Hanabi” (1997).
Related stories:
Matsuken, Rinko Land Choice Roles (May 15, 2009)

Management for Kuwata Keisuke (54) yesterday announced that the popular singer has been diagnosed with esophageal cancer. They said that the condition had been discovered at an early stage and would most likely respond well to treatment. Kuwata will undergo surgery and further treatment, so the release of a new solo album that had been scheduled for October 20 has been canceled, as have all the dates of a concert tour that was to run up to New Year’s Eve. However, his new single, “Honto wa Kowai Ai to Romance” will go on sale as planned on August 25.

On his official website, Kuwata apologized to fans in the typically humble Japanese fashion, “At this time, I’m very sorry for the worry I have caused. And I want to sincerely apologize to everyone who was looking forward to this year’s events. I will do my utmost to get back to good health and deliver the album that is in progress as soon as possible.””

Kuwata is the charismatic frontman for the hugely successful band Southern All Stars (profile). He has performed solo on and off over the course of his career, but SAS announced in 2008 that they were taking an indefinite break from performing together. Kuwata is married to SAS keyboard player Hara Yuko.

Other celebrities who have revealed their battles with esophageal cancer in recent years include actor Fujita Makoto and conductor Ozawa Seiji.

Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie (35) is in Tokyo this week on her latest PR trip. She and her four children flew into Narita Airport on Monday, but dad Brad Pitt (41) was left at home this time. At a press conference held in a central Tokyo hotel yesterday, Jolie said she took the kids to a toy store to pick up some of their favorite Ponyo and Totoro goods. She was joined on stage by local actress Kuroki Meisa (22), who presented her with a bouquet. She later said she had been too nervous to look the Hollywood star in the eyes.

Jolie was in town to promote “Salt,” directed by Phillip Noyce, an all-out action thriller in which she plays a former CIA agent who just may be a Russian double-agent. The movie opens in theaters here on July 31.

In Blackjack the House Always Wins
To promote the DVD release of season 4 of the popular U.S. medical drama series “House,” marketers have teamed up with none other than the Father of Japanese manga. TV commercials and posters for the DVD feature “House” star Hugh Laurie (51) and manga physician Black Jack, one of the most popular creations of Tezuka Osamu (1928-89). It is the first ever collaboration between a Tezuka character and an overseas drama. The commercials will air from August 4.