Latest News from Japan Zone & Japan Store

Indie duo Def Tech are breaking up after a highly successful but very short run. In their first year, 2005, they proved that major commercial success is possible in Japan even for an act not signed to a major record label. The pairing of Japan native Micro (27) and Chinese-born Hawaiian Shen (26) were introduced in 2001 by Jesse, vocalist of the rock group Rize, and formed Def Tech in January 2005 (other occasional members were Playa T and Lafa Taylor). Signed to the Hawaiian production company Vice Versa Entertainment, they created a new genre for themselves, dubbed “Jawaiian Reggae” (Japanese + Hawaiian + Reggae). The song “My Way”, taken from their eponymous debut album, was used in a TV commercial and sold over 2.2 million copies. They were the third best-selling artists of 2005 and were invited to appear on NHK’s annual Kohaku Uta Gassen on New Year’s Eve. But a nationwide tour in 2006 exposed musical differences between Micro and Shen, and the latter returned to Hawaii. In November 2006, Micro announced at Shen’s wedding reception in Tokyo that Def Tech wouldn’t break up, but the reunion never happened. The decision to make the split formal was made at the beginning of this month. Shen is the son of renowned applied linguist JD Brown, with whom he often visited Japan in his youth. He is planning to make his major label debut next year. Tokyo native Micro, whose real name is Nishimiya Yuki formed the Primary Color Recordz label under the Universal Music umbrella in February 2007.

It seems that talento and former news announcer Yamamoto Mona (31) is back with her old boyfriend. Today’s issue of weekly gossip magazine “Friday” has photos of her in a romantic clinch, this time not with married politician Hosono Goshi (36) but with a famous game software creator. Yamamoto’s career was just taking off a year ago when her romance with the 40-something “M-san” was reported by Friday. But in September 2006, her affair with the handsome Diet member Hosono was exposed and she was fired from the “News23” show after just a week. She stayed out of the spotlight for a couple of months before tentatively re-starting her career with the support of comedian Kitano “Beat” Takeshi on New Year’s Day (she is managed by his Office Kitano). This year has seen her making more and more regular appearances on the variety show circuit. According to the magazine article, she and her ex-boyfriend are back together and spent three nights at the end of August on the luxury resort island of Pamalican in the Philippines.

• Japan’s first-ever Academy Award winning actor, Nancy Umeki died recently of cancer at a retirement home in Missouri. She was 78. Umeki won her Oscar for her supporting role in the 1957 Hollywood movie “Sayonara”. Born in Otaru in Hokkaido, she became a jazz singer on US military bases and moved to America in 1955. An appearance on TV soon led to her first movie role. In “Sayonara”, she played a young woman in postwar Japan who falls in love with an American serviceman, but their romance ends in tragedy. Following her Oscar success, she had a successful career on Broadway. She retired from acting in 1972 and all but disappeared. She was married twice.

• Miike Takashi’s “Sukiyaki Western Django” received a five-minute standing ovation after its late-night official screening at the Venice International Film Festival. After earlier mixed reviews, the enthusiastic reception was a relief for Miike (47) and stars Itoh Hideaki (32) and Momoi Kaori (55), who said “The screening was very late, I was so happy people didn’t decide to go home.” The movie was shown in front of a full house of 1,000 people from midnight. It is a contender for the Golden Lion award, whose winner will be announced on Saturday.

Miike Takashi’s “Sukiyaki Western Django” was screened for the press and general public yesterday (Japan time), receiving totally opposite reactions. During the press screening, a number of people left the theater during the first half of the movie and afterwards there was only a sprinkling of applause. Later that evening the general public got their look at the movie, and showered the mix of spaghetti western and Japanese period drama with tumultuous applause. Some were no doubt delighted to see festival favorite Quentin Tarantino (44), who makes a cameo appearance. And though the rest of the cast is Japanese, including top comedian Ishibashi Takaaki (45, best known abroad for his role in 1994’s “Major League II”), the dialog is entirely in English. Asked at a press conference why a Japanese director would possibly want to make a “macaroni western” (as they are known in Japan), Miike (47) said, “When I was growing up, spaghetti westerns were in their heyday. We played with toy guns and naturally wanted to make this kind of movie when we grew up.” Star Itoh Hideaki (32) said, “Though I don’t speak the language at all, this experience made me want to do another movie in English.” When he added, “And I’d really like to make another spaghetti western in Japan, but this time in Italian,” he was warmly applauded by local reporters. Django is Miike’s fourth movie to be shown at Venice, but is his first competitive entry. The winner of the Golden Lion award will be announced on September 8.

The latest live-action movie from iconic director Oshii Mamoru (56) is another segment in his ongoing lifework, the Kerberos Saga. An omnibus movie in six parts, “Shin Onna Tachiguishi Retsuden” is quite a mouthful, appropriately enough as the women of the title are “Female Fast Food Grifters”. These tachiguishi (literally “masters of eating on the go”) have featured in much of Oshii’s work all the way back to the TV anime version of “Urusei Yatsura” in 1984. Some of the works, which can be in anime, live-action or manga format, are limited release or direct-to-DVD. The latest movie will be screened at the 20th Tokyo International Film Festival in October, and features top actress Mizuno Miki (33) in her first shoot-em-up action role. But the movie will only have a limited run at one cinema from November 10. Alongside his old friend and fellow animator Miyazaki Hayao, Oshii is definitely the less commercial, though his 1995 classic “Ghost in the Shell” and its 2004 sequel “Innocence” won him wide international acclaim.

• Pop diva Matsuda Seiko (45) is to make her first movie appearance in seven years. She will play the mother in a live-action adaptation of Nosaka Akiyuki’s novel “Hotaru no Haka” (Grave of the Fireflies). The restrained but powerful antiwar story of two young children struggling to survive in WWII Kobe was adapted as an acclaimed anime movie in 1988.

SMAP member Kimura Takuya (34) has been chosen as Japan’s most popular guy for an amazing 14th straight year. The annual survey has been carried out by women’s magazine “anan” since 1988, and Kimutaku has been on top since 1994, the year he came of age. He also has a 13-year streak going in another annual poll as the man most women “would like to sleep with”. He has managed to build a successful acting career in parallel with SMAP’s ongoing popularity. He has starred in just about all the most popular TV dramas of the last decade, and the movie adaptation of one, Fuji TV’s “Hero”, is set to open in theaters this weekend. He has also shown his talent in more ‘serious’ roles, such as the lead in Yamada Yoji‘s 2006 samurai drama “Bushi no Ichibun”. Kimutaku is of course just the brightest in the Johnny’s Jimusho galaxy of male stars, and they make up 18 of the survey’s Top 30 most popular males.

• Popular author Takemoto Nobara (39) was recently arrested for cannabis possession. Takemoto, whose novel “Shimotsuma Monogatari” was made into a successful movie in 2004, was detained by police in the Kabukicho entertainment district of Tokyo on Sunday evening when he was found with 0.22 grams of cannabis in his pocket. He said he started smoking weed while abroad and had brought some back to Japan. More drugs and paraphernalia were later found at his home. Real name Takemoto Toshiaki, he is a successful author of books centering around the world of teenage girls.

• Pop diva Matsuda Seiko (45) is to make her first movie appearance in seven years. She will play the role of the mother in an adaptation of Nosaka Akiyuki’s famous novel “Hotaru no Haka” (Grave of the Fireflies). Filming started yesterday in Awajishima in Hyogo prefecture, and the movie is scheduled to open next summer. The project was to be directed by Kuroki Kazuo (1930-2006), but following his death last year it was taken over by his apprentice, Hyuugaji Tarou (41). The novel, a restrained but powerful antiwar story about a young brother and sister struggling for survival in WWII, was previously adapted into a hugely successful anime feature in 1988.

The legendary rock band Jun Sky Walker(s) are re-forming – for real this time. The group, formed in 1980 and hugely popular from the mid-80’s until their split in 1997, got back together for a couple of special shows this year. But on the verge of their 20th anniversary, they intend to make it permanent. They have four shows scheduled for November at Wynterland in Kobe, and will embark on a full nationwide tour next year. They recently appeared as “secret guests” on a recording of the TV Asahi variety show “Ame Talk”. With several die-hard “JunSka” fans among the celebrity panel, things got pretty heated, ending with vocalist Miyata Kazuya (41) doing a stage dive. Miyata formed the group in 1980 with fellow Jiyuugakuen schoolmates Mori Junta (42, guitar), Itoh Tsuyoshi (41, bass) and Kobayashi Masayuki (42, drums). By the mid-80’s they were one of the most popular bands on the “Hokoten”, lives performances by dozens of artists on the streets of Tokyo’s Harajuku every Sunday. Itoh was replaced by Teraoka Yohito (41) in February 1988, and the band made their major-label debut just three months later. Itoh returned to the lineup after Teraoka quit in 1993. Their hits include “Aruite Ikou” and “Start”.

• Orange Range bassist Yoh (23) got married in June, it was revealed recently. His new wife is a fellow native of Okinawa and is five months pregnant.

• Folk singer Yoshida Takuro (61) has canceled more shows due to his ongoing illness. He has been advised to take several weeks’ rest for asthmatic bronchitis. He started his national tour on August 21, but developed swollen tonsils before the second show in Tokyo and hasn’t been able to perform since. His record company has firmly denied that there is any sign of a recurrence of the cancer for which Yoshida underwent treatment in 2003. They say he will be back for the planned September 30 show in Kumamoto.

• Japan’s top models turned out for the 5th “Tokyo Girls’ Collection” fashion event on Sunday. Held at the Saitama Super Arena, the event featured 68 models, many of whom have expanded their careers into acting, singing and TV variety. During the interval, the audience of 24,000 were entertained by an eclectic musical mix of Go Hiromi (51), DJ Ozma, and Leah Dizon (20). The fashion show included Yamada Yu (23), who wore the latest wedding dress designs by Katsura Yumi, Tsuchiya Anna (23) and Marie (20).

• It was revealed yesterday that jazz pianist Uehara Hiromi (28) and fashion designer Mihara Yasuhiro (35) recently got hitched and held their wedding ceremony on Saturday. The couple collaborated at the Mihara’s show at the Milan Collection in June 2006.

• Former Fuji TV announcer turned aromatherapist Ohashi Maki (30) announced on her blog yesterday that she is six months pregnant. She quit the TV network in 2002 to marry an advertising executive.

6,500 people packed Waikiki Beach on Wednesday for its first-ever screening of a Japanese movie. the biopic about a. “Life – Tengoku de Kimi ni Aetara” is based on the novel by world famous pro windsurfer Iijima Natsuki (1966-2005), who spent his final years surfing on the Hawaiian coast. The top Japanese in his sport, he appeared in the World Cup for eight years running and lived in Hawaii and Guam. He was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2002 and returned to Japan for a transplant. As treatment failed to fend off the cancer, he turned to writing. “Tengoku…” was published in July 2004 and became a best-seller, as did a publication of his blog writing and a second novel. Among those watching Wednesday’s screening were Iijima’s widow Hiroko (39) and their four children. As the movie came to its climactic scene, rain began to fall. Hiroko said, “Those were Natsuki’s tears of happiness falling from heaven,” bringing real tears from the movie’s star Osawa Takao (39). Also there for the free show was singer Nakashima Mika (24), who happened to be in Hawaii on vacation with her family.

• Young singer-songwriter Ayaka (19) helped launch the latest Final Fantasy VII game software yesterday, performing the theme song “Why” (on sale September 5) at a PR event in Tokyo. In a change from her usual tied-up hairstyle, she let her hair down, and also revealed that she and FF share the same birthday, as the software was first released on December 18, 1987.

• Popular NTV announcer Abe Akiko (28) is to quit the network at the end of September. She joined NTV in 2001 after graduating in International Marketing at Yokohama National University. She worked on variety and sports shows, and since April she has been a co-presenter of the “Sukkiri!” morning show with comedian Kato Koji (38) and talento Terry Itoh (57). She revealed on the live show last November that she planned to marry an employee of the rival TBS network who was based overseas.

Actress Koike Eiko (26) has married pro wrestler Sakata Wataru (34). She will give a press conference today to make the formal announcement, but Sakata was already spotted leaving a municipal office last night after he registered their marriage. The couple tied the knot after a relationship of five years, a period which has seen Koike develop from being just another busty pin-up girl into a multi-faceted career as an actress and talento. She first displayed her comic talents on the edgy Fuji TV show “One Night Rock ‘n’ Roll”, and has shown a more serious face on the TV Tokyo talk show “Kamburia Kyuden” (Cambrian Palace), which she co-hosts with novelist and social commentator Murakami Ryu. She worked as a ringside commentator and spokesperson for Japan’s PRIDE Fighting Championships from 2000 to 2006, where she met Sakata. He is now a member of the popular Hustle wrestling promotion managed by Takada Nobuhiko. Koike is said to have been very close to her grandfather, who passed away in August of last year, and she wanted to wait until after the anniversary of his death before getting married.

• The six-girl Osaka-based group Oreska Band have wrapped up their 7 dates on the “Warped Tour”, a major punk festival event on the U.S. west coast. The schoolgirl ska-punk sextet were a big success at the Anime Expo in July and are staying in California till the end of the year to work on an upcoming Hollywood movie. The as-yet unnamed project is by the same team that put together the hit TV show “High School Musical”.

• The 64th Venice International Film Festival kicked off yesterday. Japan’s contender for the Golden Lion award is “Sukiyaki Western Django”, Miike Takashi’s take on the festival’s theme: the spaghetti western. Today, director Kitano “Beat” Takeshi will become the first winner of the new “Glory to the Filmmaker” award, named after his own recent release, “Kantoku Banzai!” The 2003 Golden Lion winner said, “I’m really grateful. I’m delighted that my name will live on in the form of this award.” Also representing Japan is Aoyama Shinji’s “Sad Vacation”, which opens the festival’s Horizons section for cutting edge cinema.

Singer and actress Sonin (24) has landed the lead role in the latest theater production of the musical “Miss Saigon”. Auditions began almost a year ago, with the original Broadway producer Cameron Mackintosh taking part in the selection process. Video of Sonin performing some of the songs from the show was sent to the U.S. and she was finally given the part of Kim in June. The production will start its run at the Imperial Theater in Tokyo next July. Miss Saigon, a love story set at the end of the Vietnam War, was last performed in Japan four years ago. The part of Kim has previously been played by such stars as Matsu Takako (30), Chinen Rina (26) and the late Honda Minako. Sonin started her career as one half of the duo EE Jump in 2000 under the guidance of Morning Musume creator Tsunku (38). After a strong start the duo split when partner Yuuki (21, younger brother of Goto Maki, a member of “MoMusu” at the time) was dropped for underage drinking and hanging out at hostess clubs. Sonin has determinedly built up a musical and dramatic career since then. She is to play the female lead in a stage production of “Petenshi to Sagishi” (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) next January.

• Young actress Nagabuchi Ayane (19) showed off her showjumping skills yesterday while filming her first movie role. She stars in “Sanbongi Nougyoukou Bajutsubu”, the true story of a high school girl and the blind horse she encounters in her school’s equestrian club. The eldest child of rock singer-songwriter Nagabuchi Tsuyoshi (50) and former actress Shihomi Etsuko (51), Ayane studied ballet from the age of four and had her first lead role at the age of 11. She attended the Kanto International High School, where she was a member of the equestrian club, and entered the Faculty of International Studies at Meiji Gakuin University in April. Filming is set to continue on “Sanbongi…” until next February, and the movie is scheduled to open in the autumn of 2008.

• Actor player Tanaka Ken (56) has become a father again. His wife, former actress Chikage (38), gave birth to a baby girl at a Tokyo hospital yesterday. The couple married in December of last year. Tanaka has a 19-year-old daughter from his previous 14-year marriage to actress Kotegawa Yuuko (48), which ended in 1999. Chikage is a distant relative of actress Kaga Mariko (63). Tanaka is also known as a performer of the quena, the traditional flute of the Andes.

Popular visual-kei rock band Luna Sea are to get back together for a one-off concert, the first since the Christmas of 2000. The “God Bless You – One Night Dejavu” show is scheduled for December 24 at Tokyo Dome. That’s the venue where seven years ago almost to the day they announced that they had come to the end of the road. The fact that they were at the peak of their success at the time only added to their legendary status and ensured that their “Slave” fan club has kept going strong to this day. Sources say the five members have no plans to continue performing together after the Christmas show. They have all pursued careers as solo artists or producers, with vocalist Kawamura Ryuichi (37) being the most successful. The band, made up of Ryuichi, Sugizo and Inoran on guitars, J on bass and drummer Shinya, formed in 1989 and made their major-label debut in 1992. They had their first No.1 single in 1994 with “True Blue”. They had two million-selling albums and, with their well-regarded musical skills, were considered the leaders of the visual kei scene. One of their most famous episodes was when they went ahead with an outdoor show for 100,000 fans just two days after the stage had been destroyed by a typhoon. The breakup in 2000 came as less of a surprise due to the fact that the band had previously taken all of 1997 off to rest and pursue solo projects. Today’s timing for the official announcement of their reunion show is due to the fact that Japan will be enjoying a lunar eclipse tonight.

• A trio of top actors appeared at a PR event yesterday for TV Asahi’s remake of Kurosawa Akira‘s classic movie “Tengoku to Jigoku”. Known in English as “High and Low”, the 1963 thriller is regarded as one of the master’s best works. For the TV drama version, due to be broadcast on September 8, the setting has been changed from Yokohama to modern-day Otaru in Hokkaido. Sato Koji (46) will take on the lead role of business executive Gondo, played by the late, great Mifune Toshiro. The cast also includes Abe Hiroshi (43) and Suzuki Kyoka (39). The drama is in the capable hands of veteran director Tsuruhashi Yasuo (67).