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Director Kobayashi Masahiro (53) has won the grand prix at a major film festival. His innovative movie “Ai no Yokan” (The Rebirth) was awarded the Golden Leopard prize and 90,000 Swiss Francs on Saturday, the last day of the 60th Locarno International Film Festival. Kobayashi took on a leading role in his own film for the first time, playing the father of a girl who is murdered by her elementary school classmate, echoing a real-life incident that took place in Japan. Having lost his own will to live, the father escapes to Hokkaido, only to meet the mother of his daughter’s killer. Apart from an opening interview scene, the movie is completely unscripted. The feature was also awarded the Daniel Schmid Prize and was given a special mention by the International Art & Essay Cinema Confederation and by the Youth Jury. The recognition follows a pattern of acclaim for Kobayashi’s earlier works at European festivals. He has premiered three films at Cannes and won a special mention at Locarno in 2003 for “Amazing Story”. This year’s festival opened in the southern Swiss city last Wednesday with the world premiere of the Japanese anime feature “Vexille” by Sori Fumihiko.

• Defending Japan’s title at this year’s 12th Air Guitar World Championship in Finland will be Ichikawa The Rock. He won his place with a rendition of Mr. Big’s 1991 hit “Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy” during the weekend’s Summer Sonic festival in Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba Prefecture. Coming in third was green-suited kids’ character Gachapin rocking out to the B’z song “GiriGiri Chop”. Japan won the title last year when comedian Ochi Yousuke brought home the crown with his energetic take on Jet’s “Are You Gonna Be My Girl?”

Actress Kimura Yoshino (31) and actor Iseya Yuusuke (31) are taking their real-life romance to Hollywood. The pair have been in Canada since mid-July shooting the movie “Blindness”. The only Japanese among the cast, they play a married couple living in a town where everyone has been struck with a mysterious case of sudden blindness. Starring Julianne Moore and directed by Fernando Meirelles, the movie is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Portuguese Nobel prize-winner José Saramago. It is due for U.S. release next year. Kimura and Iseya first met when they worked together last year on the upcoming Miike Takashi movie “Sukiyaki Western Jango”. They spent more than a month filming in a remote mountain location in Yamagata Prefecture and started dating after their return to Tokyo. They will be in Canada until October, so no doubt the three months together on a foreign movie location is the perfect chance to deepen their relationship. Born in London, Kimura made her first movie appearance in the hit “Shitsurakuen” in 1997 and has since been in dozens of TV dramas and movies. Iseya is the step-brother of fashion designer Yamamoto Kansai. His movie debut was in 1999 and his credits include “Distance” (2001), “Casshern” (2004) and this year’s “Closed Note”.

Young Fukuda Mayuko (13) has been chosen from over 300 hopefuls for the upcoming “Death Note” spinoff movie. Provisionally titled “L”, the movie is being directed by Nakata Hideo, the man behind the “Ring” series. Regarded as a child prodigy, Fukuda was chosen for the key part of Maki and had her hair cut into a bob style for the role. Nakata said of her, “She has a strength of character that shows in her eyes. She’s been able to display a sensitivity and expressiveness beyond that of a child actress.” Filming started in Saitama Prefecture at the beginning of this month. Following the huge success in Asia of the first two Death Note movies, the latest spinoff will open in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan on February 9, 2008. It’s the first time for a Japanese movie to open in so many countries on the same day.

We reported here on Japan Zone just yesterday about the romance between young baseball star Darvish Yu (20) and actress Saeko (20). Well it turns out they’re engaged to be married. Saeko is two months pregnant and they plan to tie the knot after the baseball season finishes. With the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters currently on top of the Pacific League, it’s likely that Darvish and his team-mates will have to defend their Japan Series title in the playoffs first. The young half-Iranian pitcher takes the mound tonight against the Rakuten Golden Eagles at the Fighters’ home stadium of Sapporo Dome, and he plans to make a formal announcement after the game.

• The growing popularity of talento Oizumi Yo (34) seems to have exposed his past illegal activity. Oizumi is now an up and coming star on the national networks but was for years known only in his native Hokkaido. The weekly “Suiyou wa Doudeshou”, originally shown only on HTB in Hokkaido, sent Oizumi and Suzui Takayuki on silly adventures in various locations around Japan and abroad. On one such trip to western Japan in 2000, the pair helped themselves to sand from the famous Tottori Sand Dunes. Only seven years later, when the show was broadcast in the region, did it come to light that what they had done is illegal as the dunes are designated as a National Monument. HTB has made a formal apology to Tottori City and the show will not be broadcast anymore.

• NTV announcer Suzuki Natsuko (30) may lose her job after a weekly magazine published compromising photos of her with comedian Taka (31). One half of the popular duo Taka and Toshi, he is living with his girlfriend of eight years, so the reported relationship with Suzuki is a no-no. The two were spotted at a hotel near Tokyo’s Haneda Airport at the end of July. Suzuki has already been reprimanded by NTV and was dropped from her regular slot on the network’s “wide show” yesterday. Ironically, she usually reports on the “off duty” activities of celebrities.

• Sakaguchi Kenji (34) is to revive his popular role as doctor Asada Ryutaro in “Iryu 2”. The Fuji TV hospital drama (whose title translates as “Team Medical Dragon”) was a hit in the spring of 2006 and won an award for best drama series. The sequel starts in October and will deal with serious issues such as the growing national shortage of doctors and the closures of many maternity and pediatric units.

Young baseball pitcher Darvish Yu (20) has won over fans in Sapporo over his first couple of seasons, and now he’s won the heart of an equally young actress. The son of an Iranian father and Japanese mother, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters pitcher made his name as a high schooler when he threw a no-hitter at the annual summer invitational tournament at Koshien in 2004. His manager Trey Hillman has said of him, “How good do I think he can be? I think he can be the best in the world. He’s not there yet … but I think he can potentially pass a guy like Matsuzaka (Daisuke).” Tall and handsome, he looks like the hero of a baseball manga. And the hero always gets the girl, who in this case is actress Saeko (20). Currently a student in the human sciences school at the prestigious Waseda University, she has a supporting role in the upcoming movie “Closed Note”, starring Sawajiri Erika (21). Darvish’s father Farsa, who lives in Osaka prefecture, said the two were dating and that his son had introduced him to Saeko when he was playing in nearby Kobe.

Kano Kyoko (photo center, 44) has finally filed criminal charges against her younger sister. The elder of the “Gorgeous Kano Sisters”, Kyoko has been claiming since the start of the year that Oyama Harue (photo left, and her real sister as opposed to her usual sidekick Kano Mika, 39) absconded with jewelry, furniture and clothes worth hundreds of millions of yen. Her lawyer held a press conference yesterday and said Kyoko had filed embezzlement charges with Tokyo police on July 6, claiming the stolen items were worth ¥270 million and also that there was an accomplice involved. According to the lawyer, fraudulent appropriation by a non co-resident family member requires a formal complaint from the victim within six months in order to prosecute, meaning charges in this case had to be filed by mid-July. Rather than seeking the return of the stolen items Kyoko said, “I’ve never endured anything so hurtful as the suffering this case has caused. I want an honest explanation of why she betrayed me like this.” A lawyer for Harue, who worked as manager for the glamorous duo, said by fax that neither he nor his client had been contacted by police since February and that he did not think there were grounds for a criminal case against her. legal opinion is that, unless the charges are dropped, a court case is likely. Kyoko’s lawyer says that she and Kano Mika are prepared to appear as witnesses, and the possibility that the secrets behind the women’s mysterious wealth may come to light would make it the highest profile celebrity courtroom drama in years.

• Johnny’s Jimusho sure knows how to churn out the boy bands, and the hits. The latest teen act is Hey! Say! 7, so named as all members were born in the current Heisei era (2007 is Heisei 19). Their single “Hey! Say!” has entered the Oricon chart at No.1. With an average age of less than 15, they are the youngest male group to hit the top since fellow Johnny’s act Hikaru Genji in 1988. The group is actually made up of five members of the Johnnys Jr. troupe, who mainly perform as backing dancers for more established acts. As an indication of how big the youngsters could become, current superstars SMAP started out as backing dancers for Hikaru Genji.

• Speaking of SMAP, Kimura Takuya and fellow cast members walked a 50m red carpet yesterday at a PR event for the movie adaptation of his hugely successful TV drama “Hero”. The event was held at the Nippon Budokan and attended by 5,000 screaming – and very lucky – fans. Demand for tickets had been such that some 400,000 people were less lucky. First aired in 2001, “Hero” is the most popular drama series ever for Fuji TV and was revived for a special last year. The movie version will open on September 8 on something close to the record number of 461 screens nationwide currently showing “Saiyuki”, which stars fellow SMAP member Katori Shingo (30).

• The wife of lawyer and variety show regular Hashimoto Toru (38) has given birth to their 7th child. They now have three boys and four girls.

Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan (53) joined local actor Sanada Hiroyuki (46) on the red carpet for yesterday’s Japan premiere of “Rush Hour 3”. Several hundred fans turned at for the event, held at the Roppongi Hills complex in central Tokyo. Though the pair have been friends for some 20 years, it’s the first time for them to work together. Sanada has been building up a presence in Hollywood features in the last couple of years and is becoming more of a box office draw. He and Chan met up at the Shanghai International Film Festival last year and decided to do something together. “I’d like to work with Takakura Ken, with Kitano Takeshi,” said Chan. “I never had a chance to work with Kurosawa Akira. So now when I want to work with someone, I do it right away.” He had hoped to get Sanada on board for a new movie to be shot in Tokyo in October (provisionally titled “Shinjuku Jiken”) but was turned down due to a busy schedule. “Rush Hour 3” opens here on August 25.

• Actress Sakurai Atsuko (34) announced yesterday that she gave birth to her first child on Saturday. She married a TV Asahi producer in 2003.

• On Saturday, pop diva Hamasaki Ayumi (28) made her first public appearance since her split with Johnny’s Jimusho star Nagase Tomoya (28). At a PR event for the movie “Kaidan”, for which she provides the theme song, “Fated”, she wore a sleeveless top that would normally have revealed the “pair look” tattoo she and Nagase had on their right shoulders. But her tattoo has either been removed or was covered up with foundation.

Japan’s greatest postwar lyricist Aku Yuu died early yesterday morning of urethral cancer. He was 70. Real name Fukada Hiroyuki, Aku was born in Hyogo Prefecture and his experience growing up on the island of Awajishima became the inspiration for an award-winning novel that was also adapted as a movie. But he was best known as the man behind such songs as Pink Lady’s hits “UFO” and “Southpaw”, Miyako Harumi’s “Kita no Shuku Kara”, and over 5,000 other songs that spanned all genres. The combined sales of singles he penned reached almost 70 million. After working for an advertising firm, he made his songwriting debut in 1967 and quickly established himself as a writer of hit songs for enka, pop, and anime. He was often a judge on musical talent shows and helped launch the careers of the biggest names in the Golden Age of idol singers, including Pink Lady, Yamaguchi Momoe and Sakurada Junko. He appeared well at a party held in March to celebrate 35 years in showbiz of enka singer Ishikawa Sayuri, but he had been battling cancer for several years. He continued writing music even after his hospitalization on July 10 and penned several songs for the upcoming album by Nagisa Youko.

Japan Zone entertainment news will be updated on Monday, August 6.

Hollywood star George Clooney (46) showed his usual humor at a press conference in Tokyo yesterday. In town to promote his latest movie, he started off the “Ocean’s 13” press conference by introducing himself, “Hi. I’m Brad Pitt. I just look much older in person.” Among the reporters at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Tokyo’s Roppongi were comedy duo Dainoji. Wearing their trademark tiger pattern sweatshirts, Otani Nobuhiko and 2006 World Air Guitar champion Ochi Yosuke (35) asked Clooney, “As a world famous dandy, what do you think of this look?” To which Clooney replied, “Tiger shirts, nice! Show me the back!” When they asked if he’d cast them in the next sequel, he replied, “Sure, but there isn’t going to be an Ocean’s 14.” Later, when asked to describe his ideal women, he said, “A woman in a tiger shirt!” The Yoshimoto Kogyo duo praised Clooney’s comic skills, saying they’d love to get him on stage at the Yoshimoto theater. (George’s new look is “adapted” from the Reuter’s press conference images)

• Actor Yoshikawa Ginji (42) will not be prosecuted in the ongoing extortion case involving talento Haga Kenji (46). Yoshikawa was arrested on July 10 on suspicion of involvement in the June 2006 incident, in which several people are accused of strong-arming a real estate developer into dropping his claim on some ¥400 million in debts, but charges were dropped due to lack of evidence. Prosecution is continuing against Haga and three others, including a former world boxing champion.

• Actress Matsushima Nanako (33) revealed yesterday that she is pregnant with her second child. She and her husband, actor Sorimachi Takashi (33), have a 3-year-old daughter. With the baby due at the end of the year, Matsushima plans to continue working for the time being.

• 17-year-old Okinawa native Kishimoto Sesiru has been chosen to represent Japan in this year’s worldwide Elite Model Look competition. The annual event, which has launched the careers of such supermodels as Giselle Bundchen and Cindy Crawford, will take place in Turkey in November. Kishimoto was chosen as one of ten finalists from 3,000 original entrants. When asked what kind of model she wants to be, she said simply “I’d like for everyone to think I’m cute.”

It looks like J-Leaguer “King Kazu” just can’t stick to playing on the pitch. Today’s issue of the “Shuukan Josei” women’s weekly reports that at the beginning of July, Yokohama FC striker Miura Kazuyoshi (40) was spotted taking a week-long holiday in Los Angeles with a 31-year-old TV Asahi employee named only as “A-ko-san”. The daughter of a lawyer and a graduate of Sophia University and Tokyo University graduate school, she is also the ex-girlfriend of another renowned playboy, kabuki actor Ichikawa Ebizo (29). Kazu is married to actress and former model Risako (39) and they have two children. He is said to have met his new “bit on the side” through veteran idol singer Tahara Toshihiko (46) at a goukon party in June. As a member of Tokyo Verdy, Kazu was the biggest star on the biggest team of the J-League’s heyday in the early 1990s. He and other rampant egos like Ruy Ramos and Takeda Nobuhiro helped glamorize soccer in Japan but set a bad precedent that players have been following ever since.

• Due to popular demand, Johnny’s Jimusho boy band Arashi have added four dome dates to their ongoing nationwide tour. With 380,000 fans unable to get tickets for shows at Osaka Dome and Tokyo, two more concerts have been added at each venue in September and October. After yesterday’s show at Yokohama Arena, member Ninomiya Kazuya (24) apologized to fans saying, “If we had been given bigger venues to begin with, so many fans wouldn’t have been left out. But we’re not highly regarded at Johnny’s. I guess we rank about 8th!” The modesty may have been tongue in cheek, but the group do share a stable with the likes of SMAP, Tokio, Kinki Kids and V6.

• Okinawan rock band Orange Range have seen their two greatest hits albums enter the latest Oricon chart at No.1 and 2. Titled “Orange” and “Range”, the albums’ sales have pushed the group’s all-time earnings over ¥30 billion. On the singles chart, Otsuka Ai has her first No.1 in almost two years with “Peach/Heart”.

Illusionist Hikita Princess Tenko has made a “miraculous” recovery from the injuries she suffered recently. Wearing a Phantom of the Opera-style mask to hide her facial scars, she took to the stage at the Misonoza theater in Nagoya yesterday, just a week after “The Spikes of Death” trick went wrong. Though not life-threatening, the cuts, bruises and broken bones inflicted were initially said to require a month to heal. But, with a tear rolling down from behind her mask, Hikita said she never thought about canceling the Nagoya show. In a very rare talk with the audience, she said, “I didn’t have time to escape, and I thought I was going to die. One of the blades stopped just 1cm from blinding me.” Asked if she still felt any fear, she replied, “No, I’m fine. I rarely get a chance to rest for a week, so I was delighted.” She was released from hospital last Tuesday, two days after the accident, with her ribs taped up and is only able to perform thanks to painkillers. At yesterday’s two-part show, she performed her usual full routine of 12 illusions.

• Rock singer Mineda Kazunobu (29) has been dropping his pants again. This time the Ginnan Boyz vocalist is in trouble with the police in Taiwan, after he worked the crowd into a frenzy at a show in Taipei on Saturday night. After Mineda exposed himself, members of the audience stormed the stage. Though the singer says he didn’t mean to cause trouble, police say they are looking into prosecuting him for immoral behavior. Mineda was arrested in 2005 after going naked at an outdoor concert in Ibaraki Prefecture.

• Hollywood star George Clooney (46) was greeted by about 200 screaming fans when he flew into Narita Airport from Milan by private jet yesterday. He’s in Tokyo to promote “Ocean’s 13”, which has its Japan premiere on August 1.