Latest News from Japan Zone & Japan Store

Actor and comedian Seki Keiroku, a semi-regular in the “Otoko wa Tsurai Yo” (popularly known as “Tora-san”) movie series, passed away yesterday from pneumonia at a Tokyo hospital. He was 78. He first came down with pneumonia last September and had been in and out of hospital since. During a brief recovery, he made his last stage appearance at a theater in Asakusa, Tokyo’s old “shitamachi” (downtown district) whose strip clubs had been the launching pad of his career decades before. In June he moved to a “barrier free” house in the capital, but only spent a total of ten days in his new home. Seki made his name in the 1950s as part of the Asakusa-based comedy trio “Three Pockets” with Atsumi Kiyoshi (1928-96), who went on to play the role of Tora-san, and Tani Kenichi. The Tora-san series had 48 movies over a period of 27 years, making it the longest-running in the world. Seki played the role of Ponshuu in the first two movies, reappearing from #26 till the series ended. He also narrated the “Benny the Ball” character in the Japanese TV version of popular 60s U.S. cartoon “Top Cat” (known here as Doraneko Taisho).

• Talento Nakamura Yuma (36) has given birth to her first child in the U.S. Nakamura divorced from Maeda Koyo (38), formerly the leader of 80s Johnny’s Jimusho group Otokogumi, in 2003. In April she maried a 52-year old American lawyer and is currently living in Los Angeles. Maeda got remarried to comedienne Umihara Tomoko just this week.

• The latest issue of women’s weekly “Josei Seven” reveals that comedian Hamaguchi Yu (34) and popular talento Ogura Yuko (22) are romantically involved. The magazine photographed the couple walking Hamaguchi’s dog near his home. Hamaguchi is one half of the comedy duo Yoiko. His partner, Arino Shinya (34), married former talento Kitamura Yuko in February 2005. Ogura, popularly known as Yukorin, plays up her hyper-cutesy image and claims to be from the planet Korin.

The Paris Hilton carnival opened in Tokyo yesterday. The celeb (25) has been in town since Sunday, this time to promote her debut album “Paris” and until yesterday had been on her best behavior. But true to form, she was 30 minutes late for yesterday’s press conference, offered no apology or explanation and ended it pretty much on schedule. She then insisted on taking picures with a young female fan who managed to get among the reporters by claiming to be a writer’s assistant. A spokesperson for promoters Warner Music Japan said they basically had no control over the event. Hilton appeared at three different events in the capital. Asked for a reaction to her recently announced appearance in next year’s Guinness Book of World Records (she was voted least favorite and most overrated celebrity), she said she only cares about what her fans think and has no interst in the opinions of critics and journalists. Her solo album, which goes on sale today, is an eclectic mix including hip hop and reggae, and produced by Scott Storch, who has worked on hits for Beyonce, 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg.

• Talento Great Kitao (47) divorced his wife Asako in February, he announced on his official website yesterday. The couple had been married since 2002 but his work had kept them apart. Real name Suzuki Masayuki, he was a member of the Takeshi Gundan group of comedians who worked with Kitano “Beat” Takeshi. He appeared in Kitano’s 1999 movie “Kikujiro’s Summer”.

• Actress Okamoto Aya (23) has nothing to say about the recent drunk driving incident involving Nakamura Shido (33). The kabuki actor was stopped last month for running a red light and found to be over the alcohol limit, and it was later revealed that Okamoto was in the car with him. Nakamura has been married to actress Takeuchi Yuko (26) since June of last year. Okamoto was appearing yesterday at a PR event for the movie “Chikatetsu ni Notte”, when a reporter asked her about the incident. She just ignored the question. The movie due for release on October 21.

Japan Post yesterday announced a new service that allows you to make your own original postage stamps using photographs. Actress Yonekura Ryoko (31) appeared at an event to promote the service, posing for a photo with company president Ikuta Masaharu. She touted the “warmth” of hand-written letters and cards over their increasingly popular electronic alternatives. Using the new service, to be officially launched on September 1, customers can bring a photo to any post office and have a sheet of ten ¥80 stamps printed for ¥1200. The photo part of the stamp measures 4cm square and has a perforated edge so it can be removed from the main stamp. A similar product was launched unsuccessfully in 2003, shortly after Japan Post became a privatized company, which had the stamp and photo separated. The company hopes to sell 1.5 million sheets within this year. Also yesterday, Yonekura appeared at a PR event for the stage version of her popular TV Asahi drama series “Kurokawa no Techo”. Based on a novel from the late 70s, it has been dramatized several times over the years. The TV version starring Yonekura ran in 2004 and 2005. She will be making her stage debut in the new production, scheduled to open at the Meijiza theater on October 3.

• Actress Nishida Hikaru (34) has given birth to her first child in the U.S. She married a Japanese trading company employee in 2002 and they are living in California, where he works. Her management agency announced yesterday that she had a baby boy on August 18.

• Kabuki actor Nakamura Kantaro (24) has withdrawn from a tour of western Japan. The tour is part of a series of events in celebration of his father’s succession to the stage name of Nakamura Kanzaburo. Kantaro began suffering pain in the ligaments of his leg in June. His part will be taken by his brother Shichinosuke (23).

Those poor kids have to go through it all again! The final of the summer national high school baseball tournament, better known as Koshien for the stadium where it is played, will be replayed for just the second time in its 89-year history. NHK and TV Asahi have had to re-arrange their programming schedules to fit in this afternoon’s live broadcast. The first replay in 37 years will see West Tokyo representative Waseda Jitsugyo, trying to win its first title, battle once more against two-time reigning champs Komadai Tomakomai from Hokkaido. Both teams put out their star pitchers yesterday and played to a nerve-wracking 1-1, 15-inning tie. Amazingly, Waseda’s Saito Yuki pitched his third complete game in three days, yet another example of the punishment young baseballers have to endure before they even turn pro. Does he have to go through it all again today?

• Former baseball star Ishii Hiro (42) revealed at the weekend that he is soon to remarry. The popular infielder, who now runs a restaurant in Yokohama, is engaged to model and “race queen” Funaki Kae (30). They appeared on yesterday’s NTV show “The Sunday” to say they’d be tying the knot next week. He met the former Miss Yokohama at the end of 2003, several months after his divorce from singer Okamura Kyoko (44), with whom he has a daughter. Ishii’s pro career started in 1989 to 2002, and he played for four teams, including the Yomiuri Giants, before ending with the Yokohama Bay Stars in 2002.

• 80s idol singer Yasuhara Keiko (36) announced on her blog yesterday that she is expecting her first child. A member of the idol trio Shojotai from 1984-89, she went on to become a narrator. She married in 2003.

• One step ahead is former Olympic medallist Kotani Mikako (39), whose management agency announced yesterday that she had her second baby on August 12. Kotani won a bronze medal in synchronized swimming at the Seoul Olympics in 1988 and is now a sports commentator. She married former sprinter Sugiura Yusaku in 1999.

Actress Matsushima Nanako (32) has her first major movie role since starring in the horror classic “Ringu” nine years ago. She was in Tokushima City recently as filming started on “Bizan”, based on the novel by singer/songwriter Sada Masashi (54). Last week’s location shot saw 2,500 Tokushima residents join several hundred extras in a recreation of the city’s famous Awa Odori festival dance, which features in the movie’s closing scene. The drama centers around a daughter and mother (Miyamoto Nobuko, 61, in her first movie in 10 years) who is battling with terminal cancer, and a young doctor, played by Osawa Takao (38). Matsushima herself became a mother in 2004, when she and actor Sorimachi Takashi (32) had their first child. “Bizan” is scheduled for release next summer.

• Talento and opera singer Mori Kimiko (47) says she will split her time between work and caring for her hospitalized husband (50), who was recently involved in a traffic accident. Mori revealed during a TV interview on Thursday that her husband had been in a crash late on the night of August 13, when his car collided with a motorbike and resulting in a serious head injury. He was taken to the intensive care unit at a nearby hospital in central Tokyo. He and Mori have been married since 2001.

• Russian pop duo tATu angered Japanese fans when they failed to turn up for a scheduled performance yet again. The pair were suppose to appear at a small live house in Nagoya on Friday night. But when they reached the 300-capacity venue and found that only about 50 fans were waiting, they drove away. The incident was a reminder of a similar “dotakyan” (sudden cancellation) back in June 2003. (See earlier story)

Veteran movie director Yamada Yoji (74) has said that he won’t be making any more samurai movies. After spending the best part of a career directing comedies at the helm of the record-breaking “Otoko wa Tsurai Yo” series, he took a radical change of direction with 2002’s “Tasogare Seibei” (The Twilight Samurai). He followed up that huge success with two further period dramas, with the third part of his “trilogy” based on novels by Fujisawa Shuhei, “Bushi no Ichibun”, due for release in December. Yamada made his announcement this week at a PR event for the movie with former Takarazuka actress Dan Rei (photo, 35), who makes her big screen debut in the film alongside SMAP star Kimura Takuya (33). Yamada described her as a “breathtakingly beautiful acress”. She retired from the all-female Takarazuka theater troupe in January 2005.

• Some old news from singer/songwriter Hiramatsu Airi (42), who revealed this week that she and producer Shimizu Nobuyuki (46) divorced in August of last year. They married in 1994 and had a daughter two years later.

• Happier news for actor Uchino Masaaki (37) and actress Ichiro Maki (41), who revealed this week that they got married at the end of July. Ichiro, like Dan Rei a former top Takarazuka star, is expecting a baby within the year. The couple met in 2000 when they co-starred in the stage musical “Elizabeth”. Ichiro is currently taking a break from work, while Uchino is set to appear in next year’s taiga historical drama series on NHK.

• Talento Seto Catherine (29) also announced this week that she is married. Her 26-year old husband is a Japanese company employee, whose work means that he’s based in Edmonton, Canada. Seto didn’t reveal how long they have been married, only that they first met eight years ago.

Johnny Depp has a rival in Hong Kong. Japanese movies don’t tend to fare too well in that particular market, but the manga adaptation “Death Note” had an impressive opening day that was almost on a par with the latest in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series. Starring popular young actor Fujiwara Tatsuya (photo, 24), it pulled in over a million Hong Kong dollars on August 10, far more than any Japanese movie of recent years. And on a per-screen basis it did even better than the Hollywood blockbuster. The success isn’t so surprising in light of the fact that the original manga sold over 12 million copies, and the Chinese translation also did well in Hong Kong. Several companies are said to be sniffing around Nippon TV, producers of the project, and a Hollywood remake is definitely on the cards. The movie is the first of two parts, with the second scheduled to open in October. (More about the movie in an earlier story)

• Actor Maeda Kouyou (38) has remarried, this time to comedienne and fellow divorcee Unabara Tomoko (34). The pair tied the knot yesterday, Maeda’s birthday. He is a former member of the Johnny’s Jimusho group Otoko Gumi, which debuted in 1989 and broke up in 1993. He married actress Nakamura Yumi in 199, but they split in 2003. Nakamura married an American 16 years her senior in April. The Osaka-based Unabara was married to a TV producer from 2000 to 2003.

• The career of actress Kinoshita Ayumi (23) is coming along nicely. Best known for her role as Deka Yellow in the Deka Rangers TV series, she has her first starring role in the upcoming movie “Master of Thunder”. The movie also sees action legends “Sonny” Chiba Shinichi (67) and Kurata Yasuaki (60) facing each other for the first time. At a recent PR event for the flick held in the geek mecca of Akihabara, a fan of Kinoshita got so excited that he was arrested after a fight with a security guard.

On Saturday rock trio Remioromen played an unusual venue fitting a band of growing stature – a runway. The group, who made their breakthrough with last year’s smash hit “Konayuki”, played to 30,000 fans at the Japan Aeronautical School in their home prefecture of Yamanashi. The stage was set up on the school’s 850m runway, meaning fans had no shelter from the summer heat. But a thunderstorm and heavy rain shortly before the show was scheduled to start soon dampened their spirits. There were doubts as to whether the show could go on, but after an hour the weather cleared and the band took the stage. They played a set of 21 songs including their other hit, “Stand By Me”. The elements came through for their encore as the clouds cleared enough for Mt. Fuji to show its face behind the stage. The group’s latest album “Horizon” has sold over 850,000 copies and they are set to go on a 9-city nationwide tour at the end of the year.

• Two men were arrested outside the Nissan Stadium in Yokohama on Saturday for trying to sell tickets to the SMAP concert. The young couple they were trying to sell to turned out to be plainclothes police officers. The “dafuya” (ticket touts) were trying to sell a pair of tickets at face value as the concert had already started. They were said to be “unemployed”, the usual description for yakuza, and from Tokyo.

• Violinist and talento Takashima Chisako (37) is pregnant with her first child. Married since 1999, the cousin of actor brothers Takashima Masahiro and Masanobu is expecting the baby next February.

Yoshimoto Kogyo talento Sumitani Masaki (30) stepped out of character yesterday just long enough to announce that he is now married. As he is better known as Razor Ramon HG (Hard Gay), some fans may have been surprised by his August 8 marriage to fellow talento Suzuki Anna (23). Such is the popularity of the HG character that has been almost constantly on the variety show circuit over the last couple of years. But according to his new mother-in-law, the whooping, hip-thrusting character couldn’t be further from Sumitani’s true self. When he asked for her daughter’s hand, “he spoke so quietly that he had to repeat himself three times before I could hear him.” The couple met last autumn and started dating around the end of the year when they found they had a similar sense of humor and a shared interest in pro wrestling. They plan to hold a modest wedding ceremony in the fall.

• Also going for the modest approach were musician and Hello! Project founder Tsunku (37) and his wife, a former model (25), who held their wedding ceremony at a Kyoto temple yesterday. The couple were accompanied only by their parents and the weding is thought to have cost about ¥300,000. As Tsunku is a follower of the Jodo Shinshu sect of Buddhism, they chose to have their ceremony at the Nishi Honganji temple. The couple were first introduced by a mutual friend last summer and registered their marriage in June.

• Singer Oginome Yoko (37) gave birth to a baby girl at a Tokyo hospital yesterday. It is the third child for the former idol singer and her husband, former pro tennis player Tsujino Ryuso (37). The couple married in 2001.

“Dirty Old Man” is the title of the latest single from Southern All Stars, and it’s sure to be yet another hit for Kuwata Keisuke and his veteran band. But a good publicity stunt never did hurt the sales figures. Yesterday, Tokyo’s Shibuya district saw the arrival of a group of 10 guys wearing the same mysterious outfits as on the single’s jacket cover – watermelon heads, skin-colored body suits, and straw hats covering their crotches. The fruit is one of the familiar symbols of summer here in Japan and plays a part in a popular beach game known as suika wari, or “split the watermelon”. SAS are due to take part in a summer special on Fuji TV on August 20 and will appear at a two-day outdoor festival at Hamanako Garden Park in Shizuoka Prefecture on August 26-27.

• Pop duo Tackey and Tsubasa made an unannounced appearance at Jingu Stadium yesterday. They performed their new single “Ho! Summer” before the start of the Yakult Swallows-Yomiuri Giants baseball game. They also took part in the ceremonial opening pitch, with Imai Tsubasa (24) pitching to Takizawa Hideaki (24). Veteran player/manager Furuta Atsuya (41) was behind the plate and called the count for a strike. The Giants went on to beat the Swallows 8-4 for their first string of three consecutive victories in two months.