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The media have been surprised at the reletively light punishment given to Fuji TV staff involved in the recent scandal where an underage member of the popular group News was detained by police for drunken behavior. The group had been special guests in Sendai at a game played by national women’s volleyball team, after which the 18-year old was taken out dining and drinking by Fuji TV staff till the early morning. The company said that announcer Kikuma Yukino (33) and nine others will have their salaries docked. Kikuma will not appear on her regular morning show slot this week, and may be removed from the show altogether. The station received thousands of calls from irate viewers and many thousands more complaints on its website after the incident became known, most complaining that the punishment was too light. The case is so high profile that even the Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission made a public statement condemning both the behavior of the adults involved in the incident and the company’s response. Meanwhile, the 18-year old’s place in the 8-man group has been taken by Taguchi Junnosuke(19), a member of fellow Johnny’s Jimusho group Kat-Tun.

• Talento and former pin-up girl Megumi (23) was briefly admitted to hospital yesterday following a car crash on Sunday. She was being driven between work assignments by her manager when the accident occured. Megumi suffered bruising and is expected to take a brief break from her many drama and variety show commitments.

A veteran of over 300 movies, Osugi Ren (53) is to finally get the spotlight all to himself. In “Life on the Longboard” he will play his first sole starring role, as a man who feels lost after taking early retirement, only to find a new lust for life in surfing. Osugi has had starring roles a couple of times before, but always sharing the limelight with at least one other actor. The “man of many faces” was the natural choice for director Kita Ichiro, even though he had no experience of surfing. Normally, an actor would have time to learn the ropes before shooting, but a tight schedule meant Osugi had just five hours, and that was in between shoots! But the high-school soccer star still managed to get the first wave-riding shot done in the first take. He has since added surfing to his interests listed on his official website. The movie, which incidentally is Osugi’s tenth this year, is scheduled for release in mid-August.

• Another veteran back in the spotlight is singer Wada Akiko (55), whose latest single has set a new record. “Loop in my Heart/Hey!” her collaboration with popular duo m-flo, has entered the Oricon singles chart Top 10 at No.9, more than 33 years since she last made the Top 10 with “Yoake no Yume” in February 1972. The previous record of 22 years and one month was held by the Carpenters.

• Meanwhile, entering at No.1 for the fourth consecutive time are young boy band News with “Teppen.” (One of the younger members of the group was briefly taken into police custody last week for underage drinking. Fuji TV announcer Kikuma Yukino (33), who is reported to have encouraged the 18-year old to go drinking, has had to step down from her regular morning show.) Ketsumeishi kept the No.1 spot in the album chart for the third week with “Ketsunopolis 4”.

Today is the Umi no Hi (Marine Day) national holiday.

• Comedian Ayanokoji Kimimaro (photo, 54) married the former president of his agency, it was revealed on Saturday. The “mandan” stand-up comedian and his new wife have both been divorcees for some time and have been living together for years. Her son took over her position as president early in the spring, allowing the couple to finally tie the knot. Ayanokoji became an “overnight star” a couple of years back after a long career, first in his native Osaka and later in Tokyo. His distinctive look and sharp one-liners had won him a growing and loyal following among middle-aged housewives. But it wasn’t until their support helped make his CD the first comedy album to make the Oricon charts Top 10 in 2003 that the media finally put him in the spotlight.

• Another marriage just revealed: actress Ogawa Noriko (31) recently married a 53-year old TV company employee. A fax was sent out to the media yesterday saying that Ogawa and Yoshida Akio registered their marriage on July 1. The couple have been friends since Ogawa appeared in a TBS drama produced by Yoshida when she was just 13. She has been playing the daughter of the veteran detective “Hagure Keiji Junjoha” in the long-running TV Asahi series for 18 years. This is her first marriage, while Yoshida is a divorcee and father of two children.

Comedian Hata Yoku (30), who rose to fame last year as the Guitar Samurai, recently made his US debut. He appeared before 200 locals at the Frederick Loewe Theatre in New York, making jabs at George W. Bush, Mariah Carey and Michael Jackson in his broken English. Hata spent the last two months practicing his language skills. He explained his catchphrases to the audience in advance, with “seppuku” being “harakiri” and “…tte iun janai” as “that’s what you say.” “I’m glad I went,” he said. “Next, I’d like to go to Italy and France!” Asked if he wasn’t worried about being sued for speaking his mind in the US, he said, “Well, I don’t have a million dollars, so I’ll just leave that to my agency to sort out!”

• The Tokyo District Court on Friday rejected a slander lawsuit by two executives of the Johnny’s Jimusho talent agency. Fujishima Julie-Keiko and Fujishima Mary-Yasuko each sought ¥11 million in damages from the publisher of the “Josei Shukan” magazine. An article in the September 2003 issue of the women’s weekly magazine reported a rumor that the pair had received “favorable treatment” as regular customers of a high class Tokyo boutique. The judge said that the article may have exaggerated the favorable repayment terms given to the two, but as the article was reported as a rumor, it could hardly have “lowered their social image” as they had claimed.

• Meanwhile, a juvenile members of the Johnny’s group News was taken into protective custody yesterday after being found drinking in a park in Sendai. As he was uner the legal drinking age of 20, police gave him a severe warning before releasing him. He did not appear on the following evening’s edition of “Music Station” with his fellow group members. The 8-member group are currently among the most popular in the all-male Johnny’s stable of idol groups, and have had a string of No.1’s in the year or so since their major debut. They were in Sendai as “special supporters” of the Japan women’s volleyball team, who played Canada in the World Grand Prix on Friday.

Former idol singer Hori Chiemi (38) is making a comback after 18 years. The mother of five children will release an album of new recordings, “Hori Chiemi ’80s Idol Songs Collection,” on the Pony Canyon label on September 7. The album is a collection of covers of hits by other 1980s idols, such as Koizumi Kyoko, Hayami Yu and Matsumoto Iyo. There is also a bonus track, which is a medley of her own hits. This is in addition to a greatest hits album, which will go on sale September 20. She will also play her first solo concert since 1987 on September 17 in Osaka, and another on the 24th in Tokyo.

• The son of legendary animator Tezuka Osamu is to put one of his most popular creations on the big screen. Tezuka Makoto (43) is to make an animated movie version of “Black Jack,” a tale of two rival doctors. Osamu Tezuka drew on his knowledge as a physician in writing the stories, which first appeared in the Shukan Shonen Champion weekly manga. A TV anime series based on the popular manga has been a hit on NTV since last October. The movie version is scheduled for a December 17 release. “Black Jack” ranks alongside “Tesuwan no Atomu,” “Hi no Tori” and “Junguru Taitei” as one of Tezuka’s masterworks. (There was an earlier movie version of Black Jack in 1996, directed and written by Tezuka protege Dezaki Osamu)

• The TV ratings of the one-almighty Yomiuri Giants baseball team continue to spiral downwards. The latest record low was a paltry 6% audience rating for their July 13 night game against the Chunichi Dragons, which they lost 12-2.

Celebrity Otoha (24) was named as the first student at the new Gaba “learning studio” in Ginza on Tuesday. Speaking at the PR event to promote the opening of the school, the pin-up “idol” said she hopes to develop enough English conversation ability to be able to interview Hollywood stars and to travel abroad alone. This despite the fact that she and popular comedian Takashi Fujii (33) recently gave a highly publicized press conference to announce their engagement. They will hold their wedding reception on July 30. Fujii has become even more visible in the last couple of years with his Matthew Minami character, even appearing alongside Bill Murray in the Hollywood movie “Lost in Translation.”

• Showbiz all-rounder Kitano “Beat” Takeshi (58) is to be a grandfather for the second time. His son Kitano Atsushi (24) has been dating Office Kitano talento Takada Yuko (29), who is eight months pregnant, for 5 years but the couple are not yet married. Takeshi’s daughter Shoko (22) had a baby girl in March.

• Former TV Asahi drama producer Katsuta Kozo died of stomach cancer this week. He was 76. He was best known for popular period dramas, such as “Dai Chushingura,” starring the late great Mifune Toshiro and several seasons of “Toyama no Kin-san.”

Popular scriptwriter Mitani Koki (44) is to direct his third feature film. “The Uchoten Hoteru” (The Ecstasy Hotel) will be his first directorial project in four years, and with a cast that includes respected actors Yakusho Koji (49) and Matsu Takako (28), it’s sure to be another hit. The romantic comedy tells of a series of characters at a plush central Tokyo hotel who gather for a New Year’s Eve countdown. Mitani’s previous movies were “Rajio no Jikan” (1997, Radio Time) and “Minna no Ie” (2001, Everyone’s House). The new movie is scheduled for release next spring.

• Fukawa Toshikazu (39), a former member of the 1980s idol trio Shibugatai, made a rare appearance yesterday. “Fu-kun” was a guest judge at an event to choose an image girl for pachinko maker Sanyo. Together with celebrity choreographer Kaba-chan (36) and comedian Maeda Ken (34), he formed a one-day-only unit called Ocean’s 3. Shibugatai — Fu-kun, Motoki “Mo-kun” Masahiro and Yakumaru “Ya-kun” Hirohide — were one of the first and most popular male idol groups in the Johnny’s Jimusho stable. Mo-kun is a familiar face in movies and TV commercials and Ya-kun presents the TBS morning show “Hanamaru Market.”

Popular pro wrestler Hashimoto Shinya, known as the “King of Destruction,” died yesterday at a Yokohama hospital of a brain haemorrhage. He was just 40. While a high school judo star in his native Gifu Prefecture, he lost his mother to the same condition. He became a poster boy in the golden age of Shin-Nihon Pro Wrestling in the early 1990s. Later he formed his own organization, “Zero One,” before retiring in November of last year and undergoing shoulder surgery. He had a history of heart problems, including an irregular heartbeat, and recently had been suffering from sleep apnea.

• Soul balladeer Hirai Ken (photo, 33) is to provide the theme tune for the upcoming Fuji TV drama special “Tsumiki Kuzushi Shinsou.” The show, scheduled to air on September 2 and 3, will feature last year’s single “Omoi ga Kasanaru Sono Mae ni,” which was used in a tie up for Toyota’s Corolla Fielder TV commercial. This is the seventh time for a Hirai song to feature as a theme tune.

Actor Takashima Masahiro (39) and his fiancee, theater actress Sylvia Grab (30), will hold their traditional wedding ceremony in Kyoto on July 20. The ceremony will be held at the Shimogamo Shrine, a World Heritage Site that is open to members of the public for such ceremonies. They will then travel with about 50-60 guests for another ceremony and reception in Hawaii. The couple gave a press conference to announce their engagement last December and originally planned to only have a ceremony in Hawaii, as Grab is studying in Boston. She is the daughter of a Swiss father and Japanese mother.

• Singer Hitomi (photo, 29) looks to be making a big comeback. Very popular a few years ago, she pretty much disappeared from the media except for an occasional TV show. Now she’s everywhere again. With a new single, “Love Angel,” coming out August 24, she put on combined fashion show/concert yesterday in Tokyo featuring her own designs.

• The Shinjuku Plaza movie theater is the only cinema in japan that has shown all six episodes in the Star Wars seies. The theater welcomed its 1 millionth Star Wars viewer yesterday. The 26-year old company worker and his girlfriend received a Darth Vader figure and a signed photo of actor Hayden Christensen.

• Rap-metal band Rize and hip hop duo Def Tech played a joint gig at the Shibuya branch of Tower Records yesterday. About 150 fans were chosen by lottery from over 5,000 hopefuls for the event. The bands are both on the same Tensaibaka Records label. Def Tech released their smash debut album in January, becoming the first indie band to sell 1.5 million copies. Rize are on something of a comeback after their brief rise to fame a few years ago.

South Korean actress Choi Ji Woo (29) has cancelled a 3-day visit to Japan on doctor’s orders. The actress was hospitalized on Wednesday after collapsing at her home, reportedly from exhaustion. She was scheduled to arrive yesterday for a reception in honor of the ongoing Japan-South Korea friendship year and to attend a press conference in Tokyo. TBS announced just days ago that it plans to work with South Korean companies to produce a TV drama series starring Choi and local heart throb Takenouchi Yutaka (34). It will be the first time for Choi to appear in a Japanese drama, though she has legions of fans here following the huge success of “Winter Sonata,” in which she starred alongside Bae Yong Joon (32), better known as “Yon-sama”. The drama, tentatively titled “Rondo,” will start filming in November – mostly in Tokyo and partly in Seoul – and is scheduled to go on the air between January and March 2006. It may also be shown on South Korean TV. Some of the buzz surrounding the popularity of Korean dramas has faded, but they remain popular among the middle-aged female audience and are still being aired regularly on several networks.

• It was revealed yesterday that the disease afflicting popular rakugo storyteller hayashiya Kompei (62) is multiple sclerosis. A regular on the NTV show “Shoten,” he was hospitalized between August last year and this May, and is said to be on the road to recovery.

• Ann (19), the model daughter of Hollywood actor Watanabe Ken (44), attended a party in Tokyo yesterday given by French watchmaker Piaget. The popular show and magazine model revealed that she will make her first appearance at the Paris Fashion Week this autumn. “It’s a dream come true for me,” she said. “It’s my No.1 priority right now.”