Latest News from Japan Zone & Japan Store

The trend for Hollywood remakes of Japanese horror flicks looks set to continue. The latest plan is to do a new version of last year’s hit “Chakushin Ari” (One Missed Call). Directed by Miike Takashi (44), it starred Shibasaki Kou and had the tag line of “Death cannot be put on hold…” The new movie was announced at a press conference Saturday for the Japanese sequel, which stars up and coming actress Mimura (20) and Seto Asaka (28). As with the original, “Chakushin Ari 2” is based on the keitai culture, with a “chaku-melo” (ring melody) signalling imminent death.

• The US anime “Hi Hi Puffy YumiAmi” is to make its way across the Pacific. Starring the pop duo Puffy, the series has been a hit since last November on the Cartoon Network. It will air in Japan on the SkyPerfect satellite channel from November. There’ll be a chance to get a sneak preview at next month’s Tokyo International Anime Fair.

Fuji TV announcer Umezu Yaeko (27) recently married a director at the same company, less than two months after they started going out. Not surprisingly, she is expecting a baby in September. Deguchi Takao (30) is a direcor of variety shows, and was an american football player in college. Umezu is a regular on several shows, including the long-running afternoon variety show “Waratte Ii Tomo.” When a marriage takes place soon after a couple meet, it is referred to as a “speed kekkon” or just “speed kon.” In this case it’s a “cho speed kon” (super fast marriage).

• Celebrity Rikiya (57) is in a Tokyo hospital and has undergone surgery for cysts on his liver. He is expected to make a full recovery and return to work in a couple of months. His large physique and deep voice make him perfect for gangster roles, which he has played in many TV shows.

Enka singer Mori Masako (photo, 46) collapsed at her Shibuya, Tokyo home on Tuesday night and was rushed to hospital. Doctors gave a press conference and said she was suffering from cerebral anemia and insomnia. She had taken a number of hormonal pills for the treatment of menopause shortly before she collapsed. She was found by her 15-year old son, who called his father. Her husband, enka singer Mori Shinichi (57), spoke to the media yesterday and flatly denied that it had been a suicide attempt. &$149; Singer Utada Hikaru (21) announced on her web site that she will invite some Japanese fans to a PR live event in New York on February 23. Five pairs will be chosen by lottery from her site’s mailing list to spend three nights in NYC. She is hoping to put some momentum back into her launch into the US market, where her October 2004 debut “Exodus” failed to make an impression.

Actress Miyazawa Rie (31) has added another award to her already impressive collection. At the Blue Ribbon Awards, voted by reporters for several Tokyo newspapers, she was chosen as best actress. She won for her role in “Chichi to Kuraseba” (Living With Father), set in Hiroshima at the time of the atomic bombing. The best actor award went to Terao Akira (57) for his performance in “Hanochi,” a movie based on a bestseller about a man who murders his wife. Terao worked several times with the legendary Kurosawa Akira. “Dare mo Shiranai” (Nobody Knows) was selected as best picture, and also received an award for director Koreeda Hirokazu.

• Minorikawa Tadao, father of TV celebrity Mino Monta, (60) died Tuesday of pneumonia at a hospital in Kanagawa prefecture. He was 90. Mino is one of the most popular emcees on Japanese TV.

Some of Japan’s best acting talent has been lined up for the new Hollywood movie “Sayuri,” a dramatization of Arthur Golden’s bestseller “Memoirs of a Geisha.” Directed by Rob Marshall (44) and produced by Steven Spielberg (57), the movies includes stars such as Watanabe Ken (45), Yakusho Koji (49) and Kudo Yuki (34). All were on hand at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo on Monday for a press conference. The title role will be played by Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi (25).

• Manga writer Chusonji Yutsuko died Monday of colon cancer at a Yokohama hospital. She was 42. She became famous during the bubble economy in the late 1980s for her manga featuring the “oyaji gal” phenomenon – young women who enjoyed pursuits, such as golf and pachinko, that were considered the reserve of midle-aged men.

The big news story of the week has been the arrest of young kabuki actor Nakamura Shichinosuke (21), son of Nakamura Kankuro (49), one of the biggest names in kabuki. Early on Sunday morning, a drunken Shichinosuke refused to pay an ¥8,000 taxi fare near his home in Tokyo’s Bunkyo ward and the driver reported him to the nearby koban (police box). After a chase of several hundred meters he was caught by a police officer. The young actor punched him, breaking his glasses, and was arrested on the spot. It wasn’t until he was taken to the koban that he realized what he had done. A very forlorn looking Nakamura appeared at a televised press conference yesterday to apologize after he had been released on probation. “I have muddied my father’s reputation and I am deeply sorry,” he said. “it has been said that my father spoiled me, but this is entirely my own doing.” He is to be confined to his home for the rest of this month. On Saturday night he had attended a party to mark the beginning of events to commemorate his father taking the stage name Nakamura Kanzaburo in March. His father also gave a press conference and apologized profusely. His succession to become the 18th Kanzaburo is a big event in the traditional theater world. The first official commemorative event was to have started today, but has been cancelled.

• Iida Kaori (23), the second leader of Morning Musume, has officially left the group. ‘Kaorin’s sotsugyo (graduation) took place at the Yokohama Arena, where Momus finished their latest tour. Yaguchi Mari (22) will take over the leadership role.

Singer Go Hiromi (49) has taken his ex-wife Nitani Yurie (40) to court. The weekly magazine Shukan Post reported that Go has sued his ex at the Tokyo District Court for ¥20 million in damages for failing to uphold the terms of their 1997 divorce. Go claims that Nitani has denied him visitation rights to their two daughters and has allegedly misued the ¥150 million she received from Go in child support.

• Outrage at public broadcaster NHK continues unabated. After his resignation as chairman following a long period of scandals, Ebisawa Katsuji was offered a consultant position with the company. The offer was rescinded by new chairman Hashimoto Genichi, who apologized in a televised press conference, when NHK was flooded with angry telephone calls. The result is that even more people are refusing to pay their subscription fees.

• “Tony Takitani”, a rare film adaptation of a story by best-selling author Murakami Haruki, opened Saturday. The critically acclaimed film stars Issey Ogata (52) in the title role and Miyazawa Rie (31) in dual roles. Directed by Ichikawa Jun, it picked up three awards at last years Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland and was entered for this month’s Sundance Film Festival, which ends today.

Actress Koizumi Kyoko (photo, 38) was involved in a minor hit and run incident in Tokyo this week. She hit a newspaper delivery man’s scooter parked on a narrow road in Meguro ward early on Wednesday morning, but didn’t stop. The man noted the registration number and reported the incident to the police. On Friday, Koizumi paid him minor compensation for damage to the scooter.

• Yoshimoto comedian Takada Akinori (47), better known as Hanshin of the manzai duo All Kyojin Hanshin, was involved in a collision with a scooter in Osaka on Friday. The bike rider suffered a broken leg when he was thrown after hitting Takada’s car, which was making a right turn. Police are still looking into the case.

• Mochida Kaori (26), vocalist of pop group Every Little Thing, has come down with acute bronchitis and has had to cancel two concerts in Hokkaido.

Shimizu Takeshi (32) is to direct “The Grudge 2,” the Hollywood remake of his own hit horror movie. “Juon 2” was released in Japan last summer. The Sarah Michelle Gellar version of the 2002 original first movie pulled in $110 million at the US box office last autumn. It was the first time for a Japanese-directed movie to make the No.1 box office ranking for two weeks running. That project got the green light after “Spiderman” director Sam Raimi saw the Japanese version, and Raimi has been encouraging Shimizu to go for a sequel.

• Former sumo star turned talento Konishiki (41) spent almost a month in hospital over the New Year, according to a statement by his wife Chie on his official web site. He was hospitalized on December 23, just three days after his younger sister died in Hawaii of a heart attack.

SMAP‘s Kimura Takuya (32) is coming back to the Monday 9pm “Golden Time” slot again. The new Fuji TV drama series is yet to be titled, but Kimutaku will play a racing driver who finds romance. His legions of fans have boosted ratings for such successful series as “Love Generation”, “Gift”, “Good Luck!” and “Pride.”

• The trial of disgraced former talento Tashiro Masashi (48) came to an end yesterday at the Tokyo District Court. He was arrested last September for drug possession, his fourth arrest. He has put on about 18kg in the subsequent five months. Prosecutors asked for a prison sentence of four years and six months, saying he had a history of repeated offences. Sentencing will take place on February 7.