Latest News from Japan Zone & Japan Store

Actor Watanabe Fumio, a star in many movies by Oshima Nagisa (72) and a TV regular, died yesterday in a Tokyo hospital of acute respiratory failure. He was 74. In the 1950s and 60s, he appeared in such Oshima films as “Ai to Kibo no Machi” (Town of Love and Hope, 1959) and “Seishun Zankoku Monogatari” (Cruel Youth, 1960). In his forties, he began to work mostly in television. He starred in such TV shows as “Kuishibo Banzai!” and “Renso Gemu”. The former made him a household name as he travelled the country sampling regional foods, a standard type of show these days.

• Namesake actor Watanabe Ken (44) has hinted he may move to Hollywood following his invitation to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. More details of his upcoming Tinseltown project, Batman Begins, have also come to light. His character, Ra’s Al Ghul, is central to the development of a young Bruce Wayne into the caped crusader. Once again, Watanabe will have a shaved head as he did in The Last Samurai. Is he the new Yul Brynner?

Another twist in the Avex saga. President Yoda Tatsumi (64) has resigned, leaving the door open for Matsuura Masato (39) and Chiba Ryuhei (40) to return. Taking over as president will be Kobayashi Toshio (39), formerly an executive director, but it is presumed to be only temporarily, until Matsuura assumes the post. Top artist Hamasaki Ayumi (25) is expected to stay with the label, after earlier saying she would leave amidst the accusations (for more details, see earlier stories this week).

• Impersonator Corokke (41) announced during a show last night that he and his estranged wife are back together.

• Folk singer Yoshida Takuro (photo, 58) had to stop halfway through a performance in Tokyo last night. The singer, who became a big star in the 1970s, was diagnosed with cancer last year. He recovered well enough to play a comeback tour last autumn, and had recently started another.

Record company Avex is in a state of chaos following the sudden announcement by managing director Matsuura Masato (39) and executive director Chiba Ryuhei (40) that they are quitting. The pair addressed company employees at an emotional morning assembly yesterday, and said the problem was chairman and president Yoda Tatsumi (64). Yoda criticized Chiba for pursuing personal profit from a few big artists. Chiba tearfully denied any fault, while Matsuura complained that Avex had lost its love of music and said he wanted to start over. They have the support of many staff who also said they would quit. More significantly, the label’s top star, Hamasaki Ayumi (25), has already said she’s off, too. The company’s share price went into freefall until trading was suspended.

• Ironically, Hamasaki’s announcement came on the same day her new single topped the Oricon chart. It is her 20th hit to go straight to the top. On the album chart, rock group Porno Graffitti’s Greatest Hits “Blue” and “Red” have grabbed both the top two slots, the first time the feat has been achieved since Mr. Children in 2001.

• Rock band The Yellow Monkey have formally broken up. They have been inactive since a concert at Tokyo Dome in 2001, but finally decided to call it a day last month. They made their major debut in 1992 and released 8 albums. &

The woman known as the “Japanese Liza Minelli” and “Little Dynamite” has died. Shuri Eiko was a popular jazz singer who enjoyed success in Las Vegas in the 1960s. She was 56. With a powerful voice, expressive body language and beautiful legs, she was a sensation on her return home. She had a big hit with “Kitakuni Yuki de” in 1972 but later became better known for sudden cancellations and neurosis. She married her manager in 1978 but they later divorced. She had been in poor health in stop-any-disease.com.

• Having already formed their own unit “W” in March, Kago Ai (16) and Tsuji Nozomi (17) officially “graduated” from Morning Musume last night. They made their final appearance as members of the unit as the Hello! Project summer tour came to a close in front of 12,000 fans in Yoyogi, Tokyo. The pair are both short, baby-faced and look almost like twins. They joined the group together in April 2000 and have been inseparable since. Their departure sees Momus reduced to a mere 14 members…for now. “W” will start their own Japan tour in a week, while Momus will start theirs a couple of weeks later.

Matsuura Masato (39) has stepped down as managing director of Avex, the company he established in 1988. He also plans to resign as vice president in October. The reason given was a difference in vision for the business side of operations. The avextrax record label became huge with a Eurobeat focus in the 1990s, producing such acts as Amuro Namie (photo, 27), Hamasaki Ayumi (25), Every Little Thing and TRF. But the company has seen sales decling in recent years, buoyed only by the contined popularity of a few top stars like Hamasaki and Amuro. Matsuura set up the company, then known as Avex DD, as a CD import business straight after he graduated from college. He released the first album, a Eurobeat compilation, in 1989 and set up avextrax in September of that year.

• Former badminton player Jinnai Kimiko (40) and her husband, former baseball player Kaneishi Akihito (43) have been the victims of crime again. Their luxury car was broken into on Friday night and a bag containing jewelry was stolen. Jinnai was stabbed by a burglar in their home, while they were still engaged, in 2001.

Popular entertainer Kosaki Kazuki (48) is currently recovering at his Tokyo home following surgery for cancer. It was announced a few days ago that he would be stepping down temporarily from his regular afternoon show “Gokigenyo” but the reason was only made clear yesterday. A tumour was removed from his neck and was found to be malignant. The always bouncy Kosakai anoounced that he plans to return to work by September.

• Rock group Glay played to fans at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka last night, the prelude to their main show tonight with an expected attendance of 100,000! The band from Hokkaido are celebrating their 10th anniversary this year with Glay Expo 2004, after having been a bit quiet in the last couple of years. The project was two years in planning and cost ¥2 billion. Glay like to put on a big show – they played a venue in Tokyo in 1999 that pulled in 200,000 fans.

The new Miyazaki Hayao animated feature “Hauru no Ugoku Shiro” (Howl’s Moving Castle) is to be entered in competition at this year’s 61st Venice International Film Festival. The festival opens on September 1, and along with Cannes and Berlin is one of the major events of world cinema. Miyazaki’s latest is considered a prime contender for the Golden Lion award, the top prize at the festival, especially as he took the Golden Bear at the 2002 Berlin Film Festival and the 2003 Best Animated Feature Film Oscar with “Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi” (Spirited Away). The film is based on a book of the same name by Diana Wynn Jones and is in the classic fairy tale style, with witches and wizards…and a moving castle. As is usual with Miyazaki’s films the central character is a young girl. The project was originally to be directed by Hosoda Mamoru but after he abruptly quit, Miyazaki took over the reins. The film is due for release in November.

More information at Nausicaa.net

Veteran actor Shimojo Masami, who played the role of the uncle of Tora-san in the film series “Otoko wa Tsurai yo” (It’s Tough Being a Man), died of pancreas cancer Sunday at his Tokyo home, his son, actor Shimojo Atomu (57) announced yesterday. He was 88. He took the role of Ryuzo Kuruma, known as Oi-chan, the uncle of itinerant peddler Torajiro Kuruma, nicknamed Tora-san, from the 14th movie in the Yamada Yoji-directed series in 1974 through the last and 48th in 1995.

It was revealed yesterday that popular TV personality Yuusuke Santamaria (33, real name Nakayama Yuusuke) recently got married. He is to make a formal announcement today at the Fuji TV center in Odaiba, Tokyo. Sources say the couple had been going out for four years and the new bride is a beautiful 35-year old company employee. Yuusuke has had a very busy schedule this year, appearing as a regular on several shows and the TBS drama series “Home Drama!” and his health has been said to be suffering. Yuusuke made his debut in 1994 as the vocalist of the “latin rock” band Bingo Bongo. After the band broke up in 1997, he made his breakthrough in the TV cop show “Odoru Daisosasen” (Bayside Shakedown). The movie version later became one of the biggest Japanese box office hits ever.

• Writer Nakajima Ramo died this week. As reported here on July 22, Nakajima was hospitalized after a drunken fall down a flight of stairs. He was 52.

The new single by Southern All Stars has gone straight to the top spot on the Oricon singles chart. The double-A side “Kimi Koso Staa Da/Yume Ni Kieta Julia” is the band’s 39th Top Ten release, which gives them sole possession of first place in the record books. In second place is 80s idol singer Tahara Toshihiko with 38 followed by The Alfee, still active and with 37 hits to their name. Sharing fourth place with 35 Top Ten entries are SMAP and Zard, both still going strong.

• Singer Saijo Hideki (photo, 49) is to be a dad for the third time. His wife Miki is four months pregnant. She is said to want another child, but after fathering three children in as many years, Saijo says he’s had enough and just wants to live long enough to see his kids reach adulthood at 20.