Latest News from Japan Zone & Japan Store

Several stories today with a common theme – making a fresh start.

Three members of the popular female group AKB48 performed in Tokyo yesterday to mark the release of their debut single as the spinoff unit French Kiss. Made up of Kashiwagi Yuki (19), Takajo Aki (18) and Kuramochi Asuka (20), the trio performed “Zutto Mae Kara” at a movie theater before a special screening of a drama by the same title. During a stage interview, Kuramochi told the gathered 400 fans she had been scolded by her father, former pro baseball pitcher Kuramochi Akira (58), after her attempt to throw out the ceremonial opening pitch at Jingu Stadium on Tuesday.

Kane Aims to be the Asian Bond
Actor Kane Kosugi (35) says he hopes the new action role he has lined up will become the Asian version of James Bond. Provisionally titled “Silent Storm,” the movie is a joint production between Japan, the US, South Korea and Hong Kong. “In a suit, he will look like a regular office worker. But he’s actually a spy and kung fu expert. I want to create a strong hero figure using just the power of kung fu, without CG or wire action.” The search is on for a director and scriptwriter, but Kosugi will the role of producer for the first time. He hopes filming will get underway this winter.

Kane, the son of famed Hollywood ninja Sho Kosugi, has been established on Japanese TV for a decade. Though he has appeared in several overseas productions, most recently working on location in China, he has yet to make a major breakthrough internationally. On the private side, he got married to a Hong Kong beauty (32) last November.

A Girl for Hitori, Ohsawa
Comedian Gekidan Hitori (33) and talento Ohsawa Akane (25) became parents for the first time yesterday. Management for the couple (photo left), who got married in February 2009, said the proud parents have named their baby girl Senka. Osawa plans to return to work after a short maternity break.

Hama-chan to Play Rookie Detective
Comedian Hamada Masatoshi (47, photo center) has his first leading role in a TV drama series in 9 years. He will also play a detective for the first time in TV Asahi’s “Keiji – Onijima Heihachiro.” The title character is a 44-year-old company man who becomes a detective following the death of his sister. With his worldly experience, he brings a new perspective to the fight against political corruption and organized crime. Hamada will be supported by actress Uchida Yuki (35, photo right), who recently played a police role in the summer blockbuster “Odoru Daisosasen 3,” and Nishimura Masahiko (49). The drama is adapted from Ikebe Katsumi’s manga about a special prosecutor at the Tokyo District Court.

Fukatsu Eri (37) has won the Best Actress award at the 34th Montreal World Film Festival for her role in the movie “Akunin” (Villain). On Monday she thanked the festival in three languages, saying “Arigato, merci beaucoup, thank you so much.” Modest as always, she added, “I think this is an award given to the (movie’s) entire staff. I am very happy.” Fukatsu was in Canada along with the film’s director, Lee Sang Il (36), and Tsumabuki Satoshi (29, photo right), who played the title role. The movie was screened on the second-to-last day and received a standing ovation. It is scheduled for release in Japan on September 11.

Fukatsu is just the second Japanese actress to win the award and the first since Tanaka Yuko (55), who starred in “Amagi Goe” in 1983. But Japanese movies have been doing well at the festival in the last couple of years. Okuda Eiji’s “Nagai Sanpo” (A Long Walk) won the Grand Prix in 2006 and two year’s later Takita Yojiro’s “Okuribito” (Departures) took the top award. And Terajima Shinobu (37) won the Best Actress award at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival for her role in “Caterpillar.”

The trial of former actor and singer Oshio Manabu (32) continues this week. Already charged and tried for drug offenses, he is currently on trial for his involvement in the death of 30-year-old Ginza hostess Tanaka Kaori. In August of last year, the two took MDMA (ecstasy) at the luxury Roppongi Hills apartment of a friend, but when Tanaka lost consciousness Oshio called his manager rather than the police or an ambulance. Against his manager’s advice Oshio repeatedly refused to call for an ambulance, and it was 3 hours before medical assistance was finally requested, by which time Tanaka was beyond help.

Oshio’s former girlfriends and manager were among the witnesses called to the stand as prosecutors built a case around an image of Oshio as pressuring others to use drugs. This flies in the face of his own claims of innocence and that he used but did not supply drugs. Izumida Yusuke (32), a friend of Oshio who has been given a 1-year prison sentence in a related case, said he supplied the MDMA pills that are believed to have killed Tanaka just two days before her death. In text messages between the two, the drugs were referred to as “amino acids.” The trial at the Tokyo District Court is the first celebrity case to be held under the recently introduced lay judge system.

Nezu Jinpachi (62, photo left) has decided to retire from his long and successful acting career. The decision was announced by his wife Kimika (47) on today’s edition of the TV Asahi show “Super Morning.” He has been hardly since since he was sidelined by health problems in 2002. A fatal traffic accident in July 2004 and further health problems led to depression. His decision to retire was due to a loss of confidence in his acting ability. His wife says he plans to continue working as a ed-inform.net.

Nezu made his acting debut in a theater group in 1969. He had a few years of TV and movie experience before landing a part in the popular 1978 taiga historical drama on NHK. He later went on to work several times with the legendary Kurosawa Akira, including major roles in “Kagemusha” (1980) and “Ran” (1985).

175R Calling It Quits
Also calling it quits, at least temporarily, are the rock quartet 175R (photo right). They announced today that after their December tour of Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka, they will be taking an extended break. In a statement, the band said, “We aren’t taking it as a negative thing, but as a chance to polish our individual skills.” Made up of Shogo (vo), Kazya (g), Isakick (b) and Yoshiaki (dr), the group formed in 1998 and made their major-label debut in 2003. They had their first Oricon No.1 the same year with “Sora ni Utaeba.” Their sixth and most recent original album, “Japon,” was released earlier this year but only made No.55 on the chart. Shogo (30) was married to Speed member Imai Eriko (26) from 2004-07.

Tough guy actor Yasuoka Rikiya (63) underwent a liver transplant yesterday, with the donor being his son Rikito (24). The two were taken to the operating room on the morning of August 30. About 65% of Rikito’s liver was removed and transplanted to his father, who spent a total of 39 hours in surgery. Rikiya was diagnosed with a form of paralysis known as Guillain-Barré syndrome in 2006. But he made his return to work in an appearance on the TV Asahi talk show “Tetsuko no Heya” in April. He also worked on the movie “Oh! My Brother,” which is due for release in November.

Rikiya made his movie debut in 1964s “Jidosha Dorobo” (The Car Thieves) and went on establish himself as Japan’s most famous potrayer of hulking gangsters.

Living donor liver transplants began in Japan in the early 1990s and there are currently about 500 such procedures annually.

Their relationship has been known for some time, but still the media did a double take yesterday when it was revealed that comedian Fujimoto Toshifumi (39) and talento Kinoshita Yukina (22) have tied the knot. They are said to have registered their marriage at a Tokyo municipal office on August 28. The couple first met on the set of the Shimada Shinsuke-hosted Fuji TV variety show “Quiz! Hexagon II.” They are expected to make the first public announcement of their marriage on tomorrow’s edition of the show.

Their romance was first reported in the spring of last year, though partly due to the 17-year age difference it was often assumed to be a joke. Another reason is the wacky image promoted by Fujimoto, popularly known as Fujimon and one half of the Yoshimoto comedy duo Fujiwara. Yukiina, as she is usually called, is immensely popular with the young female demographic. When she got her TV break on Hexagon in 2008 she was a popular fashion magazine model, but her off-the-wall answers on the quiz show quickly earned her a place as one of the show’s “o-baka kyara” (idiot characters).

Troubled singer Kahara Tomomi (36, photo left) has had another…health episode. Currently on an extended break from her career, she was taken to a Tokyo hospital in the early hours of Sunday morning after a suspected drug overdose. Kahara got in the back of a taxi near the Kabukicho entertainment district of Tokyo around 1am on Sunday but was unable to tell the taxi driver where she wanted to go. As he was unable to wake her up, the driver called the police for help. They found she had a temperature and called for an ed-pills24.com to take her to a nearby hospital. She didn’t appear to have been drinking.

Kahara was involved in an almost identical incident last year and it was reported at the time that she had taken an overdose of prescribed tranquilizers. This time, though she had the same pills in her possession, she insisted to police she hadn’t taken any medication. The incident comes about a month after she was taken into protective police custody when she was found walking the streets of Tokyo in a half-comatose state. These are just the latest in a series of what could be categorized as “cries for help” that have marked the long decline of a once-successful J-pop career.

Kahara was one of the most successful acts in the stable of producer Komuro Tetsuya (51, photo right) in the mid-1990s, with a series of chart-topping singles and albums. The two became romantically involved but there were rumors of drugs and other problems, and when their relationship ended, so did Kahara’s success. Suicide attempts followed and she became a poster girl for how the ruthless J-pop industry spits out its fallen idols. She tried in recent years to make a comeback and was visible in the media on and off, but sales have only been a tiny fraction of what she achieved in her heyday. She was fired by her talent agency in June 2007 after repeated personal problems. Komuro’s arrest and trial for fraud in 2008 is also said to have had a major impact on Kahara’s mental state.

The TV highlight of the weekend was the 33rd annual edition of NTV’s 24-hour telethon, “24-jikan Terebi – Ai wa Chikyu wo Suku.” And as usual, the main event was a long-distance run by a celebrity. This year, “new half” talento Haruna Ai (38) became the first transsexual to take on the challenge. She was reduced to tears when her father was surprise guest on Saturday night, and again when she was welcomed by her mother at the Nippon Budokan on Sunday having completed the 85km run in 25 hours 40 minutes. The gruelling run its toll not only on the knees but also on Haruna’s makeup, and she arrived looking a lot more like the Onishi Kenji she was originally named.

Johnny’s Jimusho group Tokio were the first to host the show for a third time, having last done the job back in 2003.

Another Johnny’s star was in pain over the weekend. Ueda Tatsuya (26) of the group KAT-TUN broke the big toe of his left foot during a concert in Taipei, Taiwan on Friday. But he still performed a second show on Saturday and flew back to do a solo concert in Hiroshima last night.

Romance is back on again between Tamaki Hiroshi (30) and Kato Rosa (25), according to this week’s issue of the gossip magazine “Friday.” The magazine even reported that they were seen in the company of Kato’s mother, so you know it must be serious! The two actors were first reported as a couple back in the autumn of 2004 but split up in 2007. They both got involved in other relationships, Kato with Johnny’s Jimusho heart throb Akanishi Jin (26) and Tamaki most recently with young actress Yoshitaka Yuriko (21). But in July and this month they were spotted driving around town together again. Management for the actress insist that the two are just good friends, while Tamaki’s agency refused to comment.
Related stories:
Yoshitaka Dumps Tamaki for Flumpool Bassist? (Apr. 15, 2010)
Romance for Rosa and Jin? (Jul. 27, 2007)

Wedding Party for Ebi-chan, Ilmari
Popular model Ebihara Yuri (30) and Rip Slyme member Ilmari (35) held a wedding party in central Tokyo yesterday. The couple tied the knot last December and held their wedding ceremony in Paris in June. Yesterday’s event was attended by about 200 people, including a host of celbrities including actor Sakai Masaaki (64) and singer Bonnie Pink (37), who gave a surpise performance of “A Perfect Sky” that reduced the bride to tears. Ebi-chan showed off her own wedding dress design, decorated with no less than 6,000 Swarovski crystals. She joked how her new nickname would have to be Ogi-chan – her Helsinki-born, half-Finnish husband’s full name is Ogiwara Ilmari Keisuke.

Puppet Master Dies at 85
Pioneering puppet animator Kawamoto Kihachiro died of pneumonia on August 23, it was reported yesterday. He was 85. He started out with the Toei movie studio but went freelance in 1950, and a few years later was part of the group that created Japan’s first puppet animation, based on a Kirin Beer mascot character. In the 1960s, he traveled extensively in eastern Europe and studied under the Czech master Jiri Trnka. In his later years, Kawamoto was the creator of such popular NHK shows as “Sangokushi” (1982-84) and “Heike Monogatari” (1993-95). His last work was an adaptation of the novel “Shisha no Sho” (Book of the Dead) in 2005. In 2007 a museum celebrating his work was opened in the city of Iida, Nagano Prefecture.

Just a week after losing her father, actress Shinohara Ryoko (37) had a happier announcement yesterday. She is to play the lead role in an upcoming Nippon TV drama series about tax investigators. Starting in October and airing on Wednesday nights, “Ougon no Buta” (The Golden Pig) features Shinohara in her first drama starring role since she became a mother. Her last lead was in 2007’s “Haken no Hinkaku.” NTV have described the new series as a modern version of the long-running “Mito Komon.” The show also stars Oizumi Yo (37) and Okada Masaki (21).

Shinohara said of her father, who died on August 17, “For me, he was my biggest fan and the person who understood me better than anyone. I want to devote myself to my work and hope that my father will be smiling down on me.”

Oguro Maki to Take Medical Break
Singer songwriter Oguro Maki (40) is to take an indefinite break to undergo treatment for a variety of uterine diseases. She announced on her website that she will continue working until the end of October. She said that her medical problems have been getting progressively worse since they were first discovered at the end of 1996.

Oguro made her debut in 1992 and has had had a series of hits such as “Da-Ka-Ra” and “Natsu ga Kuru.” She married in 2003.