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John Woo’s spectacular Chinese epic “Red Cliff” is to open this year’s 21st Tokyo International Film Festival on October 18. The production is the biggest movie ever made in Asia, with a budget estimated at ¥8 billion ($80 million), though it was beset by more than a few casting problems. It has already recouped much of that, appearing in theaters across Asia in early July and setting a new opening-day box office record in China. “Red Cliff” is based on a one of the most famous battles in Chinese history, in which a million soldiers fought and thousands of ships were burnt. The biggest scenes involved 2,000 actors and crew members, and around 1,300 special effects are used. Woo (62) and cast members including star Tony Leung (46) and local actors Kaneshiro Takeshi (34) and Nakamura Shido (35) are expected to walk the red carpet in Tokyo in October. The festival will open with the movie’s first of two parts, which is scheduled to open in Japan on November 1, and runs to two hours and twenty minutes. The second part is expected to open across Asia in December (in Japan in the spring of 2009), at which time a condensed version of the full story will also be released in the West.

• Two of Japan’s celebrated playboys are in the weeklies again. The latest romantic rumors about comedian Tamura Atsushi (34) of the duo London Boots tie him to actress Nakagoshi Noriko (28). The pair were spotted out driving together recently, according to today’s issue of weekly magazine “Friday.” Management for both celebrities insist that they are just friends. And popular kabuki actor Ichikawa Ebizo (30) was recently spotted out on a date by reporters for “Josei Seven” magazine. He has said publicly that he is romantically involved, and the magazine described his latest flame as looking like popular actress Inoue Mao. The two were seen dining out in Tokyo, after which they returned to Ichikawa’s apartment.

The Hollywood stars in Tokyo this week include Cameron Diaz (35) and Ashton Kutcher (30), in town to promote the romantic comedy “What Happens in Vegas.” The pair were at the Imperial Hotel yesterday for the movie’s Japan premiere press event. The story revolves around a drunken decision to get hitched in Las Vegas, and Diaz said she’s only ever had one drink-induced blackout – it came when she was 16 and working as a model in Japan. She clearly still loves the place as she’s been here the last six years running. Kutcher is here for the first time and is accompanied by his wife Demi Moore (45). The movie opens on August 16.

Also at the Imperial Hotel yesterday were Brendan Fraser (39), Michelle Yeoh (46) and Isabella Leong (20), here for the premiere of “The Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.” Fraser was in comical mood for the event, but remembering his leading man persona quipped, “I am the luckiest man in Japan to be sitting between the two most beautiful women in existence. Thank you!” On stage, Yeoh was delighted to receive a birthday cake one day early. Known in Japan as “Hamanaputra 3,” the movie opens on August 16.

• The recent scandals involving TV personalities in extra-marital affairs took a unexpected twist yesterday. When a Fuji TV announcer was caught in the act at the end of June, TBS president Inoue Hiroshi (68) said such things wouldn’t happen at his network. But just days later, TBS announcer Aoki Yuko (25) was on the verge of resigning over just such a scandal (though she reversed her decision two days later). And today’s issue of weekly magazine “Shuukan Shinchou” claims that the latest philanderer is none other than Inoue himself. The magazine includes photos of Inoue and a woman said to be in her early 40s holding hands as they leave a Tokyo restaurant at the end of July. For several nights running, the woman visited Inoue’s home in Meguro, while his wife lives at their other home in Bunkyo ward. Inoue claims that the woman is an interior decorator and was helping him redesign his home. TBS have so far refused to comment on what they describe as a private matter.

• Last night Johnny’s Jimusho idol group KAT-TUN finished their nationwide tour at the Tokyo Dome. They are first Japanese artists to ever play four consecutive nights at the 55,000-seat venue. Only Sting has played there four nights in a row, in his solo heyday back in 1988.

• The daughter of rock legend Yazawa Eikichi (58) launches her own music career today. With Yoko (22) on vocals and the backing of heavyweight label Avex, new band The Generous will no doubt attract plenty of media attention. Their first release, “Himitsu no Basho” – a piano-based ballad and a long way from Ei-chan’s brand of rock – is available from today as “chaku-uta” mobile phone download. A mini album is scheduled for release at the end of October, with a debut single likely in early 2009. Yoko is said to have first aspired to a singing career in her early teens, when she spent six years in Los Angeles. At that time she received voice training lessons from Seth Riggs, the vocal coach for such stars as Madonna and Ray Charles. She returned to Tokyo in 2004 to study at Sophia University but continued to perform and record demos. Quite a different start from that of her father, who arrived in Tokyo from Hiroshima in 1968 with a guitar and ¥50,000 in his pocket.

• Actress Sendo Akiho (39) has had her first child. She announced yesterday on her official website that she gave birth to a baby girl on Monday. She and her husband (35), who is also the president of her management agency, have been married since 2000.

It’s no surprise to see that young Johnny’s Jimusho idol group Hey! Say! Jump are on top of the latest Billboard Japan singles chart with their third release, “Your Seed/Bouken Rider.” The single has been used in the local tie-up with the hit Dreamworks animated feature “Kung Fu Panda.” And it was announced this week that four of the group’s 10 members are to share the top of the bill on a TV drama series for the first time. Nakajima Yuto (14), Chinen Yuri (14), Yamada Ryosuke (15), and Arioka Daiki (17) will reprise their high school student roles from the NTV spring special “Sensei wa Erai” in a season-long series starting in October. Provisionally titled “Scrap Teacher,” it has the same storyline of the group of students who help turn around the fortunes of failing teachers. Johnny’s acts, including SMAP and Kinki Kids, have dominated the male idol scene for a generation, turning out group after group with a monotonously successful track record.

• Meanwhile, Amuro Namie (30) is back on top of the charts. Her first hits collection in six years, “Best Fiction,” has entered the latest Oricon chart at No.1. With over 680,000 copies sold already, it’s the strongest start by an album this year and is likely to reach the one million mark. Meanwhile, y

Popular mangaka Akatsuka Fujio died of pneumonia on Saturday afternoon. He was 72. The creator of such famous manga as “Tensai Bakabon” and “Osomatsu-kun,” Akatsuka was considered the pioneer of the so-called “nonsense gag manga.” Born in Manchuria to a soldier and a former geisha, he reurned to Japan after WWII. Influenced by Tezuka Osamu’s manga “Lost World,” he decided to move to Tokyo to take up the profession. From 1962 he wrote manga for the “Shonen Sunday” magazine and had his first major success with “Osamatsu-kun” (photo). He went on to win many top manga awards, and was recognized by the government for his cultural contributions in 1998. Never one to take himself or his work very seriously, that same year he famously enjoyed a glass of whiskey during a press conference to announce that he had cancer. The jokes couldn’t hide that he was an alcoholic, who refused to give up drinking even as he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. But in the intervening ten years he outlived two wives, his first wife passing away just a week ago. Their daughter Rieko is said to be totally devastated by the loss in quick succession of both parents. Akatsuka’s second wife, Machiko, nursed him following a stroke in 2002, but herself died suddenly of a brain hemorrhage in 2006. Akatsuka had friends across a wide spectrum of the showbiz community, and famously first introduced top comedian Tamori to the world of afternoon TV.

• TBS announcer Aoki Yuko (25) has reversed her decision to quit the network. She said during her regular slot as assistant on the “Sunday Japon” morning show that, though she had spent the last month stressed and worried about the decision, she has decided to stay on. Asked whether a magazine story, due to be published today, about an extra-marital affair had anything to do with her stress, she refused to comment. The story claims she’s been having an affair with a married TBS director, and as we reported here last week it wouldn’t be a first for Aoki.

• Singer Kitade Nana (22) made another overseas appearance on Saturday, this time at the AniMagic convention in Bonn, Germany. She performed eleven songs, including her latest “Punk&Babes,” for an audience of about 3,000. The singer, known for her Gothic Lolita (Goth-Loli) fashion, has performed at similar events in Hong Kong, Baltimore and Paris the last four years. She made her European CD debut last month, releasing the album “Cutie Bunny.”

• Hip hop unit Kick The Can Crew made their first appearance in four years at the weekend’s Rock in Japan Festival. During the solo performance by member Kreva (32), he was joined on stage by Little (32) and MCU (35) and the trio performed a couple of their hits.

Popular TV announcer Aoki Yuko (26) has decided to quit the TBS network before she gets into trouble again. A regular on six programs, including the popular “Sunday Japon,” Aoki has already handed in her resignation ahead of a scandalous magazine story expected to appear next week. Sources say the network is trying to dissuade her from resigning. Aoki is scheduled to sing during the half-time show at tonight’s baseball All-Star game, and will no doubt be grilled by the media. The Keio University graduate joined TBS in 2005, but within a year she had got herself into trouble. She was caught having an affair with a 32-year-old married director on the “Sunday Japon” show, and he was kicked off the show. In May, she revealed that she was dating a director on the “Akashiya-san Channel” show. The assumption is that she’s been caught having an affair again. And the timing is bad, given the hundreds of complaints from Fuji TV viewers as announcer Watanabe Kazuhiro (32) continues to appear following the revelation of an affair.

• Comedian Hide (37) of the duo Penalty is a father for the first time. His management agency announced yesterday that his wife gave birth to a baby girl on July 27. The couple married on the fortuitous July 7, 2007 (7/7/7).

• Canadian musician Karl Wolf (30) performed for 500 fans at Shibuya 109 in Tokyo yesterday. The Lebanon-born singer is on his first visit to Japan, where his album “Bite the Bullet” and the single “Africa” have enjoyed success. The Japanese media describe him as a native of Dubai, where he spent much of his youth.

A couple of old groups announced this week that they are brushing off the cobwebs. Legendary rockers Kai Band said that they are to embark on their first nationwide tour since they broke up 22 years ago. The group have since got back together on and off and did a brief tour in 2001, but at the end of last year there was huge fan interest in a re-release of the band’s back catalog, a hits album and a one-off concert in Tokyo. A ticket for that show was sold on an online auction site for ¥400,000. Prior to the October start of their Japan tour, the band will release a pair of concert DVDs. The band’s first ever video release, they will footage of a famous 1981 show at the Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Stadium. The band was formed in 1974 by leader and vocalist Kai Yoshihiro (photo, with guitarist Tanaka Ichiro). Their biggest hits include “Uragiri no Machikado” and “Hero.”

• Pinkii to Kirazu (Pinky and the Killers) are a five-member group that formed in 1968. With their trademark bowler hats, they immediately broke through with the hits “Koi no Kisetsu” and “Namida no Kisetsu.” Last night in Tokyo they performed together for the first time since their 1972 breakup, when vocalist Kon “Pinky” Yoko decided to go solo. At a press conference to announce their temporary re-formation yesterday, Kon said of the breakup, “I was just 20 at the time and very full of myself. I was just a kid.” In recent years she has worked mainly as a TV and stage actress. The group will make a live appearance on an NHK concert in mid-September, and they say they are aiming for a slot on the network’s annual “Kohaku Utagassen” special on New Year’s Eve. They appeared on the show each year from 1968-71.

Japan will have a strong presence at this year’s Venice International Film Festival. The latest works from Kitano Takeshi (61), Miyazaki Hayao (67) and Oshii Mamoru (56) have all been chosen to compete for the top prize. Miyazaki’s “Gake no Ue no Ponyo” (Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea), and Oshii’s “Sukai Kurora” (The Sky Crawlers) are the only animated features among the 21 entries. It’ll be the first visit to Venice for both anime directors in four years. Miyazaki’s “Hauru no Ugoku Shiro” (Howl’s Moving Castle) had its world premiere at Venice in 2004, winning the Golden Osella Award for Technical Achievement, while Oshii’s “Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence” was entered in the main competition. Meanwhile Kitano will be hoping that his latest, “Akiresu to Kame” (Achilles and the Tortoise), can achieve the success of 1997 Golden Lion winner “Hana-bi.” All three directors are planning to attend the festival which runs from August 27 to September 6. Oshii will be accompanied by the main voice actors in his film, Kase Ryo (33) and last year’s Oscar nominee Kikuchi Rinko (27). Actor Odagiri Jo will also be on screen, appearing in Lik-wai Yu’s multinational film “Plastic City.”

• Hollywood stars Edward Norton (38) and Liv Tyler (31) were in Tokyo last night for the Japan premiere of “The Incredible Hulk.” Norton, who lived in Japan for several months in the mid-1990s, greeted the audience with, “Osaka no tomodachi, ookini,” which translates as “Hi to my friends in Osaka.” Directed by Louis Leterrier, the movie opens here on August 1.

The mood was a little tense at yesterday’s Japan premiere of “The Dark Knight.” The latest Batman feature has been a runaway success since it opened in the U.S., but the image of its star, Christian Bale, has been damaged by recent reports from London. Bale attended last night’s event at the Tokyo International Forum but his handlers ensured that questions from reporters did not broach the subject of his questioning by British police after his mother and sister filed assault charges against him. The actor is in Japan for the fourth time, accompanied by his wife and daughter, and is scheduled to give a press conference today. The movie opens here on August 9.

• Comedian Tamura Kenji (35) had to adopt a very different persona yesterday as he gave a press conference to apologize for an incident of food poisoning at one of his restaurants. Tamura, who performs in a loin cloth, aviator shades and carrying a dancing lion puppet, donned a gray suit as he apologized for the incident that led to the closure of the Nagoya branch of his Sumibi Yakiniku Tamura chain. Four customers suffered food poisoning and one was briefly hospitalized after eating at the restaurant, which was closed by Nagoya city authorities yesterday. Tamura apologized to reporters and TV cameras, bowing deeply and saying the incident was the result of his naivety regarding the hazards of serving raw food products during the hot summer months.

• Fuji TV announcer Watanabe Kazuhiro (32) used company funds to pay for an extra-marital affair, according to a weekly magazine. The story in today’s issue of “Shuukan Asahi” claims that Watanabe, who got married in July of last year, met the woman while on location in western Japan. He used his company expense account to pay for her to come to Tokyo. Fuji CEO Toyoda Kou, speaking at a regular press conference, said he had been informed that there was no basis for the story and that it wouldn’t affect plans for Watanabe to be sent to Beijing to cover the upcoming Olympics.

• Japan-based Brazilian stage actress Marcia (39) is to return to her recording career. She won a newcomer award following the success of her debut single, “Furimuke Yokohama” in 1989 and was one of the top ballad singers of the early 1990s. But she released her last single in 1998 and has since been working in stage musicals. The daughter she had with her ex-husband, actor Otsuru Gitan, is now 10 years old, and Marcia says she’s ready to get back to what she loves. She hopes to perform in Brazil and on NHK’s annual New Year’s Eve show “Kohaku Utagassen.”

Game software Capcom have cut Yamamoto Mona (34) out of their latest TV commercial. The freelance announcer is suspended from work following a magazine story that claimed she was having an affair with baseball star Nioka Tomohiro (photo). Capcom’s ad for the PSP game “Monster Hunter Portable 2ndG” went on air on July 21 featuring Yamamoto and several other celebrities. But a re-edited version has been aired since last Thursday.

Meanwhile Kitano “Beat” Takeshi was in full comedy mode yesterday for the Fuji TV’s “FNS 27-jikan Terebi” telethon. He, the telethon’s main emcee Akashiya Sanma, and others recreated their 1980s TV heyday and all its associated mayhem as the broadcast came to a close. Takeshi is Mona’s main “sponsor,” as she is represented by his Office Kitano agency and he supported her through a similar scandal last year, and last night he finally spoke about the story, saying “The magazine said I was furious about the whole thing. The fact is I was delighted by the publicity, but I could hardly say that.” The reality is that Takeshi and Sanma are so popular and have so much influence that the rules are bent or even broken on their behalf. So it’s likely that Mona will be back on TV screens before too long.

• On Saturday Sato Yosuke (40) of the duo Coil suddenly dropped out of a music festival that was mainly a tribute to the artist. Sato took part in the opening ceremony of the 10th annual Augusta Camp event at the Seibu Dome in Saitama Prefecture, but was taken to hospital before he had a chance to perform. No details were given regarding his condition. The festival features acts that are with the Office Augusta agency, including such names as Yamazaki Masayoshi (36) and Kyoko (47). Sato had planned to be on stage with each act through the day, as this year also marks the duo’s 10th anniversary. Performing partner Okamoto Sadayoshi (42) performed a shortened set of Coil songs. All the artists performed together as “Fukumimi” and, together with the 30,000 fans, wished Sato a speedy recovery.

• Even as popular baseball drama “Rookies” drew to a close on Saturday, TBS announced that it is far from over. There will be a TV special sometime in the autumn, followed by a movie next spring. The series aired in a new time slot for dramas, 8pm on Saturdays, and got a respectable if not spectacular audience rating of 14.3%. But as an indication of the series popularity, more than 22,000 people turned out for a DVD launch event in central Tokyo on Saturday, hours before the final episode was aired. The original manga, which sold over 17 million copies, finished with the baseball team members as high school juniors. Next year’s movie will follow them through to graduation (via a trip to Koshien perhaps?).

• Tokyo police revealed yesterday that they recently arrested a man for making online death threats against comedian Ohta Hikari of the popular duo Bakusho Mondai. The man, identified as Saitama Prefecture native Ozawa Tadahito (32), said he wrote the threats on popular message board 2Channel in response to Ohta’s criticism of similar use of the Internet by the man who later went on a killing spree in Akihabara, central Tokyo last month.

• Rakugoka and talento Shufukutei Tsurubei (56) became a grandfather over the weekend. He announced the news during the Fuji TV 27-hour telethon. His son Suruga Taro (30), guitarist and vocalist with the band Sleepydog, got married in the spring.

Professional wrestler Sakata Wataru (35) and talento Koike Eiko (27) held a lavish wedding reception in Tokyo yesterday. The event at the Prince Park Tower Tokyo hotel was attended by about 420 people. Koike wore a white dress by Japan’s top bridal designer Katsura Yumi, and showed off her 3-carat diamond ring by luxury Swiss brand Audemars Piguet. Among the celebrity guests were wrestling-showbiz couples Takada Nobuhiko (46) and actress Mukai Aki (43), and Masato (29) and talento Yazawa Shin (27). Though she got her start as a busty pin-up model, Koike later enjoyed considerable success on comedy and variety shows, and the wedding guests also included comedians such as Bakusho Mondai. Highlights of the event will be broadcast on TBS tomorrow evening. The newlyweds, who were first introduced by the late wrestler Hashimoto Shinya, actually tied the knot back in August of last year.