Japan Academy Award-winning movie “Ashita no Kioku” (Memories of Tomorrow) is set to open in the U.S. later this month. Despite his long career, Watanabe Ken (47) made his debut as a leading man in the movie and he was also executive producer of the project. Since it opened in Japan in May of last year, he has been jetting round the world promoting it to foreign buyers with the same passion he showed during the domestic promotion campaign. As he is based in Hollywood these days, a U.S. release was his main priority. His recent work on Hollywood productions, most recently Clint Eastwood’s “Letters From Iwo Jima”, and his appearance as a presenter on the Oscars have opened a lot of doors for him. The story of “Ashita…” is about a successful middle-aged marketing executive and his wife as they struggle to deal with his early-onset Alzheimers, a theme that resonates beyond national borders. There’s also fact that, despite lacking the support of a TV network that is behind most Japanese movies, the feature made a solid ¥2.2 billion at the box office and received five Japan Academy Award nominations. Watanabe won for the first time as best actor. It opens on 120 screens today in South Korea, and in New York on May 18. It will be in theaters in Los Angeles from June 8 and in San Francisco from July 13.
• Music producer Kobayashi Takeshi (47) is on the verge of divorcing singer Akko, vocalist of his J-pop group My Little Lover, and looks set to marry singer Hitoto Yo (31). It was an affair with Hitoto, exposed in the weekly gossip magazine “Friday” in January, that brought an end to Kobayashi’s 11-year marriage. He and Akko, together with guitarist Fujii Kenji (38), formed My Little Lover in 1995. They married the following year and have two children. Fujii left the group in 2002, and it became Akko’s solo project last November. She kicked off a nationwide tour on May 7, with Kobayashi in attendance.