Manga artist Matsumoto Reiji (photo center, 69), best known for his “Space Cruiser Yamato” series, is to have a movie entered at this month’s Cannes Film Festival. The film is a feature-length musical based on a series of animated videos he made for the 2001 album Discovery by French techno unit Daft Punk (photo).
• Actor Kubozuka Yosuke (24) and his fiancee (see below) have been twice to their local municipal office to register their marriage, but refused both times due to irregularities in the documents. “Third time lucky?” was Kubozuka’s comment.
• TV personality Kawasaki Mayo (40) and his wife, American Kaiya (39), are the latest victims of showbiz burglary. Their home in the Meguro area of Tokyo was broken into and cash and valuables stolen.
• The Shukan Josei magazine recently published a story claiming that singer Kahala Tomomi (28) has been harassing former boyfriend, producer and musician Komuro Tetsuya (44). It said she was making repeated phone calls in an effort to get back together. Komuro recently married the vocalist of his group Globe. Kahala’s agency have denied the story.
Popular young actor Kubozuka Yosuke chose yesterday, his 24th birthday, to make several big announcements. Included in his new book “Pieces of Peace” are a couple of shots of him and an unnamed 22-year old hip hop dancer. It turns out that they are to marry and she is three months pregnant. They have already chosen a name for the baby: Airu.
NTV presenter Komai Chikako (37) and her husband Nakajima Kohei (37), a reporter with TV Asahi, have divorced after just over a year of marriage. Komai is a regular on the afternoon “wide show” The Wide.
A bizarre cult that bears an uncanny resemblance to the early days of the Aum Shinrikyo group has captivated the nation. Calling themselves Pana Wave Laboratory and living in a caravan of vehicles covered in mysterious stickers, the most striking thing is that everything is white. Their vans, clothes, glasses, face masks, but most strangely they cover any area they occupy with white sheets. The effect is like an eerie protective cocoon and the group claim it is to protect them from harmful electromagnetic waves. Their usual excuse for not allowing TV cameras, cars or other electrical devices anywhere near them is that one of their members — believed to be cult guru Chino Yuko (69) — has terminal cancer as a result of “attacks” from such “weapons.” The group has been moving around western Japan for several years, taking over sections of remote public roads, and caught the public imagination again after a recent TV report. According to one expert, “This is a cult in its terminal phase. Its delusions are getting deeper and it appears less concerned about run-ins with the outside world.” Even Japan’s Police Agency chief has said the group “resembles Aum in its early days.”
A Tokyo Dome concert planned for July 9 by pop group Globe has been cancelled. The group has generated a lot of publicity over the last few months, with the addition of former X Japan drummer Yoshiki and the marriage of vocalist Keiko to guru and band leader 
Singer/songwriter Yoshida Takuro (57) left hospital yesterday after surgery to remove a 19mm tumor from his lung. He is expected to fully recover but needs three months of rehabilitation. A summer tour has been postponed to the autumn.