Monthly Archives: July 2003

Singer Saijo Hideki (48) gave his first press conference yesterday since his recent hospitalization with a slight cerebral infarction, caused by a blockage of the blood supply to the brain. 13 TV cameras and over 100 reporters turned out and Saijo was reduced to tears when he recounted his experience. In the evening, he gave a dinner show as scheduled in Fukushima. Saijo has released 85 singles over a two-decade career. His best known hit was “Young Man,” a cover of the Village People song YMCA.

• Sakaguchi Yuzaburo, a popular actor in the 1960s, died this week at the age of 61. He was best known for his leading role in the action hero series “Gamen no Ninja Akakage.”

Former Takarazuka star Otori Rei (29) wed a 30-year old advertising executive at an Osaka hotel at the weekend. The ceremony was attended by around 200 people, including many current and former actresses with the all-female theater troupe.

• Popular actress Honjo Manami (photo, 28) had a wedding ceremony of a similar scale at a Tokyo hotel. The event was a closely guarded secret. The “wide show” that reported the scoop also suggested that Honjo, who’s fan club was recently closed, may be considering retirement. She is a so-called “iyashi-kei” actress. The word, popular for the last year or so, literally means “healing-type” and refers to people or things that are sweet, relaxing or just “feel good.”

It’s rumored that comedian Dandy Sakano (36) will be getting married within the year. He and his long-term, live-in girlfriend recently moved to a more luxurious apartment in central Tokyo. Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you can’t have missed Sakano and his Gets! routine. With his infectious grin and yellow tuxedo, he had a breakthrough in a TV commercial for drugstore giant Matsumoto Kiyoshi a year or so ago. Now he and his six-guns gesture are all the rage. People of all ages just love to say “Gets!” though it remains to be seen whether he can come up with anything other than that.

In a publicity move before the release of the new Kitano Takeshi version, the entire “Zatoichi” movie series is to be released on DVD. In 18 films released over a period of eight years (1960-68), Katsu Shintaro played the blind swordsman, a role that made him one of the biggest stars of his generation. A peroxide blond Takeshi has said he would never have considered reviving the role while Katsu was alive. But next month will see a televised Buddhist ceremony to mark the 6th anniversary of his death, and the September release has the full approval of his widow, popular actress Nakamura Tamao (64). We can expect a Zatoichi boom this autumn.

Actress Saizen Naomi (photo, 37) married Fuji TV producer Honma Ohiko (45) in what is called a “dengeki kekkon, ” wedding out of the blue. The two have worked together for several years on the Fuji TV New Year drama “Stewardess P.I.” They only started going out after the curtain-call party last year. The marriage registration was sumitted to the city office by Saizen’s manager, as she was on location for the NHK drama “Kokoro.”

• TV personality Abe Mihoko (27) announced that she and Korean soccer international Choi Sung Yong (27) are engaged to be married in December. Choi was formerly with J-League team Vissel Kobe and the pair met on an NHK Korean language program. Abe got her TV break on the TBS Saturday morning show “King’s Brunch.”

Veteran actor Komatsu Hosei died late Friday night after being hospitalized with complications of his diabetes condition. He was 76. Best known for his many supporting roles in almost 200 movies ranging from soft porn to narration of western films, he made his screen debut in 1959. He appeared in several movies by renowned director Oshima Nagisa. He narrated the Ed Asner character in the Japanese TV version of the US series Lou Grant.

There was a large press conference to promote the up-coming movie “Bayside Shakedown 2, Save the Rainbow Bridge.” Attended by most members of the cast, the event was held in the trendy bayside Odaiba area where the movie is set. The star is Oda Yuji (photo, 35), who’s supported by such names as Yanagiba Toshiro (42), Fukatsu Eri (30), and Yusuke Santamaria (32). Absent was veteran actor and former leader of the Drifters comedy group Ikariya Chosuke (71) who is recovering from lymphatic cancer. He is expected to attend when the movie opens on the 19th. The original movie, released in 1998, is still the 3rd biggest Japanese box-office hit, grossing over ¥10 billion. The official web site is here.

A star-studded ceremony was held yesterday to commemorate the anniversary of the death of legendary actor and singer Ishihara Yujiro. The day, as it has been on all previous anniversaries, was rainy (well, it is the rainy season after all). Ishihara and his writer brother Shintaro, now governor of Tokyo, rose to fame in the 1950s. Yujiro became one of the biggest stars of the 20th century, the Japanese equivalent of Elvis, and died in 1987 at the age of 52. His management agency, Ishihara Pro continues to provide some of the top male stars of TV and film. Yesterday’s ceremony was attended by Yujiro’s widow Makiko (69), his brother, and such luminaries as Watari Tetsuya (61), Tate Hiroshi (53) and Tokushige Satoshi (24), chosen as the “21st-century Yujiro.”

Chosen last year in a magazine poll as the variety act most likely to disappear this year, Sanpei (26) talked on a variety show the other night about how close he came to realizing this fate himself. The unassuming and overweight comedian became an overnight star a couple of summers ago and soon everyone was copying his “Sanpei desu!” gesture. Even a visiting Britney Spears got in on the act, with her “Buri-chan desu!” version. Sanpei made hay while the sun shone, with a slew of TV appearances and commercials. But he’s yet to come up with a new routine, so he may not be around for long after all.

• The sequence to one of the most controversial movies of recent years, Battle Royale II, opened strongly at the weekend box office. It was seen by 230,000 people and pulled in over ¥300 million. It is expected to gross around ¥5 billion.

Fans of L’Arc En Ciel can rest easy. The rock band finished what was widely expected to be their final live tour in Tokyo at the weekend. But the “big announcement” following the show turned out not to be that they were breaking up but a new album, planned for next March, followed by a tour in May. Publicity stunt? You bet.

• Morning Musume’s Yaguchi Mari (photo, 20) is the leader of yet another new unit to be spawned from the ever-growing Hello! Project. ZYX – the 11th unit so far – is made up of Yaguchi and five pre-teens selected from the Hello! Project Kids. Their debut single “Fly High” is due for release August 6. Yaguchi is now in three different groups, including the “sexy” Romans. &#149 Eric Clapton (57), who announced two years ago that he would no longer do world tours, will play a series of 16 shows in Japan this autumn. It will be his 16th trip.