The celebrity couple chosen as the “Partners of the Year” for 2003 are actor and director Okuda Eiji (53) and his wife, actress and essayist Ando Kazu (55), who will celebrate their 25th anniversary next January. The couple received a matching pair of platinum rings. Okuda said it was just as well as he’d lost his wedding ring!
• According to the Wall Street Journal, the TV rights to broadcast MLB games in Japan are to increase threefold next season. The cost this year was about $13 million, and that’s set to jump to $275 million for the next six years, about $46 million a year. This is largely due to the success of such stars as Matsui Hideki ( NY Yankees) and Ichiro (Seattle Mariners).