Monthly Archives: January 2004

There were no big surprises in the latest NHK survey of viewers’ favorite TV personalities, announced today. At the top of the male rankings for the sixth year running was comedian Akashiya Sanma, who seems to be on TV every night of the week. He hasn’t been out of the Top 10 for 19 years. He was followed by the usual suspects, comedian, actor and movie director Kitano “Beat” Takeshi and all-rounder Tokoro Joji. Other familiar names included musician Fukuyama Masaharu, comedian Tamori, and SMAP. The only new face was young actor Tsumabuki Satoshi.

Funny woman Hisamoto Masami (photo) was at No.1 in the female rankings for the third year in a row. Next were beautiful actresses Matsushima Nanako and Kuroki Hitomi. Kuroki, who looks a lot younger than her age and appears in a host of TV commercials, was up from last year’s No.21 spot. Another new entry was Yoshimoto comedy troupe member Yamada Hanako.

TV personality Becky (19) attended a coming-of-age ceremony at a Kawasaki shrine yesterday, Seijin no Hi, like many young women dressed for the day in a new kimono. The national holiday is the day when those turning 20 attend formal – and in recent years often rowdy – ceremonies to mark their entering adulthood. The feisty variety show regular, who is half-Japanese and half-British, joked that on the eve of her March 6th birthday she plans to have a countdown before downing a beer on the stroke of midnight. She’ll follow this up with a real drinker’s beverage – imojochu, a spirit made from potatoes. She also announced that she would be taking Japanese citizenship. She must make the choice as Japan does not allow dual citizenship.

It was announced yesterday that TV personality and one-time sumo Ozeki (Champion) Konishiki (40) married his girlfriend of two and a half years Iijima Chie (28) on January 7. The Hawaiian-born giant, the largest man ever to enter the sumo ring, retired from the sport in 1997. He was married for almost nine years to former model Shioda Sumika, who he divorced three months after starting his relationship with Iijima in 2000. He is a regular guest on variety programs, in dramas, and on NHK’s “Nihongo de Asobo” educational show. He also recently opened his own restaurant in central Tokyo.

The New Year’s Eve show may have been a relative flop, but NHK’s Kohaku song spectacular can still give a boost to CD sales. Though the show had its lowest TV ratings ever, a full quarter of the Top 100 in the latest Oricon singles chart is taken up by songs performed on the show. And of those, 21 have moved up the chart since the show aired. Recovering the No.1 spot, and up from No.7, is SMAP’s “Sekkai ni Hitosu dake no Hana.” Also moving up, from No.14 to No.3, is another of 2003’s big hits, “Sakura,” the breakthrough single for Moriyama Naotaro (photo, 27).

She’s not really beautiful, but she certainly is striking and you’re sure to have noticed her in one of her magazine or TV commercial appearances. And now, top model Tominaga Ai (21) is set to make her acting debut. She will play a villain in the upcoming movie version of the popular manga and anime “Devilman.” The 178cm tall model says that she is “the only one who could play the part” of the she-devil Sirene.

• Luna Sea vocalist Kawamura Ryuichi (33) yesterday claimed that he was visiting Hawaii alone to attend a friend’s wedding. But the media knew that the unidentified beauty boarding the airplane a few meters behind him was not just another passenger. The pair left Honolulu airport in the same car.

TV personality and former idol singer Hayasaka Yoshie (28) recently married Spell Delphin (36), the president of an Osaka wrestling troupe. It was announced yesterday that the couple tied the knot on Christmas Eve. Delphin is a masked wrestler who made his debut in Holland in 1989. He has tied the management of his troupe to the Osaka-based Yoshimoto talent agency, best known for its stable of comedians.

• Fuji TV presenter Umezu Yaeko (27) is romantically linked with rugby player Uriu Yasuharu (23), who plays for Suntory, one of the country’s top company teams.

Heart-throb actor Takenouchi Yutaka (photo, 33) is romantically involved with Hawaiian beauty Brenda (31). And who can blame him – the stunning Japanese-Korean is a top model, who was scouted as a 17-year old. She regularly graces magazine covers, and is perhaps best remembered as Wacoal’s “Good Up Bra” girl. She has one marriage behind her, having divorced her model husband thre years ago. She and Takenouchi have been friends since he himself was a model in his early 20s. His agency says the pair have no plans for marriage at the moment.

• The jury is back with its verdict on the New Year TV ratings – Kohaku had its worst showing ever. The NHK song spectacle pulled less than 50% for the fourth year running, and was even overtaken momentarily by the all-too-brief Akebono-Bob Sapp fight on TBS (43%). As soon as the fight was over, the ratings were reversed.

The jury is back with its verdict on the New Year’s Eve TV ratings – Kohaku had its worst showing ever. The NHK song spectacle pulled less than 50% for the fourth year running. During the first appearance in 13 years by rocker Nagabuchi Tsuyoshi (47), the figure dropped to 35.5% and was overtaken momentarily by the all-too-brief Akebono-Bob Sapp fight on TBS (43%). As soon as the fight was over, the ratings were reversed. The highest rating of the night went to idol group SMAP, in their 12th Kohaku appearance. Leading the White team to victory, SMAP scored a 57.1% rating.

Among the highlights of NHK’s 54th “Kohaku” New Year’s Eve song spectacle was the first live TV appearance by popular singer Kuraki Mai (photo, 22) from the Kondo hall of Toji temple in Kyoto. Another was the failure of Kobayashi Sachiko’s (50) elaborate stage costume. Every year, she and drag queen Mikawa Kenichi (57) try to outdo each other with their over-the-top, Vegas-style outfits. Kobayashi’s routine this time included 13m wings that failed to open. She didn’t realize until she finished her performance and saw the disappointed looks on the faces of the staff backstage. The song contest, between red and white teams, was won by the Whites, led by pop group SMAP in their 12th appearance, to even the record at 27 wins each.

• Battling Kohaku for ratings were three separate fighting events. The most hype was probably for the bout between former NFL lineman Bob Sapp (31) and lumbering former sumo Yokozuna Akebono (34). Sapp, for once made to look small, easily won the contest and immediately threw down the gauntlet to video guest Mike Tyson. Also appearing as a guest before the bout was Stevie Wonder, who gave a harmonica rendition of the US national anthem.

• A New Year’s Eve landmark was set by pop duo Kinki Kids when they played a concert to 55,000 fans at Tokyo Dome for the sixth year in a row. They eclipsed the five-straight record set by rock group X Japan in the mid-90s.