Pop/hip hop group Da Pump have announced their first solo overseas gig. Currently in the middle of a Japan tour, they said at the weekend that they will play in Taiwan at the end of September.
• Also heading for Taiwan are Dengeki Network (photo). The outlandish performance group, formerly known as the Tokyo Shock Boys, are to be the CM characters for a diet product over the next year. They are known for dangerous stunts involving things like scoprions, dry ice and fluorescent light tubes.
• Former NTV announcer Tahara Setsuko, wife of TV newscaster Tahara Soichiro (70), died last Friday of multiple organ failure. She was 67. Her husband is the regular host of the political debate show “Sunday Project.”
• Singer Sun Plaza Nakano (43) has denied a rumoured romantic relationship with TV Asahi announcer Ishii Kiwa (26).