Dandy Sakano (37), the comedian who many predicted would not be on our TV screens for long after his “Gets!” gag had faded, has tied the knot. He married his girlfriend Natsuko on August 22, her 24th birthday. The pair met three years ago when Sakano was supporting his struggling comedy career with a part-time job at McDonalds. Sakano made his breakthrough last year when the Gets! gag was featured in a TV commercial for a loan company.
• Actor Esumi Eimei has died of stomach cancer at a Tokyo hospital. He was 68. He appeared in soft porn movies early in his career, but also in “Dodesukaden” (1970) by the late master director Kurosawa Akira.
• Comedian Nakagawa Tsuyoshi (33) has been hospitalized due to overwork. His younger brother and side-kick in the Yoshimoto duo Nakagawa-kei, Reiji (32), will have to hold his own for the next two weeks. The duo appear on 9 regular weekly shows.