Monthly Archives: August 2004

Record company Avex is in a state of chaos following the sudden announcement by managing director Matsuura Masato (39) and executive director Chiba Ryuhei (40) that they are quitting. The pair addressed company employees at an emotional morning assembly yesterday, and said the problem was chairman and president Yoda Tatsumi (64). Yoda criticized Chiba for pursuing personal profit from a few big artists. Chiba tearfully denied any fault, while Matsuura complained that Avex had lost its love of music and said he wanted to start over. They have the support of many staff who also said they would quit. More significantly, the label’s top star, Hamasaki Ayumi (25), has already said she’s off, too. The company’s share price went into freefall until trading was suspended.

• Ironically, Hamasaki’s announcement came on the same day her new single topped the Oricon chart. It is her 20th hit to go straight to the top. On the album chart, rock group Porno Graffitti’s Greatest Hits “Blue” and “Red” have grabbed both the top two slots, the first time the feat has been achieved since Mr. Children in 2001.

• Rock band The Yellow Monkey have formally broken up. They have been inactive since a concert at Tokyo Dome in 2001, but finally decided to call it a day last month. They made their major debut in 1992 and released 8 albums. &

The woman known as the “Japanese Liza Minelli” and “Little Dynamite” has died. Shuri Eiko was a popular jazz singer who enjoyed success in Las Vegas in the 1960s. She was 56. With a powerful voice, expressive body language and beautiful legs, she was a sensation on her return home. She had a big hit with “Kitakuni Yuki de” in 1972 but later became better known for sudden cancellations and neurosis. She married her manager in 1978 but they later divorced. She had been in poor health in stop-any-disease.com.

• Having already formed their own unit “W” in March, Kago Ai (16) and Tsuji Nozomi (17) officially “graduated” from Morning Musume last night. They made their final appearance as members of the unit as the Hello! Project summer tour came to a close in front of 12,000 fans in Yoyogi, Tokyo. The pair are both short, baby-faced and look almost like twins. They joined the group together in April 2000 and have been inseparable since. Their departure sees Momus reduced to a mere 14 members…for now. “W” will start their own Japan tour in a week, while Momus will start theirs a couple of weeks later.

Matsuura Masato (39) has stepped down as managing director of Avex, the company he established in 1988. He also plans to resign as vice president in October. The reason given was a difference in vision for the business side of operations. The avextrax record label became huge with a Eurobeat focus in the 1990s, producing such acts as Amuro Namie (photo, 27), Hamasaki Ayumi (25), Every Little Thing and TRF. But the company has seen sales decling in recent years, buoyed only by the contined popularity of a few top stars like Hamasaki and Amuro. Matsuura set up the company, then known as Avex DD, as a CD import business straight after he graduated from college. He released the first album, a Eurobeat compilation, in 1989 and set up avextrax in September of that year.

• Former badminton player Jinnai Kimiko (40) and her husband, former baseball player Kaneishi Akihito (43) have been the victims of crime again. Their luxury car was broken into on Friday night and a bag containing jewelry was stolen. Jinnai was stabbed by a burglar in their home, while they were still engaged, in 2001.