NHK’s recently finished morning serial drama “Tenka” had the worst viewer ratings of any “asadora” since research began in 1964. It only scored an average rating of 16.2% in the Kanto region and fared even worse in Kansai with 15.1%. An NHK spokesman said that more people are tuning into NHK’s satellite channels (BS1 and BS2) and that viewer numbers for dramas are in a downward trend on all channels. A new serial, “Wakaba,” started yesterday.
• Writer Morimura Katsura died last night in a Nagano hospital. Police are treating the death as a suicide. She was best known for the 1966 novel “Tengoku ni Ichiban Chikai Shima” (The Closest Island to Paradise), based on her travel to New Caledonia and made into a movie in 1984. She was 64.
• Pop singer Tone Mariko (44) recently married her hair makeup artist, on the 20th anniversary of her showbiz debut. She described their relationship as being more like mother and son, though he is also 44. She says she wants to support him in his dream of becoming a writer and winning the Naoki Prize.