Today is Taiiku no Hi (Health/Sports Day), a national holiday
A couple of singers who had their heyday in the 90s showed that they still have plenty of fans. Amuro Namie (27) turned up in Tokyo’s trendy Shibuya area for a series of PR events yesterday. Her arrival sparked chaos in the huge crowd in front of the 109 building and forced police to cancel her 5-minute appearance after just 2 minutes. Another afternoon event was cancelled altogether. She did turn up at the local HMV to perform her new single “Girl Talk/The Speed Star,” also part of the PR tie-in with a cosmetics brand.
• Suzuki Ami (22) has kicked off her first tour in four and a half years. She will play at six college festivals, and started with Nihon University in Tokyo yesterday. “Amigo” was a big star in the late-90s but disputes with her record label and a series of court cases put her career on hold for several years. She made an official comeback in April with her first single in over three years. She is still unsigned to any record label, but Avex president Matsuura Katsuhito was seen at yesterday’s event.