New York-based R & B singer Kubota Toshinobu (42) this week married a 31-year old employee of a Norwegian company. The couple have been going out since Ms. A moved to N.Y. as a student five years ago. She is expecting a baby in December. Earlier this month, Kubota became the first Japanese artist in 24 years to record an appearance on “Soul Train.” He moved to the U.S. in 1989 and made his debut there in 1995. He has released three albums there so far. The most recent, “Time to Share” was released just last month. His biggest hit to date was the 1996 single “La La La, Love Song,” which sold over 2 million copies in Japan.
• Utada Hikaru‘s U.S. debut album “Exodus” has made the Billboard charts. It ranked at No.5 in the chart for new artists, and No.160 on the overall chart. Billboard magazine pointed out that it was unrealistic to expect even someone who is a huge star in Japan to be able to replicate that kind of success in the U.S. But it added that the talented, new York-born Utada could be an exception.
• Popular celebrity Sakashita Chiriko (28) is romantically involved with one of the staff on one of her five regular TV shows, according to the weekly magazine Friday. Already linked with comedian Tamura Atsushi (of London Boots), Yomiuri Giants baseball player Nioka Tomohiro and a company employee, it seems that the real man in her life is a beefy 25-year old cameraman on the Fuji TV show “Moshimo Tours.”