SMAP‘s first single in almost two years has taken the Oricon charts by storm. “Tomodachi e – Say What You Will” easily outsold the next-best sellers from Janne Da Arc and Morning Musume. It is SMAP’s 36th single release and their 14th chart topper. It was written by none other than Eric Clapton, while local music legend Takeuchi Mariya wrote the words.
• Post offices nationwide today started selling postage stamps with photos of locations used in the popular South Korean TV soap opera “Winter Sonata.” The drama took Japan by storm last year and made overnight stars of actor Bae Yong Joon (32) and actress Choi Ji Woo (29). Today also saw the start of Japan-South Korea Friendship Year, with opening events being held in central Tokyo. The first events will take place in Seoul on Thursday.
• The latest showbiz baby has been born to actress Ishida Hikari (32). She had a baby girl, her second, at home early on Sunday morning.