Lawyers for disgraced former talento Tashiro Masashi (48) have withdrawn their appeal of his prison sentence at the Tokyo District Court. He will serve the three-and-a-half year sentence handed down in February. Tashiro was arrested last year for drug possession, the latest in a series of crimes that included other drug offenses and secretly filming up a woman’s skirt. The former singer was one of the best known faces on the variety show circuit until his life started falling apart after his first arrest in 2000.
• Fuji TV announcer Otsubo Chinatsu (38) is to quit the network this month to get married. She and her future husband, an employee at a foreign firm, will move to Europe, where he will be working.
• “Girl next door” former idol singer Suzuki Sachiko (36) has released a nude photo book. The complete image change follows her love scene appearance in a recent TV Asahi drama. Suzuki was one half of the pop duo Wink, which formed in 1988 and released 25 albums over a stellar 8-year career. Both Suzuki and former partner Aida Shoko (34) have become TV regulars.