Monthly Archives: April 2005

Enka songwriter Nakayama Daizaburo died yesterday of cancer at a Tokyo hospital. He was 64. He made his writing debut as a 3rd-year student at Hosei University and achieved fame in 1987 with his song “Yuusuge no Koi”, which was a hit for Mori Shinichi and won him a Japan Songwriter’s Award. The following year, his song “Jinsei Iroiro” was an award-winning hit for Shimakura Chiyoko. His stellar record continued in 1996, when Tendo Yoshimi had a million-selling hit with “Chindo Monogatari.”

• Actress Ikuta Etsuko (57) admitted on a wide show yesterday afternoon that she got married on Wednesday. Her new husband is a year younger and a divorcee. It’s Ikuta’s first marriage.

Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood (74) was in town yesterday to meet with Tokyo Governor Ishihara Shintaro (72). Eastwood’s first visit to Japan in 43 years was to do groundwork for his upcoming movie for Dreamworks about Iwo Jima. “Flags of Our Fathers: Heroes of Iwo Jima” will focus on the famous scene where six US marines raised the stars and stripes on the island following one of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific war. The southern island, though 1,200km away, is part of Tokyo and under Ishihara’s jurisdiction. Eastwood reassured the governor that he would respect the feelings of the Japanese people for what many consider hallowed ground.

• Speaking of WW2 movies, much-hyped submarine drama “Lorelei” looks to have become the big box office success it was expected to be. After just over a month in theaters, it has cleared ¥2 billion, overtaking the ¥1.8 billion brought in by Hollywood flick “U-571” in 2000. Its planned run was until the middle of this month, but that will now be extended. Toho say they have signed contracts for the film to show in Thailand and five European countries and are in negotiations that will bring that number up to about 30. The movie is based on a novel by Fukui Harutoshi and is set at the end of the war. Versatile actor Yakusho Koji plays the submarine captain. The CD single of the haunting theme song, “Mozart’s Lullaby” by 16-year old New Zealand phenom Hayley, has sold over 100,000 copies.

The big news today was the engagement announcement of comedian Nagura Jun (36) and talento Watanabe Marina (34). They plan to give an official announcement on the TV Asahi variety show “Zenigata Kintaro” this evening. Nagura is the leader of the comedy trio Neptune, who have established themselves on the variety circuit over the last few years. Watanabe is the former member #36 of legendary idol group O-nyanko Club. She is the last member of the group (an 80s version of Morning Musume) to get married. The couple first met while working together on the “Zenigata Kintaro” variety show in 2002 and have been serious since last summer. Both have been in serious relationships and on the verge of marriage before. Nagura went out with former talento Yoshino Kimika for five years and Watanabe was seriously involved with musician Ozawa Kenji.

• Another romance revealed this week is between V6 member Inohara Yoshihiko (28) and actress Seto Asaka (28). Inohara admitted the relationship at a book signing in Tokyo. The Johnny’s Jimusho star said they started dating last Christmas.

• It was revealed today that comedian Shinagawa Hiroshi (32) of the popular duo Shinagawa Shoji will be prosecuted for a traffic accident in Tokyo last Sunday afternoon. The car he was driving hit a scooter, causing minor head injuries to the 62-year old male rider.

A new powerhouse was born in the US manga/anime market this week as VIZ and ShoPro Entertainment, both North American-based companies specializing in Japanese content, announced a merger yesterday. The new company, VIZ Media, will specialize in manga publishing, animation and entertainment licensing of Japanese content. The manga lineup includes such titles as Shonen Jump nad Shojo Beat. VIZ Media, based in San Francisco, is owned by three major players in Japanese manga and animation: Shueisha (40%), Shogakukan (40%) and Shogakukan Production Co. (20%).

• Yokohama Bay Stars closer Sasaki Kazuhiro (37) anounced yesterday that he divorced his wife Kaori (37) on March 18 and is now sharing his ¥300 million Setagaya home with actress Enamoto Kanako (24). The magazine Flash has suggested Enamoto may be pregnant. The former Seattle Mariners star says that he and his wife started to drift apart after he made his move the the Major Leagues in 2000. He will have custody of their two children. “Daimajin” gave up a sayonara home run in his first appearance this season on Saturday.

• Japan Zone reported just yesterday on the current popularity of fashion models. Well, yesterday one of those models, 21-year old Karina (21), gave the first ever Japanese product launch held on a jet. Lotte spent an estimated ¥10 million to take the model/actress and about 100 media for a 90-minute flight from Haneda Airport, around northern Japan and back again to promote Coolish, its new ice cream product. TV commercials featuring Karina go on air today.

With advertisers focusing more and more on the young female market, fashion magazine models are the hot item these days. Three of the current top “charisma” models are Hasegawa Jun (18), Karina (21) and Ota Ari (22). Almost a thousand fans turned out to see them at a PR event yesterday. The three are appearing together in the current TV commercial for cosmetic company Shiseido’s Kesho Wakusei (Cosmetic Planet). Hasegawa, born in New Hampshire and raised in Hawaii, is currently dating Makidai (29), actor and member of the top-selling pop group Exile. She has been the cover girl for 25 Ans (Vingt Cinq Ans) for the last year. Karina, chosen as the 2002 Fuji TV Visual Queen of the Year, has been building a career as an actress, and has three small film roles under her 58cm belt. Ota is one of several models to have made their name in the magazine JJ.

• Actor Zushi Takao died at a Tokyo hospital. He was 58. He is best known for smaller roles in “Ran” (1985) and “Madadayo” (1993), both directed by the legendary Kurosawa Akira. His younger brother Yoshitaka is also an actor.

Japan Zone reported a few days back on the latest idea for marketing CDs, with the release of the new 175R (Inago Rider) single coupled with a KitKat chocolate bar. The product is only on sale in convenience stores and supermarkets, not at regular music stores. But in its first week the single/snack has sold over 300,000 copies. Because of its unorthodox sales route, the single hasn’t been included in the official oricon chart, but the current No.1 single, Arashi’s “Sakura Sake” sold just 120,000 copies. Also, Arashi’s single retails for ¥1,680 while 175R’s “Grafitti” is just ¥315, including the KitKat! Other snack makers have sold CDs with their products, but always oldies or established hits. The success of the latest tieup may be due to its novelty value, but it may also signal a new way to combat declining CD sales.

Pop group Morning Musume performed their hit “The ManPower” before yesterday’s baseball game between Rakuten Eagles and Seibu Lions. The Eagles won their opening home game at Miyagi Stadium, taking no less than 16 runs from last year’s Japan Series champions, after losing four on the road.

• Young kabuki actor Nakamura Shichinosuke (photo, 21) made his first stage appearance in two months at the Kabukiza theater yesterday. The occasion was the ongoing series of performances to celebrate his father’s succession to the stage name Nakamura Kanzaburo (49). The son was involved in a drunken punchup with a policeman on January 30. He joined his brother Kantaro (23), father and other cast members on stage to greet the audience, who responded with warm applause.

• Comedian and former politician Nishikawa Kiyoshi (58) was in tears of joy as his eldest daughter Kanako (30) married pastry chef Hayashi Shigekazu (51) at an Osaka hotel yesterday. He said, “I’ve been crying for the last three days. I thought the tank must be empty by now…” Hayashi is a department head of a cookery school.

Actress and singer Fujita Tomoko (photo, 39) is engaged to marry accordion player Kuwayama Tetsuya (32). Fujita is best known for her role on the long-running TBS TV drama “Wataru Sekken wa Oni Bakari,” on which she has appeared since it began in 1990. The couple met four years ago, when Kuwayama was a backing musician for Fujita, and they have been romantically involved for two years. Last summer he appeared with her on the Fuji TV “Quiz Millionaire” show, but no one knew about their relationship.

• TV Tokyo is to start airing “Oh-gui” shows again, three years after one viewer died copying the show. The shows feature people eating as much and as quickly as possible to win a prize. They were all the rage a few years ago until an Aichi prefecture junior high school student died during a bread-eating contest at school in 2002. The new show, which will start with a special on April 11, will have a doctor on hand and will go for volume, not speed. A TV Tokyo spokesperson said, “We decided to put the show back on the air after we were overwhelmed with requests from viewers.”

• Mori Shinichi (57) and his wife Masako (46) have cancelled three scheduled shows following yesterday’s announcement of their marital split (see yesterday’s story). The “joint concerts” were planned for later this month in Omiya and Sagami-Ono and in Niigata in June.