Avex has announced the star-studded lineup for this year’s “A-Nation ’05” concert tour. The seven shows will play to 250,000 people at five venues nationwide between July 30 and August 28. Nine of the ten acts on the bill have had made No.1 on the Oricon charts. Last year’s lineup of Hamasaki Ayumi (26), BoA (18), Otsuka Ai (22), Hitomi (29), ELT, Do As Infinity, Koda Kumi (22), Road of Major, and TRF will be joined by new Avex stablemate Suzuki Ami (photo, 23).
• The world will get its first look at Watanabe Ken’s second Hollywood venture, “Batman Begins,” on May 31 at Tokyo’s fashionable Roppongi Hills. Watanabe (45), currently living in Los Angeles, and star Christian Bale (31) will be in Japan for the world premier. The film goes on general release on June 18. Speaking at a PR event in London yesterday, director Christopher Nolan described Watanabe as an actor with “charisma” who he’d like to work with again. The Japanese star has a fairly minor but “important” role as Ra’s al Ghul, a mentor who teaches the young Bruce Wayne about the boundaries between good and evil.
• As reported here yesterday, talentos Fujii Takashi (33) and Otoha (24) gave a press conference today to announce their engagement. The event was broadcast live by the afternoon wide shows. It is the latest in a recent spate of comedians getting married to other showbiz stars: Uchan Nanchan’s Uchimura Teruyoshi (40) and announcer Tokunaga Yumi (29) made headlines in March, while Neptune leader Nagura Jun (36) and talento Watanabe Marina (32) announced their nuptials in April.