Hollywood actor Watanabe Ken (45) was one of a glittering group of stars who appeared at a PR event yesterday for the new movie “Batman Begins.” The event was held at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Tokyo’s trendy Roppongi district and a huge number of press from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan turned up to see the new Batman, Christian Bale (31), director Christopher Nolan (34), Tom Cruise’s new love Katie Holmes (26), Oscar winner Morgan Freeman (67) and Irish star Liam Neeson (52). Unlike many Japanese actors, Watanabe seemed quite at home with the Hollywood stars, joking around and playing “host.”
• Tired British rockers Oasis have finally got to No.1 in the charts. Though they’ve been hugely popular here in Japan for years, “Don’t Believe the Truth” is their first album to reach the top of the local Oricon chart. It is the first original album by a British band to reach No.1 since the Bay City Rollers did it in 1977. Meanwhile, at No.2 is the eponymous album by indies duo Def Tech, made up of Shen (24), born in China and raised in Hawaii, and Tokyo boy Micro (24). It’s taken a while since the January 22 release, but they are only the second independent group to put out a million-selling album, after Mongol 8000. It’s also the first original million seller this year.