Monthly Archives: May 2005

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.

It was revealed yesterday that talentos Fujii Takashi (33) and Otoha (24) are engaged. They plan to give a joint press conference in Tokyo tomorrow and are expected to announce a July date for their wedding. The romance had been rumored since January of last year but is still surprising to many people as Fujii is often believed to be gay. He exploded onto the variety show circuit back in the late 90s with a character that was at once innocent and raunchily gay. Over the last few years, his Matthew Minami character has been very successful. The late-night “Matthew’s Best Hit TV” show on Fuji TV features Fujii in a blond wig and pink pin-stripe suit interviewing various guests. One of these “guests” was Hollywood star Bill Murray as the show was featured in a fictional segment of the movie “Lost in Translation.” Otoha is a former pin-up girl, initially best known for her F-cup chest, who has built a modestly successful career as an actress and singer. The two met while making a coffee commercial (photo) in 2003. Fujii was very supportive when she lost her father in May 2004 and she returned the favor in October when he was suddenly hospitalized with acute gastritis two weeks before a planned concert in Los Angeles. Fujii’s illness no doubt was a result of having to maintain his always “high tension” onscreen persona. Offscreen he is said to be very quiet.

• Morning Musume gave the last concert of their national tour yesterday at the Nippon Budokan. They said sayonara to member Ishikawa Rika (20), who will pursue a solo career, and welcomed new member Kusumi Koharu (12). 10,000 fans waved pink penlights as they gave a tearful farewell to end Rika-chan’s five years with the group. She is the twelfth member to “graduate” from the group.

The glorious weather of Golden Week is behind us, though anyone who took Friday off too will still be enjoying the extended break. TV execs will be glad to see the end of the holiday as it really hits viewer ratings. Live coverage of a Yomiuri Giants night game failed to reach double digits for just the 3rd time ever. The May 4 game against the Yokohama Bay Stars on NTV, also owned by Yomiuri, pulled in a meager 9.9% rating. On the drama front, the third episode of the Kimura Takuya series “Engine” dropped below 20%. Kimutaku has starred in the most successful drama series ever and the 19.6% figure must be a disappointment for Fuji TV. The only bright spot was on the K-1 front. The preliminary rounds of the World Max 2005 championship helped TBS to break the new sport’s 20% barrier. particularly popular were young up and coming Japanese fighters Masato (photo), Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto, and Kohiruimaki Takayuki.

• Model and actress Yamada Yuu (20) is the official PR character for the upcoming Ridley Scott blockbuster “Kingdom of Heaven.” Yamada, who appears in a TV commercial from today, says she is a big fan of star Orlando Bloom (28). Since his rise to fame in the “Lord of the Rings” series, Bloom is popularly known as “Orly” in Japan. The movie opens here May 14.

• Actor Ichimura Masachika (56) is rumored to be dating actress Shinohara Ryoko (31). He refused to comment on the rumor at a PR event for the musical “Mozart,” in which he plays the composer’s father.

Popular boy band News finished their first national tour with two shows at Yokohama Arena yesterday. The 8-member singing and dancing group played to a total of over 170,000 screaming teenage fans during the 14-show tour. They will also tour again this summer in a show called “Summary 2005” alongside fellow Johnny’s Jimusho youngsters Ya-Ya-Yah. The group’s debut album “Touch” has made No.1 on the latest Oricon weekly charts, as have all three singles released from the album.

• Actress Takigawa Yumi (54) and her daughter, talento Takigawa Hanako (16), gave their first “joint performance” yesterday. They appeared at a PR event for Lotte’s Ghana chocolate, held ahead of Mother’s Day on May 8. Hanako is curently appearing in the latest Ghana TV commercial.

• The mother of talento Carouselle Maki (63) died of heart failure in a Hokkaido hospital yesterday, surrounded by her nine sons and daughters. Maki was in the news most recently following the successful official registration of her female name, several years after she underwent a sex change operation.

• Former NFL player and variety show darling Bob “The Beast” Sapp (30) is to make his Hollywood debut in June. Sapp, who was ever-present on Japanese TV until last year and is now officially a K-1 fighter, has a small part as a villain in “Elektra.” The movie is about the heroine from the 2003 Ben Affleck turkey “Daredevil” and stars Jennifer Garner. Sapp has also finished shooting on a remake of the 1974 movie “The Longest Yard.”

On May 3, 280,000 people packed into the small Iwate town of Hiraizumi for a glimpse of “Yoshitsune.” The occasion was an annual festival commemorating historical figure Minamoto no Yoshitsune, the subject of this year’s “taiga” period drama series on NHK. Yoshitsune is played by young heart throb and pop star Takizawa Hideaki (23), hence the much larger than usual turnout for a minor regional event. “Tackey” and his pop partner Imai Tsubasa (23) released their 5th single, the double A-side “Kamen/Mirai Koukai,” on May 4.

Meanwhile in Chiba, over 1,000 fans turned out to see rejuvenated pop singer Suzuki Ami (23). At an event organized by the Bay FM radio station at the Makuhari Messe conference center, she made her first live broadcast since joing the Avex label in January. Photos on her official web site show that “Amigo” is going for a much more “grown up” image. The site’s profile and discography make no mention of the past troubles in her career. In her late teens, she was one of the biggest up and coming pop stars in the country. With Sony Records, she had shifted over 10 million units by 2000. But legal dispute between her parents and her management company, and later with Sony, led to her being blackballed by the media and her career looked to be on the rocks. But Avex president Masato “Max” Matsuura, who groomed Hamasaki Ayumi to superstardom, took her on and she has been steadily rebuilding her fan base over the last few months. The title of her new single with Avex, “Eventful” says it all and is in keeping with the first two, “Hopeful” and “Delightful.” It goes on sale May 25.

Actress Harada Tomoyo (37) announced yesterday on her official web site that she married illustrator Ed Tsuwaki (38) on May 1. The two met in just October of last year and are said to have hit it off straight away. Harada, who has made three movies already this year, plans to continue her acting and singing career. Ed is a successful illustrator who has worked particularly on women’s magazines such as Vogue. He also has his own fashion brand, nakEd Bunch.

• Former Takarazuka star Kawai Minako (35) underwent surgery Monday for injuries she suffered in last week’s train crash in Amagasaki. Kawai was standing in the third carriage of the train and suffered multiple fractures in both legs. She was a member of the famous theater troupe from 1987 to 1998.

• Popular actress Kuroki Hitomi (44) was overwhelmingly chosen as the “Coolest Mother” in a poll by fountain pen maker Waterman ahead of Mother’s Day on May 8. Kuroki easily topped the poll across all age groups. Second was singer and actress Kudo Shizuka, wife of heart throb Kimura Takuya. In third was actress Matsushima Nanako.

The latest addition to pop group Morning Musume was announced May 1. Niigata Prefecture native Kusumi Koharu (12) is a 7th grader and was chosen from over 20,000 hopefuls at recent auditions. She will be “presented” to fans at the Momus concert at Nippon Budokan on May 6 and will formally join the group at the Osaka Castle Hall concert on July 10. The Budokan gig will see the “graduation” of Ishikawa Rika.

• Actress Mizuno Maki (photo, 35) has given birth to her first child. She married politician Gotoda Masazumi (35) last year. The bouncing baby boy was born April 30, about two weeks late, in a Tokyo hospital.

• “Astro Kyudan,” a popular baseball manga from the 1970s, is to be made into a drama series on TV Asahi. The late-night, 30-minute show will star Hayashi Tsuyoshi (22) as the team founding member, cleanup hitter and ace pitcher Uno Kyuichi, and ‘Sonny’ Chiba Shinichi (66) as team manager J. Shuuro. The team is made up of nine players all born at 09:09:09 on 9/9/1954 (Showa 29), who take on and beat not only the dominant Yomiuri Giants but also a Major League team.