Orange Range, one of the hottest bands in the country right now, are having to use a replacement drummer following an injury to member Katchan (21). He is said to have an inflammation of a tendon in his left hand and is resting in his hometown of Okinawa. He is expected to need two to three months to recover.
• Rock band Janne Da Arc have a new tactic to get to the top of the charts – use a granny. The band used 80-year old Asami Chiyoko in the video for their latest single “Diamond Virgin.” Asami has become popular as the character that contestants on a popular variety show have to kiss if they lose various games. In the band’s video, she appears in a schoolgirl’s sailor uniform. The single, taken from the new album “Joker,” entered at No.3 on the Oricon charts.
• TV Asahi scored with its recent coverage of the Japan-North Korea soccer game. With Japan clinching a place at next year’s World Cup, the network got a staggeringly high 58% rating. That represents 73 million people tuned in. Even the average for the whole game was a respectable 43.2%, the third-highest figure ever recorded by the network. By contrast, the struggling Yomiuri Giants baseball team had an all-time low of just 6.1% for their game the same night.