Comedian Hata Yoku (30), who rose to fame last year as the Guitar Samurai, recently made his US debut. He appeared before 200 locals at the Frederick Loewe Theatre in New York, making jabs at George W. Bush, Mariah Carey and Michael Jackson in his broken English. Hata spent the last two months practicing his language skills. He explained his catchphrases to the audience in advance, with “seppuku” being “harakiri” and “…tte iun janai” as “that’s what you say.” “I’m glad I went,” he said. “Next, I’d like to go to Italy and France!” Asked if he wasn’t worried about being sued for speaking his mind in the US, he said, “Well, I don’t have a million dollars, so I’ll just leave that to my agency to sort out!”
• The Tokyo District Court on Friday rejected a slander lawsuit by two executives of the Johnny’s Jimusho talent agency. Fujishima Julie-Keiko and Fujishima Mary-Yasuko each sought ¥11 million in damages from the publisher of the “Josei Shukan” magazine. An article in the September 2003 issue of the women’s weekly magazine reported a rumor that the pair had received “favorable treatment” as regular customers of a high class Tokyo boutique. The judge said that the article may have exaggerated the favorable repayment terms given to the two, but as the article was reported as a rumor, it could hardly have “lowered their social image” as they had claimed.
• Meanwhile, a juvenile members of the Johnny’s group News was taken into protective custody yesterday after being found drinking in a park in Sendai. As he was uner the legal drinking age of 20, police gave him a severe warning before releasing him. He did not appear on the following evening’s edition of “Music Station” with his fellow group members. The 8-member group are currently among the most popular in the all-male Johnny’s stable of idol groups, and have had a string of No.1’s in the year or so since their major debut. They were in Sendai as “special supporters” of the Japan women’s volleyball team, who played Canada in the World Grand Prix on Friday.