Fuji TV yesterday announced a special series with the theme of the real-life experiences of women in their prime over the last century. The 3-part series, “Onna no Ichidaiki” (A Woman’s Biography) is scheduled to air in the autumn, and will feature three talented actresses, Miyazawa Rie (32), Yonekura Ryoko (30) and Amami Yuki (38). Miyazawa will play the famous writer and Buddhist nun Setouchi Jakuchou, who married while still a student but later abandoned her husband and children, and at the age of 51 entered a monastery. Yonekura will portray the late theater actress Sugimura Haruko (1909-97), who’s only vice was said to be men. She was only the third woman to receive an Imperial award for outstanding cultural contributions. And Amami will take on the role of the late singer Koshiji Fubuki (1924-80), a major “chanson” star of the post-war Showa era, whose behind-the-scenes life was even more dramatic than her on-stage appearances. Amami and Koshiji were both stars of the famous Takarazuka all-female theater troupe.
• It may not be very rock ‘n’ roll, but rock singer Imawano Kiyoshiro (54) has had his bicycle stolen. The order-made “orenji-go” was no ordinary bicycle though, and set the eccentric singer back a hefty ¥1.6 million. The singer left his bike locked on the street in the Shin-Okubo area of Shinjuku in Tokyo for an hour or so on Sunday evening and found nothing but a severed chain when he came back. He posted a message on his official website asking for his beloved bike to be returned.