Monthly Archives: September 2005

Actress Adachi Yumi (24) and comedian Itoda Jun (32) got married yesterday, Adachi’s birthday. The newlyweds held a brief press conference to announce the news and also that Adachi is two months pregnant. She had just come out of a 3-year and somewhat controversial relationship, and rumors of marriage, with actor Kuroda Arthur, 20 years her senior. Itoda is one half of the popular manzai duo Speed Wagon. The couple started going out just five months ago after first meeting last December. Adachi and Kuroda finally split up in March, the main reason assumed to be his reluctance to get married. Kuroda sent his congratulations to the new couple through his management agency.

• Actor Odagiri Jo (26) is to take over as the latest narrator of the TBS show “Sekai Issan” (World Heritage Sites). Current narrator Terao Akira (58) will do his last show on October 2. Odagiri will take over the following week, on a show about Rapa Nui national Park on Easter Island. The show is consistently one of the best things on Japanese TV, with superb camerawork and soundtrack music always capturing the magic and mystery of the world’s most beautiful and histrically important sites. Though it airs late on Sunday nights, it averages a very respectable 5.6% audience rating for the time slot. Odagiri will be the show’s third narrator, after Terao and Ogata Naoto (36), who was with the show when it started in 1996.

• Actress Tsuchiya Anna (21) has been chosen as this year’s “Best Leathernist.” One of many pointless awards, it is given to the celebrity who looks best in leather. Tsuchiya was chosen for her style, which she has kept despite the fact that she became a mother just last November.

Rock trio shocked fans and took the music industry by surprise yesterday, announcing that they are to break up after six successful years. A greatest hits album – “Do The A-Side” – is due for release on September 28 and the group announced through the Avex record label that they will disband the following day. The group will get back together for a one-off gig at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo on November 25. The members each plan to pursue new projects and feel that breaking up the band is the natural next step. Vocalist Ban Tomiko (26) will record solo, guitarist Owatari Ryo (34) will continue his work singing and strumming with the band Missile Innovation, and songwriter Nagao Dai (34) will work as a producer and composer, particularly for the Avex female artist Amasia Landscape. Ban in particular has been diversifying in the last year or so, making her debut as a voice actress in last year’s Inuyasaha anime movie, and recently appearing in a stage musical about Che Guevara. Do As Infinity debuted in 1999 after having played over a hundred times as a street band in Tokyo’s youth mecca of Shibuya. In 2001, they had two No.1 albums in “New World” and “Deep Forest.” Nagao began concentrating on songwriting for other Avex label artists such as Hamasaki Ayumi (27) and left the other two to do the stage performances.

Looking every bit the expectant mothers that they are, Okinawan pop duo Kiroro recently held their final live concert before taking maternity leave. The duo played the gig a week later than scheduled at the Okinawa Convention Area, in their hometown of Ginowan, due to the effects of last week’s Typhoon No.14 that caused so much damage in western Japan. Pianist Kinjou Ayano (photo left, 28), married in May and is now seven months pregnant, while vocalist Tamashiro Chiharu (28) got married in the spring and is currently five months pregnant.

• Another popular duo, Chemistry, treated 1,000 lucky fans to a concert at the Tokyo Big Site on Sunday. The event was in connection with their PR work for Suntory Whisky, who sponsored the competition to choose ticket winners. On a set complete with a bar counter, the duo sang 15 songs, including Eric Clapton’s “Change the World” and their new single, “Wings of Words.”

Talento and former Orix pro baseball player “Punch” Sato (40) apprehended a burglar on Sunday evening. He saw and subdued the man, who had been attempting to break into the garage of his home in Kawasaki City at about 6pm. On their arrival, police found that the man had a gram of stimulant drugs on him. They arrested the unemployed and homeless 46-year old for breaking and entering and drug possession. The man said he had no idea who the house belonged to.

WEEKEND UPDATE: Animated movie director Miyazaki Hayao (64) has been awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement award at the 62nd Venice International Film Festival. He can now add the prestigious award to his Golden Bear from the 2002 berlin Film Festival and his 2003 Academy Award, both received for the 2001 feature “Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi” (Spirited Away). Miyazaki wasn’t too thrilled when he first heard about winning the award, thinking it only went to “old people” at the end of their careers. But when he heard that active directors like Clint Eastwood and Steven Spielberg were previous winners, he “humbly accepted it.” He commented, “I appreciate the festival shedding light on animation, which is just a corner of the vast film industry. Many people say animation is facing a turning point as computers are changing the way it has been, but my way of creating animated films will never change.” Festival director Marco Muller enthused about Miyazaki’s use of romaticism and humanism, saying that his films always managed to hook the imagination of adult viewers, awakening their “inner child.” Miyazaki maintains that the aim of his films is to inspire children.

• Arriving in town at the weekend was Hollywood star Renee Zellweger (36). She’s here to promote the latest Ron Howard-directed flick, “Cinderella Man,” which is set to open on September 17. About 300 fans were waiting to greet her arrival at Narita Airport. Also on her way today is actress Jessica Biel (23), who’ll be here to promote “Stealth.” The movie is reportedly strictly for fans of the former model or video games.

• The Yomiuri Giants have reached yet another new low for TV ratings of their live game broadcasts. Their September 7 matchup against the Yakult Swallows managed only a paltry 4.6% audience rating, the first time “Japan’s team” have failed to break the 5% barrier.

Soul balladeer Hirai Ken (33) is to mark his tenth year in the business with his first greatest hits album. The as yet untitled double album will contain all his 22 singles and is set for release on November 23. A spokesman for Def Star records said, “When it came to trying to choose from the songs on his albums, we just couldn’t narrow it down. We decided to make it easy for fans and just go with all his A-sides.” Hirai has amassed 6.5 million single sales to date, including the million-selling “Hitoni wo Tojite” and the theme song to the hit movie “Sekai no Chushin de, Ai wo Sakebu.” A version of the album that includes all the videos to his singles on DVD will also be released.

• Members of popular hip hop groups Rip Slyme and m-flo are to team up with fashion designer Nigo (33) to make their recording debut in the US. Ryo-Z (31) and Ilmari (30) from Rip Slyme, m-flo vocalist Verbal, Kaze no Hito’s MC Wise, and Nigo as DJ will make up the 5-man unit Teriyaki Boyz. They will release their debut album “Beef or Chicken” on Def Jam Recordings on November 16. Nigo is best known for the A Bathing Ape street fashion brand, which has a huge cult following. He is a friend of Def Jam artist Jay-Z, and got the idea of putting the group together this summer. The album also has a stellar lineup on the production side, with Japan’s Cornelius alongside Grammy Award winners the Neptunes, Ad Rock of the Beastie Boys, French artists Daft Punk, and DJ Shadow. The group will hold a launch party in New York and play live dates in five cities towards the end of the year. There are no plans for the members to continue as a group after that.

• A happy follow up to yesterday’s story about the stolen bike of rock singer Imawano Kiyoshiro (54). The bike was discovered yesterday close to where it had been stolen, and even had a brand new lock attaching it to a railing. Kiyoshiro will now be able to participate as planned in the Honolulu Century Ride, a 100-mile ride on September 25.

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.

Singer Hamasaki Ayumi (26) made a surprise guest appearance yesterday at the premier of the new movie “Shinobi.” Starring Nakama Yukie (25), currently one of the hottest actresses in Japan, the movie features Ayu’s “Heaven” as the theme song. The singer’s surprise appearance on the stage of the Marunouchi Piccadilly movie theater in Yurakucho, waering the tiniest of mini skirts, sent the audience into a frenzy. Her new song is due for release as a single on September 14, while the movie opens on the 17th.

• The recent Fuji TV 2-part drama “Tsumiki Kuzushi Shinso” did as well as expected in the ratings, managing a respectable 23.5% rating on the second night. A second TV dramatization of a book that has sold over 3 million copies over the last 30 years, it starred Tachi Hiroshi (55) and Sugita Kaoru (40) as the parents of a delinquent daughter, played by Adachi Yumi (23). The original TV series was a social phenomenon when it aired on TBS in 1983, with the final episode achieving a remarkable 45.3% audience rating. The drama dealt with darker aspects of family life that had hardly been touched upon before. It was also made into a movie that same year.

• NHK has announced the title of 2007’s taiga drama, the annual extended series that focuses on historical figures. The series will be titled “Fuurinkazan,” a phrase that is translated as “as fast as the wind, as quiet as the forest, as daring as fire, and immovable as the mountain.” The central figure in the series is Yamamoto Kansuke, a general and master military tactician under the command of legendary warlord Takeda Shingen during the Sengoku Jidai (warring period). The series is based on the writings of Inoue Yasushi (1907-1991) to mark the centenary of his birth.

Hollywood superstar Johnny Depp (42) arrived in Japan on Saturday for his first visit in ten years. Depp arrived in the afternoon by private jet at Narita Airport. The time of his arrival hadn’t been announced, but there were still about 2,000 fans waiting for him when he left customs and he seemed taken by surprise by the size of the crowd. He arrived in town to promote “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” his latest collaboration with director Tim Burton. The movie will have its Japanese premier tonight. Dressed in a cowboy hat and chocolate colored suede jacket, looked quite different from his latest Willy Wonka image, sporting the scruffy beard that he needs for the sequel to “Pirates of the Carribbean.” Depp’s first and only previous visit was in 1995 to promote “Deadman.”

• Yasuoka Yutaka (31), a member of the popular acapella group Gospellers, got married recently. He made the announcement on Saturday on his official website, saying he was very happy but offering no further details.

• Press reaction to Kitano “Beat” Takeshi’s latest movie has been mixed. After its first ever screening at the Venice International Film Festival on Friday, Kitano (58) himself seemed to think maybe he’d gone too far in making such an obscure film in “Takeshis’.” He commented drily that he didn’t think he was in the running for a second Golden Lion award and would go back to making a more orthodox movie next time. The Italian papers, while giving mixed reviews, consider Kitano a big enough star to give their reviews of the movie top billing.

Movie director-actor-comedian Kitano “Beat” Takeshi (58) took everyone by surprise when he showed his latest movie in its entirety yesterday at the Venice International Film Festival. It was the world’s first look at “Takeshis'” and created a buzz among the international media, who had expected that a “surprise screening” would be no more than a preview. There was an audible gasp of surprise among the 800 or so reporters gathered when the titles for the movie roled on the screen. The movie, which has also been added to the competition category, ran for an hour and 50 minutes. It’s based around the premise of real-life star Beat Takeshi meeting a spitting image convenience store worker named… Kitano Takeshi. At a post-screening press conference, Kitano said, “This isn’t a movie you can understand, it’s a movie you experience physically. I want it to confuse viewers.” It’s a project he’s been envisaging for more than ten years and finally realized as his 12th movie. Kitano has won awards at venice in the past – the Golden Lion grand prix for “Hanabi” in 1997 and the director’s award for “Zatoichi” in 2003. The film isn’t due for release in Japan until November.

Korean actor Bae Yong Joon (33) is still in the news, with his latest Japan trip coming to a close. Just as well, it would seem, as he appeared tired and a bit irritatable at last night’s press event for his latest movie, “Shigatsu no Yuki” (April Snow). More than 1,100 media people and 90 TV cameras turned up at the event, held at a central Tokyo hotel. This is way more than the 830 media who turned up for the Steven Spielberg/Tom Cruise press conference for “War of the Worlds.” In order to keep his throngs of Yon-sama’s female fans away, security was tight all day, with media people having to show both an invitation and a meishi (business card) to get in.

• Awards for the most beautiful legs in Japan went to actress/model Sato Eriko (23), talento Kanda Uno (30), and Pink Lady member Mii (47), one award for each decade. The awards were sponsored by shoe manufacturer Kuraray.

• “Seven Swords,” the Hong Kong movie that opened this week’s Venice Film Festival, is an homage to legendary director Kurosawa Akira. Director Tsui Hark (55) said he was honored to be able to dedicate the picture to Kurosawa on such a grand stage. Also showing was “Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.” For the second straight year, Square Enix showcased the production, though this time they showed the full feature in the out of competition category rather than last year’s short edit shown by special invitation in the digital movie category. Directed by Nomura Tetsuya (34), the film has been eagerly awaited by millions of FF fans worldwide. “FF VII: Advent Children” goes on sale in Japan on September 14.