This week is a time of celebration for actor Shibata Kyohei (photo right, 54), with last weekend’s release of the detective movie “Mada Mada Abunai Deka,” in which he co-stars with Tachi Hiroshi. But it was revealed just this Monday that Shibata’s 20-year old second son died at the end of last year. A university student in Kyushu, he was found dead, apparently of a heart attack, in his apartment in mid-December. Shibata and his wife flew down from Tokyo to identify their son, who suffered from asthma. Shibata started filming the latest movie in the Abunai Deka series, the first in seven years, just three months later. The series has had a cult following since its days as one of the top Tv series of the 1980s. Shibata married a former model, who had a son from an earlier marriage, in 1983. They had a son of their own the following year and a daughter in 1987.
• Troubled rakugo performer Kairakutei Black (52) recently underwent emergency 3-hour surgery following a stroke. He was rushed to a Tokyo hospital complaining of chest pains after he finished a radio show last Friday. The son of an American father and Japanese mother, he has gone through many name changes during his career, including Tachikawa Levchenko and Kairakutei Sex, and took on his latest name in 1992. He recently amassed large debts, which led to his being dismissed by the Tachikawa rakugo school in June and being divorced by his wife. He now lives alone in a small Tokyo apartment without even a bathroom.
• Congratulations to the Chiba Lotte Marines baseball team and their manager Bobby Valentine on winning the Japan Series last night. It’s their third title and the first since they won as the Lotte Orions in 1974.