Pop duo Puffy are to be the first Japanese to appear in the New York Thanksgivings Day Parade. The duo have become very popular in the US thanks to the Cartoon Network series “Hi! Hi! PuffyYumiAmi” and recently played their most successful concert tour there. The parade has been running since 1924 and is watched by about 2.5 million people in New York and another 50 million on live TV. Yoshimura Yumi (30) said, “I don’t know what to expect until we ‘re actually there, but I’m nervous about it already!”
• The funeral service was held last night for the late pop singer Honda Minako, who died of leukemia last weekend at the age of 38. About 1,200 people – family, friends and fellow showbiz celebrities – paid their last respects, while 1,500 fans said a tearful farewell outside the crematorium in Saitama Prefecture.
• Winners of the 2005 “Best Smile of the Year Awards” are actress Ueto Aya (20) and champion race jockey Take Yutaka (36). The awards are sponsored by chewing gum maker Lotte.
• Folk music duo Billy Ban Ban have applied to the Guinness Book of Records – they reckon they are the world’s longest-running sibling duo. The brothers, Sugawara Takashi (61) and Sugawara Susumu (58), made their debut in 1969 with “Shiroi Buranko” (White Swing) and have released a new single today to mark their 36th year in showbiz. Their gentle melodies are often featured as background music in TV commercials, and the new single “Kimi no Uta” (Your Song) is their 8th to be used in an ad for the iichiko brand of sake since 1988. The duo took their name from the cowboy outlaw Billy the Kid.