Pop duo and anime idols Puffy took part in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in New York yesterday. They are the first Japanese artists to join the annual event. Their parade float was a recreation of the tour bus that appears in the animation series “Hi! Hi! Puffy AmiYumi,” and featured giant versions of their cartoon characters. At the end of the route, they performed a song for delighted young female fans.
• Hollywood watch: Brad Pitt continues his feud with the foreign media in Japan. He and Angelina Jolie are due to give a press conference in Tokyo on Monday for their new movie “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”, but have barred any foreign media from attending. It will be the pair’s first official public appearance together since off-screen romance was reported between them during the summer. Japanese media will have to sign a document promising not to ask personal questions or distribute their coverage outside the country. Foreign reporters were also kept out of the press conference for “Ocean’s Twelve” in January, Pitt’s last PR trip and just after he split with Jennifer Aniston.
• And Kiefer Sutherland (38) is in Japan for the first time. He has already featured in a series of TV commercials for Ohtsuka Seiyaku’s Calorie Mate drink, based on his Jack Bauer character, but is in town to promote the latest “24 Season IV” DVD release. At a press conference yesterday he said he had jet lag the night before and wandered the streets of Shibuya. “But I’ve been thinking of doing a documentary in Tokyo so I shot some film,” he admitted.