Former Dreams Come True member Nishikawa Takahiro (41) has been arrested again. He was found in posession of amphetamines while alone in his car in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district in the small hours of Saturday morning. He told police he had bought the drugs, which he was hiding in a candy box, a week before in Shibuya. The former DCT keyboard player was previously arrested for assaulting his sister-in-law in October 2002, seven months after leaving the pop group, and again almost immediately afterwards for drug posession. In that case, he received an 18-month sentence, suspended for three years. This time around, he could face up to 10 years in prison. Since June of last year, he has had a regular monthly gig as a club DJ in Tokyo and an associate said he had shown no signs of a drug problem at recent gigs.
• Movie director Oshima Nagisa (73) made his first public appearance in five years at the weekend. Battling a prolonged illness, the veteran director of such hits as “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” and “Ai no Corrida” (Empire of the Senses), appeared in a wheelchair at an event to mark the 70th anniversary of the Director’s Guild of Japan. He seemed in good form but left it to his wife, actress Koyama Akiko (71), to address the audience of about 400, which included DGJ chairman Sai Yoichi (56), director Yamada Yoji (74) and actress Yoshinaga Sayuri (60).
• A couple of big names announced for this year’s 10th Fuji Rock Festival, to be held on July 28-30. The Red Hot Chilli Peppers will be back for the third time – they are something of a Fuji Rock legend after a typhoon practically blew them off the stage in the very first year of the 3-day summer event. That year it was actually held near Mt. Fuji, but since 1999 it has been held in the picturesque ski resort of Naeba. Also among the 150 international and domestic acts playing this year will be Scottish band Franz Ferdinand. 3-day “early bird” tickets may still be available for ¥32,800 at the official website.