Kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjuro (59) gave a press conference yesterday to announce his return to the stage after battling with leukemia for the second time. He was hospitalized in September of last year and finally released on February 22. He will appear at the Kabukiza theater in Tokyo on May 1. The exact nature of his disease was a recurrence of acute promyelocytic leukemia. Head shaven but looking well, he described his time in hospital as a struggle with himself as much as the disease and said that he had been to hell and back.
• Comedy duo Bakusho Mondai this week became the first stars of the TV variety show circuit to be recognized by the government for their cultural merit. They were among the names announced for this year’s commendations from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Among the 18 winners in the arts were singer/songwriter Najkajima Miyuki (54) and rakugo storyteller Katsura Sanshi (62). With shows like “Sunday Japon” and “Sta-Men” the duo of Ota Hikari (40) and Tanaka Yuji (41) have made popular a new kind of intelligent variety show that discusses current issues. Ota in particular has shown he has a remarkable level of insight and intelligence. Remarkable at least in comparison with the majority of comedy stars who seem to have taken over most of the networks.
• Hugely popular model Ebihara Yuri (26) unveiled her latest TV commercial yesterday. Shot at a private pool in Beverley Hills, the ad for Shiseido’s Anessa sun block features “Ebi-chan” from behind slipping off her bikini top and is sure to be a talking point.