Music chart company Oricon has carried out a survey to find Japan’s ideal leader figures. Among junior and senior high school boys, Seattle Mariners star Suzuki Ichiro was the number one choice as an ideal “sempai” (senior member) for their club activities. The choice reflects Ichiro’s clear leadership role and enthusiasm in the recent World Baseball Classic, where he led his countrymen to the championship. He was followed in the survey by former tennis player Matsuoka Shuzo, now a regular on TV, and comedian Akashiya Sanma. Strangely enough, comedian Razor Ramon HG (Hard Gay) was the No.4 choice. In 10th place was singer Otsuka Ai, the only female choice. On the other hand, teenage girls made popular comedy duo Oriental Radio their No.1 choice. Other male choices included Kamenashi Kazuya of the pop unit Kat-Tun (#2), Koike Teppei of duo WaT, Ichiro (#5), and Porno Grafitti vocalist Okano Akihito (#9). Female choices were actress Ueto Aya, talento Becky, and sexy singer Koda Kumi.
• Talento Kubo Keiko (34) is engaged to basketball player Kita Takuya (33), who plays for the Toshiba team in Japan’s pro basketball BJ League. Kita was a fan of Kubo’s and she first agreed to go on a dinner date with him in 2001 if Toshiba won the league. He is said to have proposed a year ago and they have been living together since. Kubo plans to continue her career after their marriage on May 13.
• Model Akai Saki (19) was on the catwalk at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo yesterday. The daughter of actor and former pro boxer Akai Hidekazu (46), she is a campaign girl for Asahi Kasei’s new range of summer bikinis. The tall and slender model is being compared to Yonekura Ryoko and Sato Eriko, who have built on their modeling careers to become successful in showbiz.