One of the popular “sexy groups” of the 90s is to be revived with new young members. The trio will make their debut in May with the song “Cherry Girl”, a Japanese euphemism for a virgin. The group is made up of Araki Nozomi (18), Airi (23), and Chiba Miku (18). With their teeniest of mini skirts and “t-back” thongs, the group are said to combine sexiness with the currently popular term “moe”. The term is difficult to translate but is close to the English words crush or infatuation. It’s often used to describe the feelings that otaku (nerds) have for girls dressed up in maid or anime character costumes.
• Actor Watanabe Ken (46) was presented with the 15th Yodogawa Nagaharu Award yesterday. The award is named after the late movie critic who was a regular presenter of movies on TV for many years until his death in 1998. Watanabe, who recently worked with director Clint Eastwood (75) on the movie “Red Sun, Black Sand” about the WWII battle of Iwojima, said he would like to direct himself someday.
• Actress Sakurai Sachiko (32) has divorced music producer Tanaka Satoshi (43) after two and a half years of marriage. The couple first met in 1990, when Sakurai made her singing debut, and started dating six years later. In a fax sent to the media, the couple said their work schedules had driven them apart but that they will remain friends. They have no children.
• This week, singer/songwriter Nagabuchi Tsuyoshi (49) said a final farewell to his father, who died of cancer at the age of 77. A funeral was held on Wednesday for the former police officer at the Honganji temple in Tokyo’s Tsukiji district. Nagabuchi read the lyrics of a song he wrote for his father and performed his new release, “Close Your Eyes”.
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