Seiko’s back on the road. Matsuda Seiko, the perennial “burikko” idol, is still on top of her game at 44. Sporting the shortest possible shocking pink miniskirt, she performed 25 songs – one for every year that she’s been in showbiz – in a two-and-a-half hour set for 15,000 fans at the Saitama Super Arena on Saturday. The show kicks off her annual summer tour of the country, which this year takes in 8 cities across Japan. She wore five different outfits on Saturday, including one based on the popular sailor uniform worn by many of Japan’s schoolgirls that just reinforced Seiko’s image as the pop idol who refuses to act her age. Also in attendance was Seiko’s daughter Sayaka (19), whose brief entertainment career is still on hold. She and her mother had a spat last year, with Sayaka claiming that she wanted to break away from her mother’s control, and this was the the most public show yet that they have made up.
• Comedian Ueda Shinya (36) is a father. One half of the popular duo Cream Stew, he revealed on the NTV talk show “Oshare-ism” last night that his wife gave birth to their first child, a baby girl, on June 7. He and his wife, both of whom are from Kumamoto Prefecture, married in 2004 after a 15-year relationship. Ueda’s comic partner Arita Teppei is known as one of showbiz’s more prolific playboys.
• Ditzy talento Yamaguchi Moe (29) and company president Ozeki Shigeo (31) finally held their wedding ceremony and reception at a Tokyo hotel yesterday. The couple registered their marriage last November. Ozeki is CEO of the apparel company Zeel.