Hollywood star Johnny Depp (43) arrived in Japan yesterday to promote the latest “Pirates of the Carribbean” movie. The crowds grew at Narita Airport during the morning as producer Jerry Bruckheimer and co-star Orlando Bloom (29) also flew in separately. But the biggest reception came from 3,500 screaming fans as Depp arrived from Paris on a private jet around 1:20pm. He was accompanied by 9 people including his sister. “Dead Man’s Chest” opened on Friday in a massive 4,133 cinemas across the US, the third-largest opening ever. Depp and the other cast and crew members are scheduled to give a press conference today before attending the Japan premiere, and the movie will open in theaters here on July 22.
• Russian talento Solntsev Ivan (24) has been arrested for drug possession. He was questioned by police in Tokyo’s Roppongi district on July 1 because his car was illegally parked. They found 1.9 grams of marijuana in his rucksack. One half of Ivan & John, the first non-Japanese duo of assistants on the daily Fuji TV variety show “Warratte Iitomo”, the Moscow native has lived in Japan since he was a boy. He and American John were the 12th pair of regular assistants on the record-breaking afternoon show, appearing for three years until March 2006. They would do a little dance routine to warm up the studio audience before the arrival of emcee Morita “Tamori” Kazuyoshi (61), who has hosted the show every weekday afternoon since 1982. This longevity has earned him and the show a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.
• Fashion model Mori Izumi (23) is to make her acting debut. She will appear in next Tuesday’s episode of NTV’s weekly “Drama Complex”, entitled “59-banme no Puropozu” (59th Proposal), in which she plays a supporting role to star Fujiwara Norika (35). The grand-daughter of world famous fashion designer Mori Hanae (80), the half-American Izumi has benefited from the recent trend for fashion models to make the move to television. She has been a regular co-presenter on NTV’s talk show “Oshare-ism” since last year, though her role has been mostly decorative.
• Musicians Imai Chihiro (31) and Matsumoto Eiko (27) tied the knot in Tokyo on Saturday. Imai, a member of the folk group Something Else, and his bride wore matching white outfits. The wedding and reception were attended by about 100 family members and celebrities.
• The late singer Misora Hibari may have been one of the greatest Japanese legends of the 20th century, but fan interest seems to be waning. A Kyoto museum dedicated to the star is set to close in November due to declining visitor numbers. “Kyoto Arashiyama Misora Hibari Kan” opened in 1994, five year’s after her death, and welcomed over 3 million visitors in the first four years. But as many of her fans have now reached old age, the numbers have dropped considerably.