Koide Keisuke (22) and Saeko (19) are the latest young showbiz couple. The up and coming stars are not only popular actors but are also students at two of Japan’s top universities. Koide, who made his breakthrough in last year’s hugely popular NTV series “Gokusen”, is a senior at Keio University. Over the past year he has appeared in a number of hit series, including Fuji TV’s “Waterboys” and TBS’s “Byakuyakou”, and movies such as “Pacchigi!”. He lived abroad while an elementary school student and is proficient in English and Chinese. Saeko, who is currently appearing in the movie “Back Dancers”, started studying Human Sciences at Waseda University in April. The pair met when they played lovers in this year’s TBS spring drama “Oishii Puropozu”. They will be together again next month in “Nodame Cantabile”, Fuji TV’s adaptation of a popular manga, which will air in the prime Monday 9pm time slot.
• A recent survey by a magazine aimed at young people hoping to get into showbiz has revealed that readers are in less of a hurry to find stardom than before. Asked how long they would wait before giving up hope of making their debut as a “gravure aidoru” (pin-up girl), the average age has usually been in the teens. But the recent breakthroughs by such idols as Hoshino Aki (at the age of 23), Inoue Waka (at 20) and Kudo Risa (at 21) has led to over 70% of respondents saying they’d keep trying until their 20s (up to 20: 45%, up to 25: 25%). In the case of modelling, the current crop of magazine cover girls who’ve crossed over into TV, such as Ebihara Yuri and Oshikiri Moe, are in their mid-20s. So most survey repondents said they’d wait till 25 or 30 before giving up on a modeling career. In contrast, male respondents overwhelmingly chose “no age limit” for beginning an acting career.
• Former NTV announcer Nagai Minako (41), now a freelancer, has announced that she is pregnant. It will be the second child for Nagai and her husband, the U.S.-born Hori Kazutomo Robert (41), CEO of Internet company Cybird.