Singer Fuji Keiko (55, real name Utada Junko) returned briefly to Japan to give Fuji TV an exclusive interview, which aired last night, in an effort to clear her name following some recent bad press. The mother of pop princess Utada Hikaru (23) was found with a huge amount of cash at an airport in New York back in the spring. Authorities, suspecting the $420,000 in cash had links to drugs, decided to confiscate it and have yet to return it. Reports on the incident, revealed on the U.S. website The Smoking Gun, said sniffer dogs had detected drug traces and that Fuji was described as acting strangely. The report said she claimed that she planned to donate the money to an orphanage in Las Vegas. In last night’s interview, conducted in the back of a car, she made no mention of that plan. She said it was normal for her to carry that kind of cash, particularly when visiting Vegas, where she is a regular guest at the Wynn hotel. By way of explanation, she showed her passport to the camera, revealing a jet-set lifestyle that has seen her visit dozens of countries over the last few years. She claims to have spent something like ¥500 million in the last five years. As an executive in her daughter’s management company, she is thought to have earned about ¥170 million last year. Fuji was a very successful singer back in the 1970s before suddenly giving it all up and moving to the U.S. in 1979.
• Pop idol Matsuura Aya (20) has bounced back from the medical condition that forced her to cancel concerts just two weks ago. She will have to continue medical treatment for the arthritis-like problem that affects her jaw and was causing intense pain when she sang. She gave a tearful apology yesterday to 2000 fans at the Tokyo Kouseinenkin Hall, where she performed an afternoon and an evening show. There was no mention of whether she still had to use painkillers just to get through a performance.
• Actor Fujioka Takuya died from chronic kidney failure Friday afternoon at a Tokyo hospital. He was 76. He was best known for his role in the long-running TBS drama series “Wataru Sekken wa Oni Bakari”, but stepped down from the show after 16 years in February due to pneumonia.
• The 19th Tokyo International Film Festival kicked off on Saturday. In his opening speech, new Prime Minister Abe Shinzo (52) called it a “music festival” before quickly correcting himself. The festival will run until October 29 and features over 300 films.