News presenter Yamamoto Mona (30) looks to be out of a job. Only a week after joining the “News23” staff, her affair with a married politician has led to an “indefinite suspension”. The beautiful and multilingual Yamamoto, whose father is Norwegian, was expected to be a valuable addition to the TBS show’s lineup. She was seen as a rival to Fuji TV’s “News Japan” presenter Takigawa Christel (29), who is half French. But the revelation last week that she was having an affair with married Minshuto Diet member Hosono Goshi (35) had commentators speculating on how long she’d last. TBS initially refused to comment on what they called a private issue, but last night presenter Zemba Takako (31) announced on the show that Yamamoto would be “absent for a while due to health problems”. In the meantime, Zemba and Takano Takahiro (27) will support news anchor Chikushi Tetsuya (71).
• Kabuki actor Nakamura Shido (34) just can’t seem to put his latest scandal behind him. Fined ¥200,000 for running a red light while over the alcohol limit in July, the married actor was found to have been with actress Okamoto Aya (23) at the time. And most recently a weekly gossip magazine published photos of him out on the town with actress Takaoka Saki (33), despite the fact that he is in a period of “penitence”. He insisted that he and Takaoka, his co-star in a theater production that opened yesterday, were simply discussing work. Shido appeared after the curtain call to apologize to the audience for all the fuss he’s caused. He was greeted with laughter from his forgiving fans.
• Happier news for TV Asahi news reporter Tomikawa Yuta (30), who announced yesterday that he is engaged to be married in November. The “Houdou Station” and “Super J Channel” regular said only that she is an “ordinary person”, the usual expression for someone not in show business.
• Comedian Ozawa Kazuhiro (32) just can’t keep a secret. Appearing at a PR event for the Hollywood movie “The Sentinel”, he and partner Itoda Jun (33) tried out a lie detector. Itoda let the cat out of the bag by quizzing Ozawa about his university student girlfriend. He described her as looking like Fuji TV announcer Nakano Minako. Itoda married actress Adachi Yumi (25) last year.
Talento Mukai Aki (41) and her husband, pro wrestler Takada Nobuhiko (44), had some good news at the weekend. Parents of twin boys born in the U.S. in November 2003 to a surrogate mother, they have been fighting in the local courts to have their children legally registered. The Tokyo High Court on Friday ordered Tokyo’s Shinagawa ward to accept the birth registration of the 2-year-old boys, overturning an earlier decision by the Tokyo Family Court. The Justice Ministry had taken the stance that to recognize Mukai’s parenthood would be in violation of the law stating that only a birth mother can be so recognized. In 2000, after six years of marriage, Mukai underwent surgery to have her womb removed following the discovery of uterine cancer. She has shown remarkable strength in the face of such adversity, appearing in televised press conferences several times. Commentators on today’s wide shows speculate that the High Court’s decision was strongly affected by Mukai’s medical history and may not be a simple precedent for future cases or lead to a change in the law.