Actress Takeuchi Yuko (26) is being inundated with new commercial offers. It’s probably no coincidence that her impending divorce from playboy kabuki actor Nakamura Shido (34) comes at a time when she is getting back to work. Her management are casting her in the divorce story as the victim (which she very well may be) of Nakamura’s womanizing, and a typical working single mother. The couple have a son of just 9 months. Takeuchi is currently appearing in four TV commercials, for which she is thought to have received about ¥50 million apiece. And given her recent publicity and the fact that it will likely boost her image among women, recent offers for new commercials are likely to make her over ¥100 million each. A similar phenomenon was seen after the divorces of such stars as singer Amuro Namie and actress Iijima Naoko. The TV wide shows have benn showing a video of the making of Takeuchi’s new movie “Saidokaa ni Inu” (Dog in the Sidecar), which recently started production and is due for release in autumn 2007. See yesterday’s story for more on her divorce.
• Aichi Prefecture police arrested a 26-year-old company employee for online ticket fraud. Over a period of 18 months, the Toyama Prefecture resident offered tickets, such as for popular Johnny’s group Arashi, for sale through a mobile BBS site. Through about 50 such swindles he made around ¥1.5 million.
• Actor and singer Matsudaira Ken has finally become a father at the age of 52. His second wife, former idol singer Matsumoto Yuriko (38), gave birth to a baby boy on October 31. The couple married at the end of last year. matsudaira was for many years best known for his samurai roles until he had a huge hit in 2004 with the pop single “Matsuken Samba II”.