Tamura Masakazu may be 63 but he can pull the chicks! Or at least so we’re expected to believe in “Last Love”, in which he wins the heart of the gorgeous – and much younger – Ito Misaki (29). The pair were on location in New York recently filming scenes in Central Park. Tamura, the biggest name in TV dramas and perhaps best known for his role as the Colombo-like detective Furuhata Ninzaburo, spent several months mastering the saxophone for the movie. He plays a NY-based jazz musician who loses his wife and gives up his career to return home to Japan. The Big Apple is a familiar location for Tamura, who starred in the 1988 Fuji TV drama series “New York Love Story”, and revived that role for a special in 2004. Those dramas were directed by Fujita Akiji and produced by Nakayama Kazuki, who have teamed up again for this latest movie project. The son of screen legend Bando Tsumasaburo (1901-53) and known for never needing more than one take, Tamura made most of his 40-plus movies in the 1960s and early 70s. But “Last Love” is his first movie since 1993 and only his third in the last 27 years. “I’ve done a fair bit of TV comedy in recent years, but it’s been a long time since I did a serious love story,” he said. “It’s true that I’ve been on the run from the movie business. I’ve become worried about how I look on the big screen, and on TV I don’t have to meet the audience.”
• Matsuda Ryuhei (23) is to take over a drama role originally meant for troubled kabuki actor Nakamura Shido (34). Nakamura stood down from the NHK drama “Hagetaka” following recent scandals and rumors of a divorce from actress Takeuchi Yuko (26). Matsuda is the son of the late screen legend Matsuda Yusaku and has worked mostly in movies. This will be his first major role in a TV drama series.
• Three male announcers with Asahi Housou in Osaka have been punished for sexual harrassment in three separate cases. Two of the employees were suspended for three months while one received a reprimand. The revelation comes after similar cases at NTV in September and Fuji TV last month.