The latest single from Mr. Children is their 25th straight chart-topping hit. “Shirushi” entered the Oricon singles chart at No.1, putting the band in second place to rock unit B’z, who have done it an amazing 38 straight times. In the album charts, “Stop the Clocks”, the first greatest hits collection from Oasis, is at No.1. Surprisingly, it’s only the third time ever that a western artist has had two consecutive chart-topping albums, and the first time in more than 11 years. And the soundtrack for Fuji TV’s drama “Nodame Cantabile” has reached No.7, the highest ranking for an album of classical music. The series is based on a best-selling manga.
• Hollywood actor Watanabe Ken (47) is the face of the new Nissan Skyline. He appeared at a launch event for the company’s flagship sedan in Ginza yesterday. He took the opportunity to send encouragement to baseball pitcher Matsuzaka Daisuke (26), who may soon also be headed for a new career in the U.S. A new Nissan TV commercial featuring Watanabe airs from today.
• And continuing the theme of music and TV commercials, popular rock/hip hop group Dragon Ash are to do a CM tie-up for the first time. Their new single, “Rainy” will be used in the CM for snowboard brand kissmark, which will feature vocalist Kj (27) showing off some of his moves. The single goes on sale December 6.
• And finally, guitar legend Eric Clapton (61) was back “home” yesterday. His latest Japan tour, which opened in Osaka, arrived at the venerable Nippon Budokan, one of his favorite venues. Stopping between songs only to greet the 10,000 fans with “Domo arigato”, Clapton played a 17-song set that included the classic blues number “Five Long Years”. Two new dates have been added at the Budokan on December 8 & 9. That will bring his total to 70 shows at the venue, putting him third behind local legends Yazawa Eikichi and Matsuda Seiko, who have played there 82 times each.