Talento Kanda Uno (32) announced yesterday the date for her wedding with pachinko mogul Nishimura Takuro (37). The couple will hold a wedding ceremony at Meiji Jingu shrine followed by a reception at the Hotel New Otani in Tokyo on October 8. The date is a taian day, the most auspicious day for weddings in the traditional Shinto calendar. True to her recent image as a fashion designer, Uno said the wedding will also be a fashion show featuring her own “Scena D’uno” brand of wedding dresses. Because of the need for a catwalk, she has had to reduce the number of invited guests from 1,000 to around 720. She said she had done all the research and planning for the event herself, from the food to the table decorations. Her good friend, singer Mikawa Kenichi (61), will perform the ballad “Ai no Sanka” (A Hymn to Love). According to a hotel spokesperson, even a regular wedding in the massive “Tsuru-no-Ma” banquet room would cost no less than ¥5 million. But Kanda has never been one to settle for less than the most expensive of anything. So she’ll be reaching well into Nishimura’s deep pockets for this event of a lifetime.
• Less happy news for actress Mihara Junko (42). She and talento Happy Happy (38), who formerly went by the name Koala, have for several years been the stereotypical “madly in love” showbiz couple. But now it seems their marriage is on the rocks and they are talking about divorce. It seems the main reason is his extra-marital affairs earlier this year while she was away from home on long theatrical runs. The two married in November 2001, just months after Mihara divorced a racing driver. A former top idol singer, Mihara herself was a racer from 1987 to 1999.
• Actor Enari Kazuki (22), famous for his cleaner than clean image, has sued two newspaper for publishing articles suggesting he frequented sex parlors. The “Nikkan Gendai” and “Naigai Times” published the stories in early April. Enari’s management agency sued them for libel and claimed ¥22 million in compensation, saying there was no truth in the stories and they seriously damaged his image.