Popular rock band Road of Major are to break up. The quartet announced the decision yesterday, saying they don’t plan to hold a farewell concert. The upcoming DVD “Golden Road Films” (on sale July 18) will be their final release. Made up of leader/bassist Matsumoto Kenichi (27), vocalist Kitagawa Kenichi (26), guitarist Kondo Nobumasa (24), and (23) on drums, the band was formed as a project on the TV Tokyo audition show “Hamaraja” in 2002. They played 50 shows in 100 days with the aim of building a big enough fan base that their debut single would make the Top 50 of the Oricon chart. If they succeeded, they’d sign with a major label; if they failed, they’d break up. Things went well, and “Taisetsuna Mono” entered at No.16, finally reaching No.2 and selling over a million copies. They were the first ever independent band to enter the Oricon chart at No.1 with their 2003 eponymous debut album. Although a major label deal followed in 2004, they never managed to reach the same heights again. The artificial nature of the band meant that the members often had different musical ideas and they finally decided to go their own ways.
• The popular TV Asahi period drama series “Hissatsu Shigotonin” is making its comeback after 15 years, with some help from Johnny’s Jimusho. Long-time star Fujita Makoto (74) will revive his role as “assassin for hire” Nakamura Mondo in an upcoming special, but the new series will become a vehicle for Shonentai member Higashiyama Noriyuki (40). The special will feature two other Johnny’s stars, Tokio’s Matsuoka Masahiro (30) and Ookura Tadayoshi (22) of KanJani8, so the show will have pretty boys for all ages. Fujita said, “The Hissatsu series is a brand name. I want (Higashiyama) to take it over and keep it going forever.” The special airs on July 7 at 9pm.
Actress Okina Megumi (27) is giving the IT business one more try. She has been romantically linked with Kasahara Kenji (31), CEO of Mixi, Japan’s hugely successful social networking service. A graduate of Tokyo University, the entrepreneur is said to be worth in the region of ¥90 billion. Okina married Fujita Susumu, president of IT company Cyber Agent, in 2004 year but they were divorced by the summer of 2005. That romance was part of a boom in eligible showbusiness women going for high-profile and wealthy IT types. After the split, Okina was linked with a variety of guys, including a stage actor, a surfer from Hawaii, the actor son of a former prime minister, even a handsome Buddhist priest. But it looks like she has returned to the money. Though Kasahara is something of a protege of Fujita, his personal wealth is considerably bigger. So Okina can be said to be moving up the ladder of fortune.