Daily Archives: July 10, 2007

Former Morning Musume Leader Iida Kaori to Wed

Iida Kaori (25) is the latest former member of Morning Musume to have a shotgun wedding. The group’s second leader is currently three months pregnant and planning to marry Kenji (28), former vocalist with the defunct rock band 7House, later this month. But she is still scheduled to appear in this summer’s Hello! Project tour, a first for either a wife or an expectant mother. The show starts in Tokyo on August 11 and ends its run in Iida’s hometown of Sapporo on September 1, after which she will take maternity leave. 7House, which debuted in 1999 but broke up three years later, was yet another brainchild of MoMus producer Tsunku (38). Romance between Iida and Kenji was reported in 1999 but flatly denied. After his band broke up, Kenji became a company employee and the two drifted apart. Iida left MoMus in January 2005 and has been exhibiting as an artist. The couple reportedly began dating again at the end of 2005 and started thinking about marriage last autumn.

• Two former members of Johnny’s Jimusho boy band News have made their comeback. Uchi Hiroki (20) and Kusano Hironori (19) are appearing in this summer’s “Playzone 2007”, the annual musical production featuring veteran Johnny’s group Shonentai, now in its 22nd year. The two youngsters were both dropped from News following separate underage drinking incidents, Uchi in 2005 and Kusano last year. Both are considered to have done their penance and are being given another chance. The show also features Uekusa Yuta (12), son of Shonentai member Uekusa Katsuhide (40). The show opened yesterday at the Aoyama Gekijo theater in central Tokyo, where it runs till mid-August.

• Actor Jerry Ito died of pneumonia on Sunday at his California home. He was 79. The U.S.-born son of Broadway dancer Ito Michio, he appeared in over a dozen Japanese movies including the kaiju classic Mothra (1961) and the manga adaptation Golgo 13 (1977).

• It was revealed yesterday that producer/musician Komuro Tetsuya (48) recently ended his 6-year relationship with the Yoshimoto Kogyo agency. Yoshimoto, best known for its huge stable of comedy acts, said that Komuro’s contract finished at the end of June and the decision was amicable.