Illusionist Hikita Princess Tenko has made a “miraculous” recovery from the injuries she suffered recently. Wearing a Phantom of the Opera-style mask to hide her facial scars, she took to the stage at the Misonoza theater in Nagoya yesterday, just a week after “The Spikes of Death” trick went wrong. Though not life-threatening, the cuts, bruises and broken bones inflicted were initially said to require a month to heal. But, with a tear rolling down from behind her mask, Hikita said she never thought about canceling the Nagoya show. In a very rare talk with the audience, she said, “I didn’t have time to escape, and I thought I was going to die. One of the blades stopped just 1cm from blinding me.” Asked if she still felt any fear, she replied, “No, I’m fine. I rarely get a chance to rest for a week, so I was delighted.” She was released from hospital last Tuesday, two days after the accident, with her ribs taped up and is only able to perform thanks to painkillers. At yesterday’s two-part show, she performed her usual full routine of 12 illusions.
• Rock singer Mineda Kazunobu (29) has been dropping his pants again. This time the Ginnan Boyz vocalist is in trouble with the police in Taiwan, after he worked the crowd into a frenzy at a show in Taipei on Saturday night. After Mineda exposed himself, members of the audience stormed the stage. Though the singer says he didn’t mean to cause trouble, police say they are looking into prosecuting him for immoral behavior. Mineda was arrested in 2005 after going naked at an outdoor concert in Ibaraki Prefecture.
• Hollywood star George Clooney (46) was greeted by about 200 screaming fans when he flew into Narita Airport from Milan by private jet yesterday. He’s in Tokyo to promote “Ocean’s 13”, which has its Japan premiere on August 1.