Kano Kyoko (photo center, 44) has finally filed criminal charges against her younger sister. The elder of the “Gorgeous Kano Sisters”, Kyoko has been claiming since the start of the year that Oyama Harue (photo left, and her real sister as opposed to her usual sidekick Kano Mika, 39) absconded with jewelry, furniture and clothes worth hundreds of millions of yen. Her lawyer held a press conference yesterday and said Kyoko had filed embezzlement charges with Tokyo police on July 6, claiming the stolen items were worth ¥270 million and also that there was an accomplice involved. According to the lawyer, fraudulent appropriation by a non co-resident family member requires a formal complaint from the victim within six months in order to prosecute, meaning charges in this case had to be filed by mid-July. Rather than seeking the return of the stolen items Kyoko said, “I’ve never endured anything so hurtful as the suffering this case has caused. I want an honest explanation of why she betrayed me like this.” A lawyer for Harue, who worked as manager for the glamorous duo, said by fax that neither he nor his client had been contacted by police since February and that he did not think there were grounds for a criminal case against her. legal opinion is that, unless the charges are dropped, a court case is likely. Kyoko’s lawyer says that she and Kano Mika are prepared to appear as witnesses, and the possibility that the secrets behind the women’s mysterious wealth may come to light would make it the highest profile celebrity courtroom drama in years.
• Johnny’s Jimusho sure knows how to churn out the boy bands, and the hits. The latest teen act is Hey! Say! 7, so named as all members were born in the current Heisei era (2007 is Heisei 19). Their single “Hey! Say!” has entered the Oricon chart at No.1. With an average age of less than 15, they are the youngest male group to hit the top since fellow Johnny’s act Hikaru Genji in 1988. The group is actually made up of five members of the Johnnys Jr. troupe, who mainly perform as backing dancers for more established acts. As an indication of how big the youngsters could become, current superstars SMAP started out as backing dancers for Hikaru Genji.
• Speaking of SMAP, Kimura Takuya and fellow cast members walked a 50m red carpet yesterday at a PR event for the movie adaptation of his hugely successful TV drama “Hero”. The event was held at the Nippon Budokan and attended by 5,000 screaming – and very lucky – fans. Demand for tickets had been such that some 400,000 people were less lucky. First aired in 2001, “Hero” is the most popular drama series ever for Fuji TV and was revived for a special last year. The movie version will open on September 8 on something close to the record number of 461 screens nationwide currently showing “Saiyuki”, which stars fellow SMAP member Katori Shingo (30).
• The wife of lawyer and variety show regular Hashimoto Toru (38) has given birth to their 7th child. They now have three boys and four girls.