Any TV drama series that stars Kimura Takuya is sure to be popular and almost guaranteed the best time slot. But in the upcoming spring series from TBS, Kimutaku not only has the prime 9pm Monday slot, he even gets to be Prime Minister. The as-yet untitled series tells of an elementary school teacher who gets thrown into the political arena and becomes Japan’s youngest ever leader. After decades of political mismanagement, the Japanese people are likely to tune in in large numbers to see what the country’s top star can do when put in charge. The series once again joins Kimura with writer Fukuda Yasushi and the team who made “Hero” one of the most popular TV dramas ever, with all 11 episodes getting an audience rating over 30%. Last year’s movie spinoff was the most successful domestic feature at the box office.
As one half of the Yoshimoto duo Football Hour, comedian Iwao Nozomu (32) may be popular but he’s not supposed to get the girl. As the comedy agency’s No.1 “ugly” star for three years running, his romantic misadventures are part of his appeal and marketability. So his connection with a popular 24-year-old porn actress is all the more surprising. The weekly gossip magazine “Flash” photographed Iwao and Itoya Mei on a date at a Tokyo izakaya earlier this month, after which they spent the night at Iwao’s apartment. They have been spotted out together on several separate occasions, though their agencies say they are just friends. They met last year when Iwao cast Itoya in the segment he directed of a Yoshimoto omnibus movie. A junior college graduate, Itoya worked in a nursery before starting nude modeling and porn video appearances in 2006. She also has one of the AV (adult video) industry’s most popular blogs.
• Islandic songstres Bjork was at the Nippon Budokan yesterday for her first concert here in seven years. Wearing the same colorful face paint as features on the cover of her latest album “Volta”, she dispensed with talk intervals and costume changes, performing 19 songs for the 10,000 fans. She plays the same venue on Friday before heading to Osaka Castle Hall for one more show on Monday.