Hip hop unit Teriyaki Boyz are having another go at international stardom. Led by fashion icon Nigo (37), the group performed in Taiwan and New York last year, and yesterday they announced their first concert in Hong Kong. They will play at the Hitec Star Hall on April 10. They are also scheduled to appear with Pharrell Williams’ alternative rock unit N.E.R.D. and Kanye West at an event at Makuhari Messe on April 5. Their latest single “Zock On!”, which was written by Williams (34) and also features Busta Rhymes, is released today. Nigo is the creator of the fashion brand BAPE (Bathing Ape).
• Actress twins Mikura Mana and Kana (22) graduated this week from the social studies department of Kansai Gakuin University. The inseparable duo are popularly known as ManaKana.
• Comedian Tamura Ryo (36) announced yesterday through the Yoshimoto agency that he became a father for the second time last week. One half of the popular duo London Boots, Tamura married in June 2003 and his wife Arisa (34) had a baby the following September.
• Janet Jackson (41) made a sudden announcement yesterday that she will be visiting Japan next month to set up her first tour here since 2002. Just last week she suffered from respiratory failure, but she insists that one part of her busy schedule that won’t change is the four-day visit from April 9. The trip is in support of her new album “Discipline”, her first U.S. chart-topping release in seven years.
• Moribe Tatsuya, the stepson of actor Yamashita Shinji (56), was found dead at his Tokyo home by his mother last week. He was 38. Police gave the cause of death as a heart attack, but he was found hanging by a necktie and left a suicide note. Moribe made his movie debut in 1992’s “Wangan Midnight” but had not worked as an actor for some time. was the son of