Daily Archives: April 10, 2008

Kitano Takeshi (61) gave a press conference this week to talk about the third in his trilogy of “personal” movies. As with the previous two, Kitano says he doesn’t really care about reviews or box office numbers for “Akiresu to Kame” (Achilles and the Turtle). The movies are just something he felt he wanted to make mainly for himself. Sure enough, “Takeshis'” and “Kantoku Banzai” were quirky in the extreme and didn’t receive the accolades or commercial success of his earlier works. “Akiresu…” tells the story of an unsuccessful painter who continues to pursue his dream (his own paintings have featured in earlier movies such as “Hanabi”). Kitano says the theme reflects his own belief that even someone lacking talent should continue to work hard, and he describes the movie as a “story of artistic cruelty”. Bemoaning the fact that too many recent movies lack originality because they’re based on successful novels or TV dramas, he says that there should be more original screenplays. Using his stage name of Beat Takeshi, he again plays the lead role and is supported by a strong cast that includes Higuchi Kanako (49) as his wife, Aso Kumiko (29) and Yanagi Yurei (45). Filming started at the Nikkatsu Studios west of Tokyo in mid-February and is due to wrap up later this month. The movie should be completed in time for this year’s Venice International Film Festival in late August, a venue where Kitano has previously won the highest honors.

Oh Rie (38, right) admitted in public for the first time yesterday that she and doctor Honda Masaki (37, far left) have formally broken off their engagement. She said they made the decision about a week ago, when they met for the first time since their relationship hit a trough at the end of last year. She said they decided to remain friends. It’s only been a few months since the two were on the verge of getting married, heading off on a pre-nuptial holiday with Rie’s father, baseball legend Oh Sadaharu (67). As we reported here in mid-December, there was a lot of speculation about why the couple postponed their marriage plans, and rumors of a split between the couple appeared soon after. Honda entered the spotlight last year as the psychiatrist who treated troubled sumo star Asashoryu (27, photo center) through a bout of depression. He has been married once, while Oh has already been divorced twice.

• NTV announcer Nobutomo Yoko (33) revealed on the live morning show “Sukkiri!” yesterday that she recently got married. She said that she and her doctor husband tied the knot about a month ago. The two were introduced by former marathon runner and now sports journalist Masuda Akemi (44) last November. Nobutomo plans to continue her career.