NHK’s lovable Domo-kun character is to become a worldwide star. The public network announced yesterday that a 26-episode series of the stop-motion animation is to be broadcast in 101 countries and territories around the globe, including the U.S. and the U.K. That far exceeds the 64 countries that broadcast the NHK morning drama series “Oshin,” which originally aired in Japan in 1983-84. The full Domo-kun series will be shown at a four-day “Shibuya De Domo” event during the Golden Week holidays in early May. Domo-kun first appeared in 1999 to promote the 10th anniversary of NHK’s BS satellite channels. The popularity of the brief spots meant that Domo-kun survived that initial one-year run and became an image character for all of NHK.
• Actor Sato B-saku (59) is to undergo surgery for stomach cancer, his management agency revealed yesterday. They said the cancer was discovered during a regular checkup last December and was at an early stage. He is currently appearing in a stage production in Tokyo with his wife, actress Ameku Michiko (44). He will undergo surgery on May 1 and has stepped down from a stage show in Nagoya in June.
• Two women were slightly injured when a car driven by actress Shirakawa Yumi (71) was hit at an intersection last weekend. Police said yesterday that they will prosecute the male driver of the other car, which hit Shirakawa’s car as she was waiting to make a right turn in the Chuo-cho, Meguro district of Tokyo.
• Spanish singing couple Carlos Marin (39), of the group Il Divo, and Geraldine Larossa (aka Innocence) performed a “secret” concert in Tokyo yesterday. They are in Japan to promote her first album in Japan, “The Show Must Go On” and performed a rare duet of the song “Live Forever” for the Fuji TV early morning show “Mezamashi Terebi.”
• “Tokyo Sonata,” the latest movie starring Koizumi Kyoko (44), is to be entered at this year’s Cannes International Film Festival and will compete for the “Un Certain Regard” prize. Directed by Kurosawa Kiyoshi, the movie is described as a “heart-warming story about family ties,” with Koizumi casting off her usual stylish image to play a depressed housewife, and her husband played by Kagawa Teruyuki (42). Also heading for Cannes will be Tokio member Yamaguchi Tatsuya (36). He will join actors from the U.S. and around the world who provided voices for international editions of the animated feature “Kung Fu Panda.” In his first stint as a voice actor, he provides the Japanese voice for the lead role of Po the Panda (Jack Black).
• On the verge of becoming a forgotten star of the 1990s, Nakayama Miho (38) is to make her return to acting. Living in Paris since 2002 with her husband, Akutagawa Prize-winning novelist Tsuji Jinsei (48), and three children, she is currently in Korea planning her lead role in a movie adaptation of his novel “Sayonara Itsuka.” To be directed by Korean John H. Lee, the movie is due for release in the spring of 2009. Filming starts in Bangkok next month and will also take place in Japan and Korea. Nakayama is scheduled to appear on a live radio show today, her first live appearance since moving to Paris.