One of the country’s most popular and successful pop bands are taking an extended break. Though they have a series of big events lined up to commemorate their 30th anniversary this year, Southern All Stars will be on a sabbatical of unspecified length from next year. The members all have their own solo projects, with vocalist Kuwata Keisuke as usual being the most visible. But the band plan to release a new single in August, play a series of four shows at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama and otherwise keep fans happy for the rest of this year. The band debuted in 1978 with “Katte ni Sinbad” and have had dozens of hits over the years. They took their first extended break in 1985 and have alternated between band and solo projects ever since. They were reduced from six members to five in 2001 with the departure of guitarist Ohmori Takashi, ironically after having a best-ever year that included their historic 2000 live shows in Kuwata’s hometown of Chigasaki and the release of J-pop’s biggest-ever single “Tsunami,” which sold almost 3 million copies.
• Restaurateur and former comedian Ohshima Naoya (36) and former talento Takeda Kayoko (30) held their wedding ceremony and reception in Tokyo yesterday. Ohshima and Ishimoto Takeshi(34) made up the now defunct comedy group Dronz, who made their name in 1997 on the variety show “Susume! Denpa Shonen” but broke up in 2003. Ohshima now works as an actor and runs a nabe restuarant in the Ebisu district of Tokyo. Takeda is the great-great-granddaughter of Yoshihara Shigetoshi, the first ever governor of the Bank of Japan.
• Actress Suzuki An (21) has returned from her two-month English study trip to New York. Though she says she was reluctant to leave the Big Apple, she is looking forward to her next job. She will begin rehearsals for the stage production “Sisters,” starring Matsu Takako (30), which runs for a month in Tokyo from July 5.
• “20th Century,” the spinoff group from popular Johnny’s Jimusho idol band V6, finished their nationwide tour at the Tokyo International Forum last night. They announced that V6 will go on tour later in the year, starting at Osaka Castle Hall on August 1. They also announced that the new V6 song “Light in Your Heart” is to be the theme tune for the upcoming movie “Daikessen Cho-Ultra 8-Kyodai.” The movie, the latest in the long-running Ultraman superhero series, stars member Nagano Hiroshi (35) and opens in mid-September.
• Actor Mizutani Yutaka (55) is reviving his long-dormant singing career. A familiar face in detective dramas for several decades, he had a string of more than a dozen singles from the late 1970s but hasn’t released an original album since “Simple Man” in 1986. He gave a mini concert at a shopping mall in Kawasaki yesterday to promote “Time Capsule,” a new album of self-covers that was released last week. At one time married to American actress Miki MacKenzie, he is currently married to actress Ito Ran, a former member of the 1970’s idol group Candies. They have one daughter.