Today is the Umi no Hi, or Ocean Day, national holiday. The weather in most of the country is not great but it is hot and so you can expect to see scenes like the above at any major beach. Which is why I’m heading for the hills.
The first new movie from acclaimed anime director Miyazaki Hayao (67) opened nationwide yesterday. “Gake no Ue no Ponyo” is refreshingly free of computer graphics, having been animated entirely by hand. The story tells of a young female fish who yearns to be human so she can be with Sosuke, the 5-year-old boy she loves. Miyazaki is hoping for success similar to that of his last mega-hit, 2001’s “Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi,” which won him his first Oscar, was seen at Japanese theaters by some 23.5 million people and made over ¥30 billion.
• Orange Range vocalist Ryo (22) revealed on his official website that he is married and a father. He says he got hitched in February and they had a baby girl in June, adding that he delayed the announcement because there was a danger his wife might lose the baby. Elder brother and OR bassist Yoh (24) got married in June 2007 and is also a father.
• Actress Oda Akane (29) also announced yesterday that she and a 37-year-old company employee had just tied the knot.
• Kudo Kankuro (38), the man behind such TV and movie hits as “Kisarazu Cats Eye” and “ping Pong” is to turn an award-winning stage production into a movie. The big screen adaptation of his 2005 hit “Donjuu” will star top actor Asano Tadanobu (34). Though “Kudokan” has directed several movies, it’s the first time for him to adapt one of his own plays.