The mood was a little tense at yesterday’s Japan premiere of “The Dark Knight.” The latest Batman feature has been a runaway success since it opened in the U.S., but the image of its star, Christian Bale, has been damaged by recent reports from London. Bale attended last night’s event at the Tokyo International Forum but his handlers ensured that questions from reporters did not broach the subject of his questioning by British police after his mother and sister filed assault charges against him. The actor is in Japan for the fourth time, accompanied by his wife and daughter, and is scheduled to give a press conference today. The movie opens here on August 9.
• Comedian Tamura Kenji (35) had to adopt a very different persona yesterday as he gave a press conference to apologize for an incident of food poisoning at one of his restaurants. Tamura, who performs in a loin cloth, aviator shades and carrying a dancing lion puppet, donned a gray suit as he apologized for the incident that led to the closure of the Nagoya branch of his Sumibi Yakiniku Tamura chain. Four customers suffered food poisoning and one was briefly hospitalized after eating at the restaurant, which was closed by Nagoya city authorities yesterday. Tamura apologized to reporters and TV cameras, bowing deeply and saying the incident was the result of his naivety regarding the hazards of serving raw food products during the hot summer months.
• Fuji TV announcer Watanabe Kazuhiro (32) used company funds to pay for an extra-marital affair, according to a weekly magazine. The story in today’s issue of “Shuukan Asahi” claims that Watanabe, who got married in July of last year, met the woman while on location in western Japan. He used his company expense account to pay for her to come to Tokyo. Fuji CEO Toyoda Kou, speaking at a regular press conference, said he had been informed that there was no basis for the story and that it wouldn’t affect plans for Watanabe to be sent to Beijing to cover the upcoming Olympics.
• Japan-based Brazilian stage actress Marcia (39) is to return to her recording career. She won a newcomer award following the success of her debut single, “Furimuke Yokohama” in 1989 and was one of the top ballad singers of the early 1990s. But she released her last single in 1998 and has since been working in stage musicals. The daughter she had with her ex-husband, actor Otsuru Gitan, is now 10 years old, and Marcia says she’s ready to get back to what she loves. She hopes to perform in Brazil and on NHK’s annual New Year’s Eve show “Kohaku Utagassen.”