Daily Archives: June 2, 2009

Just how strict is Japan when it comes to firearms? Talento Harada Noburo (57) recently found out, and he and TV producers are currently the subject of a police investigation. Their crime? Allowing Harada to simply hold a hunting rifle during a live broadcast on a local TV network show without having first obtained official permission. Harada was visiting a hunting club in the town of Yogocho for the January 17 edition of the “Tokimeki Saga’s” show when one of the members handed him the rifle. Harada is not a registered gun owner and the law states that permission must first be obtained from the prefectural public safety commission. In accordance with the Swords and Firearms Control Law, Saga prefectural police are investigating he incident, produced by the local Biwako Housou. Police have questioned Harada and carried out a search of the company’s premises and are thought likely to file charges. Biwako spokesman Ito Akihiko said, “We were unaware that we were breaking the law. We are cooperating fully with the investigation.” Harada, on his second marriage to a former Nikkatsu porn actress, is a former member of the folk duo Anonenone. Top J-pop producer Komuro Tetsuya, who himself recently endured a serious run in with the criminal justice system, was once a backing musician for the duo.

The success of Arashi’s latest single shows that they are the hottest Johnny’s Jimusho (profile) act these days. It’s no surprise that their 26th single, “Ashita no Kioku/Crazy Moon-Kimi Wa Muteki,” entered the Oricon chart at No.1, the group’s 15th consecutive chart topper since February 2004. But it has also sold over half a million copies in its first week, as did their previous release “Believe/Kumori Nochi Kaisei” in March. The last artist to manage those numbers twice in a row was the hugely popular Southern All Stars vocalist Kuwata Keisuke (profile) in 2001. Arashi debuted in 1999 and their popularity has been broadened by their appearances on variety shows, dramas and major movies.

Former Judy and Mary vocalist Yuki (37, photo left) announced on her website yesterday that she recently gave birth to her third son. Yuki and Magokoroburazazu member Yo-King (41) have been married since 2000. Their first child died of SIDS before he was a year old. They had another boy in 2006. Meanwhile, producer and actor Noda Hideki (photo right) has become a father for the first time at the age of 53. He and his former actress wife Yoko (28) married in December 2005.