Monthly Archives: February 2010

(A reader sent this in so we’re posting it) If you’re in Los Angeles this spring and want to get a serious dose of Japanese kawaii, then you should check out Moon Kana. She’ll be making three night-time appearances in L.A. on April 1-2 along with special guest DJ SiSeN. She doesn’t seem to have released any new material since the album “Tsuki no Usagi” in July 2007.

She started out as a teen model for the “Gothic & Lolita Bible” magazine using the name Kana, and began her music career as singer for the electronica band Starblues in 1996. She later went on to release four solo albums. Though now 28, in her style and music she simply oozes cute – whether that’s a good or bad thing is in the eye of the beholder. Her style is a mix of Goth Lolita and straightahead kawaii, rounded out with blonde/green hair and stuffed bunnies.

For more details of her Moon Kana’s music and live appearances, check out her blog.

Nishikido Ryo is the Pudding Samurai
Johnny’s Jimusho idol Nishikido Ryo (25) has landed his first movie starring role in a project clearly aimed at the female segment of the market. Filming will start this weekend for “Chonmage Purin,” a comedy drama about a samurai who finds himself in modern Japan and, naturally, ends up becoming a hugely popular pastry chef. Chonmage is the name for the samurai’s distinctive hairstyle, while purin is the Japanese pronunciation of pudding. Directed by the highly regarded Nakamura Yoshihiro (39), the movie co-stars Tomosaka Rie (30). Nishikido, a member of the Johnny’s group NEWS, made the news for a different reason in March 2009 when he caused a minor traffic accident.
Earlier story:
Nishikido Ryo Makes an Impact (Mar 3, 2009)

Matsumoto Jun on the Skids
And funnily enough, another Johnny’s star has just caused a similar accident. Matsumoto Jun (26) of the group Arashi ran into the back of another car while stopping for a red light in Tokyo shortly after 11pm on Monday night. There were no injuries and minor damage to both cars. MatsuJun may escape serous reprimand as some of the blame can be put on the snow that suddenly enveloped the capital late that night.

And about half an hour later Barcelona Olympic medal-winning gymnast Iketani Yukio (39) was the victim of a hit and run, also in Tokyo. He was hit from behind while stopped at a light shortly before midnight and, while he was calling the police, the driver of the other car sped away. Iketani suffered some minor bruises to his neck.

Management for comedian Shibata Hidetsugu (34, photo right) says his recently announced leave of absence is due to health problems and not woman trouble. One half of the popular manzai duo Untouchable, Shibata is taking an indefinite break from entertainment as of this month and is being treated at home. His agency said that he is still undergoing medical tests and they may make further announcements when the results are known. In the meantime, his comedy partner Yamazaki Hironari (34, photo left) will be going it alone on several shows on TV Asahi and TBS radio for the foreseeable future.

Untouchable made their breakthrough in 2004 when they won the M-1 Grand Prix comedy contest and have been TV regulars ever since. In February 2007, there were rumors of a split between Shibata and his former dancer wife (27). He was hospitalized with acute hepatitis in December of that year, but in 2008 his wife gave birth to their second child.

Goto Maki Still in Mourning
Singer Goto Maki (24) has canceled a concert appearance scheduled for February 8. Her management agency says she is still recovering from the suicide of her mother on January 24. Goto updated her official website yesterday and thanked fans for their messages of sympathy and support. “I want to move on and be positive in my music career,” the former Morning Musume member said. “My mother was looking forward to my next project, and I will do my best to bring it to you as soon as possible.”
Earlier stories:
Mother of Gomaki in Apparent Suicide (Jan. 25, 2009)

X Japan drummer and band leader Yoshiki confirmed yesterday that they will play the main stage at the Lollapalooza rock festival in August. The event, at Grant Park in Chicago from August 6-8, will be the band’s first concert performance in the U.S. They recently spent over ¥500 million ($5.5 million) shooting some promotional videos in Hollywood, which in itself was something of a dream come true for Yoshiki. A voting member of the Recording Academy and based in Los Angeles, he was at the Grammys at the weekend and broke the news to the press. If true, X Japan will be the first Japanese artists to perform on the main stage at Lollapalooza, though sources say the details are “almost” complete and, contrary to some Internet rumors, they won’t be headlining.

X Japan are of course a band with legendary status at home, with perhaps the most fanatical fan support in the country. Many of those fans will no doubt be planning to cross the Pacific to see their idols perform alongside some of the biggest and best rock acts in the world. But even with close to a quarter of a million people attending, tickets for the 3-day event will likely be hard to come by. Partly thanks to the general boom in all aspects of Japanese pop culture, X Japan have a growing overseas fan base, but tragedy and personal problems have so far conspired to stop them from achieving their ambition of becoming global artists. Since their long-awaited comeback almost two years ago, they have announced several shows in the US and Europe, but they’ve yet to actually play outside Asia. So if they do finally make the stage at Lollapalooza, they will no doubt be looking to steal the show.
Earlier story:
X Japan Finally Realize American Dream (Jan. 12, 2010)

The late Michael Jackson’s female lead guitarist has filmed her first appearance on a Japanese music show. The February 6 edition of Fuji TV’s “Music Fair” will feature Australian guitarist Orianthi Panagaris (25), who has been in the spotlight since her rehearsals with Jackson for his “This Is It” comeback show. She teamed up with J-pop diva Koda Kumi (27) for a performance of her hit “Ningyohime.” It was the first time for Orianthi to perform with a Japanese female artist. She visited Japan last week to promote her debut album “Believe” as well as the release of Jackson’s posthumous movie.

Exile Add to Awards Haul
14-member dance-vocal unit Exile were awarded the Best Artist prize at the inaugural Billboard Japan Music Awards in Tokyo yesterday. The winners were selected by the public from all the artists who had No.1s on the Billboard Japan weekly charts between December 2008 and November 2009. Exile leader Hiro (40, photo left) was at the ceremony to pick up the group’s sixth award of the year (they won 16 during 2009). Other artists taking home awards included singer Ai (28, photo center), male duo Kobukuro, and the band Remioromen.

The Next KimuTaku?
Rikkyo University sophomore Ohno Takuro (21, photo right) took a big step toward stardom yesterday. He was chosen as the winner of the “CampuStar” in a talent scouting event organized by the major Hori Pro management agency and Men’s Non-No magazine. Hori Pro are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year so they will be putting all their firepower behind Ohno. The runaway winner of the pageant, taking 5 of the 7 categories, when he was asked who is said to look like, he answered “a young Kimura Takuya.” Those looks helped him win similar contests in each year of high school, and he now looks set to follow in the footsteps of other Hori Pro actors like Tsumabuki Satoshi (29), Fujiwara Tatsuya (27) and Matsuyama Kenichi (24). He will land a part in the agency’s special movie project, “Inshitemiru,” and grace the cover of Men’s Non-No. There was no mention of whether he would continue his studies and pursue his original aim of becoming a physiotherapist.