Daily Archives: April 13, 2010

Wedding Bells and Babies

Yanagiya Karoku, Uchida Kyoko, Sawamura Ikki


Rakugo-ka Yanagiya Karoku (38, photo left) announced yesterday that he got married on Sunday. Speaking with reporters after a memorial service in Tokyo for the late shikaisha Tamaoki Hiroshi, he said that his new bride (42) was an ippanjin who was originally a fan. “She is very good at looking after my eight apprentices. She’s well suited to being the wife of a rakugo-ka.” The couple started dating last summer, just a few months after Yanagiya ended his 7-year marriage to fellow rakugo-ka Hayashiya Kikuhime (39). He is the grandson of Yanagiya Kosan (1915-2002), the first rakugo-ka to be named as a Living National Treasure.

Babies for Ucchi, Sawamura
Popular former Fuji TV announcer Uchida Kyoko (33, photo center) posted on her blog last night that she gave birth to a baby boy yesterday morning. Popularly known by the nickname Ucchi, she married a Yoshimoto Kogyo employee (36) in July, 2006.

Meanwhile, actor Sawamura Ikki (42, photo right) revealed in today’s issue of the “Josei Jishin” weekly magazine that his wife is expecting their third child at the end of this month. Dad’s on the small screen from this Friday starring in the catchily-titled new TV Asahi detective series “Keishichou Shissoka – Takashiro Kengo.”