Daily Archives: June 21, 2010

A quick roundup of some other interesting stories from last weekend.

Ex-Wink Star Retires After Scandal
Former aidoru star Suzuki Sachiko (41) has announced her retirement from showbiz after a scandal blew up over the weekend. Last Thursday’s issue of the magazine “Shukan Bunshun” reported that she had admitted to having a 4-year affair with married stage actor Tsuda Eisuke (39). Tsuda denied the affair in his blog on Friday, insisting that Suzuki was his sempai at their management agency and nothing more. As one half of the duo Wink, Suzuki was a major star from the late 1980s to the mid-90s.

New Poster Featuring Leo, Ken
A new poster was released yesterday for Watanabe Ken’s latest Hollywood venture. He stars alongside Leonardo DiCaprio (35) in the sci-fi thriller “Inception,” directed by Christopher Nolan and due for release here on July 23. The new poster also features Joseph Gordon-Levitt (29) and Ellen Page (23). Watanabe (50) previously worked with Nolan on “Batman Begins” (2005).

Mori Shinichi Tags with Komuro Tetsuya
Enka star Mori Shinichi (62) announced on Sunday that his new single will be produced by none other than J-pop guru Komuro Tetsuya (51). Both are major stars who have had a difficult couple of years. Not long after a messy divorce from his wife of 19 years, Mori got caught up in a scandal surrounding the use of unapproved lyrics in his signature song “Ofukuro-san,” which led to a very public dispute with the songwriter. Meanwhile Komuro is trying to rebuild his career and his life following his 2008 arrest and trial for the fraudulent sale of the copyrights to hundreds of his songs. In their first collaboration, Komuro has produced “Nemurenai Love Song,” a single released to commemorate Mori’s 45th year in showbiz.

KAT-TUN’s Akanishi Performs in LA
Akanishi Jin, a member of the Johnny’s Jimusho aidoru group KAT-TUN, became the agency’s first artist to perform solo in the US with a couple of shows in Los Angeles over the weekend. During the “You & Jin USA” shows it was announced that there will be more dates in the autumn in cities including New York and Las Vegas.

Enka singer Mizuki Mai (36) announced on her blog yesterday that she and hugely popular wrestler Kobashi Kenta (43) are to be married in the autumn. The couple are said to have been dating for about 10 years, during which time both their careers have undergone some major upheavals. Mizuki debuted as an aidoru singer in 1992 using her given name of Hosoe Mayuko. She had moderate success and released half a dozen singles, before taking on a new name and image as an enka singer in 2004.

At that time Kobashi was one of the top figures in the professional wrestling scene. But in June 2006 he was diagnosed with kidney cancer and underwent surgery. He was at the Nippon Budokan six months later to announce that he would return to the ring within a year. He was true to his word, but in September 2008 he dislocated both elbows and was sidelined for another six months. And in January of this year he pulled out of a tour following yet more trouble with injuries. Kobashi is vice-president of the Pro-Wrestling NOAH troupe, a position he took on shortly after the sport was devastated by the death of his boss, Misawa Mitsuharu, in the middle of a bout.

Mizuki and Kobashi are expected to speak with the media today about their plans for a wedding ceremony and reception in Tokyo on October 2.