Monthly Archives: January 2011

The world of kabuki has lost one of its leading veterans. Nakamura Tomijuro V, designated a Living National Treasure, died at a Tokyo hospital on Monday night of cancer. He was 81. His final performance was at the Shimbashi Enbujo theater in Tokyo last November, during which his failing health forced him to drop out and enter hospital.

Real name Watanabe Hajime, he made his first stage appearance as Bando Tsurunosuke IV in 1943, and became popular through his collaborations with Nakamura Senjaku II (79). He took the Tomijuro stage name in 1972 and enjoyed a career that spanned not just kabuki but also TV (such as the 1974 NHK taiga drama Katsu Kaishu”) and movies, including “Gakko II.” He was designated by the government as a Living National Treasure in 1994 and in 2008 was officially recognized for his contributions to the arts.

In 1996, he married Masae (48), a former actress who was 33 years his junior. They had two children, with Tomijuro becoming a father at the ages of 69 and 74. He had been scheduled to perform alongside his son Takanosuke (11, photo right) from January 2. The young actor took to the stage yesterday, the day after his father passed away.

More than two years after setting off on his Earth Marathon, comedian Hazama Kanpei (61) arrived back on Japanese soil in the early hours of Tuesday. He has sailed the Pacific and Atlantic, and run across North America, Europe and Asia before sailing between China and Fukuoka on the southern island of Kyushu. About 2,500 fans braved the early morning cold and rain to join his wife Mitsuyo, his two grandchildren and the mayor of Fukuoka at the city’s marina to welcome home the popular comedian.

Up to Hazama’s arrival back in Japan, the combined distance he has covered is estimated at about 40,400km. He now faces the final challenge – running the last 620km across western Japan to his goal in Osaka, where he is scheduled to reach the Osaka Castle Hall on January 21. The momentous event will be televised live.

A New Year TV special showed Hazama in tears as he ran the final few kilometers through the Chinese coastal city of Qingdao. During his mammoth run across Eurasia, he was told that he was suffering from prostate cancer. But even that discovery only temporarily sidelined him and he spent several weeks undergoing treatment in the U.S. before getting back on the road in Turkmenistan last June.

NHK executives must be feeling very thankful to singer Kuwata Keisuke (54, photo). He is being given much of the credit for the decent TV audience ratings announced for “Kohaku Uta Gassen” on New Year’s Eve. The show managed an average rating of 42.5% for the second half, the third year in a row that it has stayed above the 40% mark. In 2009, the main attractions were rare appearances from Susan Boyle (49) and Yazawa Eikichi (61), while this time around it was recent developments in Kuwata’s personal life that drew many viewers. The show was his first public appearance in almost six months, during which time he has been in a battle with cancer. His performance of two songs, including his latest release, “Sore Ike Baby!!” drew even higher ratings in some parts of the country, 48.1% in Nagoya and 49.6% in Niigata. NHK also announced that they had a 40% increase in votes from viewers on the song contest.

Other attractions on the show were a live hookup with the Yokohama Stadium, where actor/singer Fukuyama Masaharu (41) had his ponytail ceremonially cut off. He grew his hair for the lead role in last year’s NHK taiga drama series “Ryomaden.” And there was the 34th appearance by veteran Wada Akiko (60), despite the fact that she suffered neck and back injuries in a car crash during final rehearsals for the show.

The big surprise news of the New Year was Hamasaki Ayumi’s Las Vegas wedding. Ayu (32) and Los Angeles-based Austrian actor Manuel Schwarz (30) tied the knot on New Year’s Day in a small chapel in the Nevada city. The couple met last August in L.A. when he was cast as her bridegroom in a promotional film for her song “Virgin Road.” Ayu wore a wedding dress when she performed the song on NHK’s “Kohaku Uta Gassen” on New Year’s Eve (photo left). She was less formally attired in a surprisingly candid shot released this week (photo right).

On New Year’s Day, the pair were spotted by reporters at Narita Airport on their way to the U.S. It wasn’t until the next day, Japan time, that Hamasaki’s fans learned of the Las Vegas chapel wedding via her online “Team Ayu” fan club. She referred to ‘Manny’ as her “Last Angel,” a reference to another of her songs.