It was revealed yesterday that a couple of veteran rockers recently got down to some bare-knuckle fisticuffs. Last month, Maeda Kou (45, photo left) filed a complaint with Chiba Prefecture police after he was beaten by 6-foot-3 legendary guitarist Hotei Tomoyasu (45, photo right). His blog has vague references to the incident from June 14 onwards, mentioning that he was visiting the hospital every day and saying how he wanted to “destroy that lying S.O.B.” It seems the two were driving back to Tokyo from Hotei’s villa in Chiba when they got into a fight that left Maeda with nasty injuries. The two have been friends for many years, with Maeda sometimes writing lyrics for Hotei and taking part in a collaboration album last year. Maeda has also found considerable success as a writer, winning several top literary prizes including the Akutagawa Prize in 2000 for the novel “Kiregire.” Hotei was lead guitarist for the top 1980s rock band Boowy and his famous track “Battle Without Honor or Humanity” is used in Michael Bay’s recent movie adaptation of “Transformers.” His management agency sent a fax to the media today saying that the incident wasn’t as one-sided as Maeda suggests and that the police report and 3rd party witnesses will confirm that.
• Veteran singer Koyanagi Rumiko (55) has offially denied the rumor that she plans to marry her 28-year-old boyfriend, actor Ishibashi Masataka. As reported here a couple of days ago, the two were rumored to be planning to marry at the end of the year. Koyanagi had a very high-profile divorce from her former husband and backing dancer Osumi Kenya (42) in 2000.
• Of all the TV network announcers, the ladies at Fuji TV seem to be the most popular among fellow celebrities. The latest to find romance is Honda Tomoko (23), who is dating Urawa Reds midfielder Hasebe Makoto (23). Honda only joined Fuji last year but is already the announce on the “Suporto” show on Saturdays and Sundays. The former Miss Rikkyo University met Hasebe when she was a reporter for the show as a student.