Nobody knows for sure whether Southern All Stars are splitting up for good or just taking an extended break. But their huge popularity shows no sign of abating. The band, who announced back in May that they will be taking an indefinite sabbatical after this year, have seen dozens of their hits make the Top 100 in the music download rankings. They released about 100 songs on KDDI/au’s “Chaku-uta Full” service on June 25, the band’s 30th anniversary, followed by later releases on NTT’s DoCoMo and Softbank Mobile. 30 of the band’s hits made the DoCoMo chart Top 100, with the highest rank of #9 for “Tsunami,” their biggest hit and the best-selling J-pop single of all time. Also to commemorate the number 30, the first pressing of their latest single “I Am Your Singer” was just 30,000 copies, and 30,000 fans will be able to see them live at an anniversary concert at the Nissan Stadium in Yokohama in August.
• Comedian Jinnai Tomonori (34) had to apologize to fellow presenters and guests on the “Narutomo!” show yesterday after he turned up late. The Yomiuri TV show is broadcast on weekday mornings, with three days a week being live. Yesterday was one of those days. Jinnai, who now lives in Tokyo with his equally hard-working wife Fujiwara Norika, was doing his regular commute across the country on the shinkansen with comedian Inoue Satoshi. But Inoue failed to wake him up when they reached Osaka and Jinnai awoke to find himself in Okayama.
• Actress Kawashima Naomi (47) and her patissier fiance are to hold their wedding in June of next year. The couple plan to get married in France or Italy and follow that up with a wedding reception at the Ritz Carlton in Tokyo on June 23.