Actress Yamaguchi Tomoko (39) is to make her variety show debut at long last. She will be the special guest on SMAP’s annual Fuji TV summer special “SMAPxSMAP” on July 19. When I read that she is publishing a new book a few days later, the timing seemed obvious. But it appears she won’t be plugging her book or anything else on the show – a very rare case indeed. One of the most popular stars of the late 1980s-early 90s, she married actor Karasawa Toshiaki (41) in 1995. After that, her only drama role was in the 1996 hit “Long Vacation,” alongside SMAP’s Kimura Takuya (31), until a comeback this January. Otherwise, she has only been seen in TV commercials and has written some books.