South Korean actress Choi Ji Woo (29) has cancelled a 3-day visit to Japan on doctor’s orders. The actress was hospitalized on Wednesday after collapsing at her home, reportedly from exhaustion. She was scheduled to arrive yesterday for a reception in honor of the ongoing Japan-South Korea friendship year and to attend a press conference in Tokyo. TBS announced just days ago that it plans to work with South Korean companies to produce a TV drama series starring Choi and local heart throb Takenouchi Yutaka (34). It will be the first time for Choi to appear in a Japanese drama, though she has legions of fans here following the huge success of “Winter Sonata,” in which she starred alongside Bae Yong Joon (32), better known as “Yon-sama”. The drama, tentatively titled “Rondo,” will start filming in November – mostly in Tokyo and partly in Seoul – and is scheduled to go on the air between January and March 2006. It may also be shown on South Korean TV. Some of the buzz surrounding the popularity of Korean dramas has faded, but they remain popular among the middle-aged female audience and are still being aired regularly on several networks.
• It was revealed yesterday that the disease afflicting popular rakugo storyteller hayashiya Kompei (62) is multiple sclerosis. A regular on the NTV show “Shoten,” he was hospitalized between August last year and this May, and is said to be on the road to recovery.
• Ann (19), the model daughter of Hollywood actor Watanabe Ken (44), attended a party in Tokyo yesterday given by French watchmaker Piaget. The popular show and magazine model revealed that she will make her first appearance at the Paris Fashion Week this autumn. “It’s a dream come true for me,” she said. “It’s my No.1 priority right now.”