About 500 reporters turned out yesterday to hear about a movie that has barely started filming. Director Yamada Yoji‘s latest venture into the world of samurai drama stars SMAP heart-throb Kimura Takuya (33). And at yesterday’s pre-production announcement, they made it clear that they’re aiming to make a movie that is Oscar material. “Bushi no Ichibun” is Kimutaku’s first venture into period drama, but Yamada is already comparing him with that most stoic of actors, Takakura Ken. He has grown a bit of a beard for his role as a low-level samurai, blinded by his job as a poison tester, who seeks revenge against the man who steals his wife. The movie, not due for general release until next year, has had an offer from the Berlin Film Festival, where Yamada’s “Tasogare Seibei” (Twilight Samurai) was nominated for the Golden Bear award in 2003.
• The debut solo album by Bernard Fowler (47), backup singer for the Rolling Stones, will be released first in Japan on March 8. The Stones will be playing in Japan later in the month. Fowler has a long history of connections with Japan – his wife is Japanese and he worked on a Sakamoto Ryuichi solo album as far back as 1986. He’s been working with the Stones since 1989. The only band member appearing on his album is guitarist Ronnie Wood.
• The daughter of Academy Award nominated actor Watanabe Ken (46) has been named as a tourism ambassador for the Philippines. The tall and slender Anne (19) appeared at a PR event at the Ebisu Westin hotel in Tokyo yesterday. After greeting the gathered reporters in fluent English, she told them of her location work on the islands of Cebu and Bohol. She refused to comment when asked about her father’s recent re-marriage to actress Minami Kaho (41). A fashion model who has worked on the international circuit, she now lives with her mother.