A new big showbiz couple is born, or at least is out in the open. Romance between Dragon Ash leader and vocalist Furuya Kenji (27) and talento Megumi (photo, 24) was revealed in the latest issue of weekly magazine Friday, out today. Megumi has managed to shed her image as just another busty pin-up girl to become a regular on the variety show circuit. She originally got into showbiz because of her interest in music, and after making her recording debut in 2003 she made friends in the hip hop scene. She and Furuya are said to have begun dating last year. She was spotted spending the night at his Tokyo apartment at the beginning of this month, and went directly from a late night of work on February 9 to Furuya’s birthday party. Noda Yoshiharu, president of the Sun Entertainment agency to which Megumi belongs, is said to have given his approval of the relationship. This is in sharp contrast to his anger last December at the romance between talento Seto Saki (20) and TM Revolution singer Nishikawa Takanori (35).
• Congratulations to figure skater Arakawa Shizuka, who became Japan’s first medalist of the Winter Olympics in Turin. She took gold following a performance that brought the crowd to its feet. Main rivals Sasha Cohen and Irina Slutskaya both fell during their routines and settled for silver and bronze. Suguri Fumie gave a rousing performance but had to settle for fourth place.
• Singer Gackt gave a performance of his new song at a PR event yesterday in Tokyo for the latest Gundam anime features. The song “Love Letter”, scheduled for release March 1, is the theme for “Mobile Suit Z Gundam 3: Love Is the Pulse of the Stars”, which opens in theaters March 4. gackt, dressed in a black suit, appeared alongside the cast of voice actors and director Tomino Yoshiyuki (64).