At yesterday’s Golden Arrow awards, the big winners were singer Koda Kumi (23) and actress Ito Misaki (photo, 28). The awards go to people who played the biggest role in several entertainment categories. The sexy Koda had a breakthrough year in 2005, with a string of consecutive Top 10 singles. The beautiful Ito is the new ratings queen, starring in two popular drama series during the year, “Densha Otoko” and “Kikenna Aneki”. She showed up to the awards in a suitably colored gold dress. There were five awards for the most prominent newcomers, including pop duo WaT, who made their pro debut just four months ago. WaT, made up of 20-year old toy boys Wentz Eiji and Koike Teppei, started out in 2002 playing in Tokyo’s Yoyogi Park every Sunday.
• Actress Yasuda Narumi (39) is to appear in her first TV drama in six years. “Saigo no Yakusoku”, a “human drama special” based on a true story, will air on Fuji TV on Apirl 4. Yasuda plays the wife of a sake brewer (Tachi Hiroshi) who is diagnosed with terminal cancer. In real life, she is the wife of comedian Kinashi Noritake (43) of the duo Tunnels.
• Rock band ARB is taking a break after 17 years, due to the tax evasion of singer and actor Ishibashi Ryo (49). The group formed in 1978 and broke up in 1992 when Ishibashi decided to pursue his acting career. They reformed in 1998 and have been active since, last year recording the team song for the Rakuten Golden Eagles when they became the first new baseball franchise in 50 years.