Enka singer Mori Shinichi (58) used a press conference yesterday to take a few digs at his ex-wife. The event was held to promote his new single, due for release on May . But he clearly had another agenda. He and former pop idol Masako (47) divorced in March of last year, but this was the first time for him to speak about it in public. He denied claims made in Masako’s recent autobiography that he had been stingy in refusing to share his assets, estimated at about ¥750 million, or pay alimony. He pays ¥400,000 a month in child suppport for their three sons, quite a bit more than the average worker’s salary. He added that he had discussed the amount with lawyers and tried not to base it on common sense rather than the fact that his children have showbiz parents. He complained that Masako and Hori Takeo (73), founder of the Hori Pro management agency, were too obsessed with money and business and that the matter should have been discussed only within the family. After also taking a jab at another Hori Pro singer, Wada Akiko (56), for supporting his ex on her weekend show, Shinichi said he would probably watch Masako’s live appearance on last night’s “Kayou Concert” on NHK. Masako has just recently made her singing comeback, with the single “Barairo no Mirai” (Rose-colored Future), saying that she was forced to do so for financial reasons.
• Toyokawa Etsushi (44) and Terashima Shinobu (33) are to bare all for the camera. The pair have been cast as adulterous lovers in the movie “Ai no Rukeichi” due for release this winter. Like the 1997 hit movie “Shitsurakuen”, the movie’s main talking point is likely to be its sex scenes, so the producers were concerned about getting “serious” actors for the lead roles. “Toyoetsu” and Terashima are both award winners and sure to bring class to the racy story. The novel was serialized in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun business newspaper from November 2004 till this January and became popular among company employees, many of whom got their pulses racing reading it on their way to work.