Japan Post yesterday announced a new service that allows you to make your own original postage stamps using photographs. Actress Yonekura Ryoko (31) appeared at an event to promote the service, posing for a photo with company president Ikuta Masaharu. She touted the “warmth” of hand-written letters and cards over their increasingly popular electronic alternatives. Using the new service, to be officially launched on September 1, customers can bring a photo to any post office and have a sheet of ten ¥80 stamps printed for ¥1200. The photo part of the stamp measures 4cm square and has a perforated edge so it can be removed from the main stamp. A similar product was launched unsuccessfully in 2003, shortly after Japan Post became a privatized company, which had the stamp and photo separated. The company hopes to sell 1.5 million sheets within this year. Also yesterday, Yonekura appeared at a PR event for the stage version of her popular TV Asahi drama series “Kurokawa no Techo”. Based on a novel from the late 70s, it has been dramatized several times over the years. The TV version starring Yonekura ran in 2004 and 2005. She will be making her stage debut in the new production, scheduled to open at the Meijiza theater on October 3.
• Actress Nishida Hikaru (34) has given birth to her first child in the U.S. She married a Japanese trading company employee in 2002 and they are living in California, where he works. Her management agency announced yesterday that she had a baby boy on August 18.
• Kabuki actor Nakamura Kantaro (24) has withdrawn from a tour of western Japan. The tour is part of a series of events in celebration of his father’s succession to the stage name of Nakamura Kanzaburo. Kantaro began suffering pain in the ligaments of his leg in June. His part will be taken by his brother Shichinosuke (23).