Yoshimoto Kogyo comedian Kato Koji (37) had some good news for a change. He announced on the Fuji TV comedy show “Mecha Mecha Iketeru” that his wife, actress Ozawa Rin (27), is expecting their third child in November. Known as Gokuraku Tombo, he and his former comedy partner Yamamoto Keiichi (38) were regulars on the show all during its ten-year history until Yamamoto got embroiled in an alleged rape and assault case this summer and saw his showbiz career come to an abrupt end. Kato has said he felt like “beating the crap” out of his former sidekick, but has been valiantly carrying with his solo career. He is a regular on several variety shows and presents the NTV wide show “Sukkir!!” In a typical move for Japanese TV, a recent special that looked back on the ten years of “Mecha…” had carefully edited Yamamoto out of all scenes.
• The 19th Tokyo International Film Festival has a new head. French director Jean Pierre Jeunet, whose 2001 movie “Amelie” was a huge sleeper hit in Japan, has been named to head the festival’s panel of judges. He replaces , who pulled out due to a work schedule conflict. Jeunet is best known in the English language market for directing “Alien 4”. He won the Gold Award at the 1991 Tokyo fest with his film “Delicatessen”.
• It was revealed on Saturday that singer UA (34) and actor Murakami Atsushi (33) divorced in August. They had been married for ten years and have one son, who is with his mother. Both have succesful, if somewhat ofbeat, careers and their busy work schedules kept them apart.