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Young kabuki star Nakamura Kantaro (27) and actress Maeda Ai (25) got formally engaged yesterday at the Hotel Okura in central Tokyo. Among those in attendance were his father, Kanzaburo (53), grandfather Shikan (81), and younger brother Shichinosuke (25), all kabuki actors, and aunt Namino Kuriko (63) who is also an actress. Though his mother Yoshie is not an actress, she is also from a top kabuki family. After the traditional engagement, the couple held a press conference and announced that they would hold their wedding ceremony and reception at the same venue on October 28. Nakamura wore a gray kimono, while Maeda’s pink kimono was the same one that Yoshie wore when she got engaged. The two have dated since they appeared together in the 2001 NHK drama “Hikari no Teikoku.” They first acknowledged their relationship and talked of their marriage plans back in January. Asked if she planned to give up her acting career, Maeda said, “As long as it doesn’t affect his work, I hope I can continue.” As kabuki is a family business, there were the inevitable questions about children. Nakamura said, “I don’t want her to be under that kind of pressure. But having said that, I’d like to have about three children.” One of the unusual things about this particular kabuki family is that their real name is Namino, but Yoshie’s maiden name was Nakamura. So her name legally changed to Namino when she married, but due to her husband being part of the Nakamura-ya stage family, she is still known by her original name.

Earlier stories:

Nakamura Kantaro, Maeda Ai to Marry (Jan 7, 2009)

• Actor Abe Tsuyoshi (27) today announced that he has married Chinese actress Shi Ka. The couple met on the set of a joint Chinese-Taiwanese movie in 2006. Born in China, Abe moved to Japan when he was 9 and later took Japanese citizenship and the family name of his grandmother. He continues to work both in Japan and in the Chinese language world, where his stage name is Li Zhendong. He made his breakthrough in Japan in the popular TBS drama series “Hana Yori Dango” in 2005, and also the follow up series and big screen spinoff. His new bride is based in Beijing, so Abe will go solo at a press conference scheduled for today.

• On Saturday night, Katori Shingo (32) was the first member of SMAP to speak publicly about last week’s arrest of Kusanagi Tsuyoshi (34) on public indecency charges. On his live TV Asahi show “SmaStation!!” he choked up several times as he apologized on behalf of the group and said he hoped to see his best friend back at work as soon as possible. After having spent Friday night at a hotel in the capital, Kusanagi is said to have returned to his apartment for the first time since the incident.

Earlier stories:

Butt Naked SMAP Star Arrested For Indecency (Apr 23, 2009)

Kusanagi Tsuyoshi Gives Press Conference (Apr 25, 2009)

Kusanagi Tsuyoshi (34) gave a press conference on Friday night to speak about his arrest yesterday on public indecency charges. He appeared before about 200 reporters amidst a sea of camera flashes at the headquarters of Victor Entertainment in Tokyo shortly after 9pm. He immediately gave the customary bow of apology and apologized to fans, those connected with him and his fellow SMAP members. “I drank way too much and lost control of myself, and I behaved in a way that is an embarrassment to any adult. I deeply regret what happened and I apologize sincerely.” He bowed again deeply before he and reporters took their seats. After that his lawyer took over and said, “As you can see my client has been released and he has not been prosecuted. That investigation is still underway” He then explained the sequence of events that led to the arrest. He said that the singer was off on Wednesday and spent the day at his family home in Saitama prefecture. After returning to his apartment in Tokyo he went to a local izakaya. There he had dinner and drank several beers before switching to shochu. The izakaya normally closes at 10pm, but Kusanagi and two female staff were there drinking until about 2am. It may have been at this point that Kusanagi headed home and ended up in the Hinokicho Park on the way, or he may have visited another bar first, as was said in some reports. His lawyer said he had absolutely no recollection of this sequence of events. The conference was then opened to reporters’ questions. Kusanagi answered most of them himself, occasionally choking up when talking about how supportive the other SMAP members had been, though he has yet to meet with them face to face. When asked whether he would give up drinking, he said that he would only try to drink more responsibly. When asked if the incident had been caused by stress or pressure, he insisted that he was not suffering from either but had simply let a fun night go too far. When asked how he felt about not being able to work for the foreseeable future, he said, “It’s tough. I want to get straight back to work. But I need to do my penance and the rest is really not up to me. I have to be forgiven by the fans, by the other members (of SMAP).”

Earlier stories:

Butt Naked SMAP Star Arrested For Indecency (Apr 23, 2009)

The Kusanagi Storm Continues (Apr 23, 2009)

Kusanagi’s Arrest to Cost Billions (Apr 24, 2009)

The media have been busy for the last day or so analyzing the aftermath of Kusanagi Tsuyoshi’s arrest. Some big numbers are being thrown around as estimates of the cost to the companies that have a financial stake in him. At the time of his arrest he had 7 commercial contracts, 8 regular TV and radio shows and a movie due for release in September. Columnist Himura Masaaki (59) said, “With SMAP being probably Japan’s top talentos, Kusanagi alone would get about ¥50 million for an ad. As a group, their guarantee would be &yen120-150 million. Even just a music tie-up would bring in ¥50 million at a bare minimum.” He estimated that the cost to Johnny’s Jimusho agency just in terms of this lost income would add up to about ¥420 million. But on top of that, with the cost of posters, TV, magazine and newspaper ads, those companies would be looking at losses of ¥500 million each. So Johnny’s could easily be faced with having to compensate sponsors to the degree of ¥5 billion. And then of course there’s disgruntled TV networks and the ongoing effect on future earnings as well. All in all, it turns out to have been a pretty expensive naked romp in the park.

Meanwhile fans and commentators have been questioning why police decided to search Kusanagi’s Tokyo apartment after the arrest. As he tested negative for drugs and the incident took place elsewhere, the search should not have been part of the investigation. Lawyer Osawa Takayuki said, “It’s very unusual in such a case. As he’s a celebrity and the impact of the arrest is very wide, they may have decided to do it just in case.” Nihon University law professor Itakura Hiroshi said, “The prosecution of this case may be unexpectedly harsh. But I think he will be released soon. Even if he’s indicted, he should face a fine of les than ¥300,000. I certainly don’t see him getting a prison sentence.”

Earlier stories:

Butt Naked SMAP Star Arrested For Indecency (Apr 23, 2009)

The Kusanagi Storm Continues (Apr 23, 2009)

The media have been in a frenzy all day today about the arrest of a drunk and naked Kusanagi Tsuyoshi (34) in a Tokyo park last night (photo above). Residents of an apartment building next to the park were interviewed by reporters. One elderly man said, “At about 3am I heard someone screaming ‘Waa, waa” and at first I thought it was someone shouting for help. It was really loud and lasted for about 15 minutes.” A female resident said, “I heard a high-pitched scream. It sounded like someone was letting out their stress. I could hear it even with my windows closed. But we often have foreigners making a racket in the park so I didn’t make much of it. I was very surprised to hear it was Kusanagi-san.” Another person said they heard him shouting “Shingo! Shingo!” no doubt referring to fellow SMAP member Katori Shingo (32). The star’s management agency, Johnny’s Jimusho, said that he had the day off yesterday and they had no idea of his whereabouts. They faxed out a typical bland apology addressed to fans and anyone affected by the scandal, while the woman who works as his manager was in tears when questioned by reporters. It sounds like it’ll take more than that to appease the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications. Always a grandstander, Hatoyama Kunio blasted the celebrity, saying, “It makes me boiling mad. He’s the lowest kind of human being. Unforgiveable.” He added that he couldn’t understand why such a low life had been given the job of media point man for the government’s plan to switch to all digital broadcasting by 2011. He has been promptly removed from that post, and all posters and TV commercials featuring him will disappear. NHK has already cut him from one show on their educational channel and four regular Fuji TV slots – “Waratte Iitomo!,” “SMAPxSMAP,” “Bokura no Ongaku” and “Chonan Khan” – will undoubtedly be affected. Meanwhile, Kusanagi has been transferred from the Akasaka police station, which is being remodeled, to the one in Harajuku.

It sounds like a TV stunt gone wrong, but SMAP member Kusanagi Tsuyoshi (34) has actually been arrested for public indecency. The popular talento and singer was detained by Tokyo Metropolitan police in the early hours of April 23 after residents in the central Tokyo area of Akasaka called them around 3am to complain about someone making a racket in Hinokicho Park near the Tokyo Midtown complex. Police arrived to find the drunk Kusanagi stark naked and running around shouting abuse at anyone and everyone. Normally under such circumstances, the person would be taken into police custody rather than arrested. So it can be assumed that Kusanagi was violent in resisting arrest. Like the other four members of the perennially popular SMAP (profile), Kusanagi appears in a wide variety of TV and commercial roles and the impact of his arrest is likely to be huge. One casualty will probably be the movie “Ballad Namonaki Koi no Uta,” which is scheduled to open in the autumn. Misbehaving celebrities usually get their names and credits quietly removed from TV shows and movies, but as this movie actually stars Kusanagi it’s not a matter of a bit of cutting and pasting. Fellow SMAP-ite Inagaki Goro disappeared from the scene for a while after he got himself arrested for turning a simple parking violation into an attempted hit and run in August 2001.

Contrary to her image of having no love life, comedienne Kuwabata Rie (33) is getting married, it was revealed on Monday. Her future husband, who’s an employee of a car parts manufacturer in Chiba prefecture, proposed to her on the new NTV show “Majotachi no 22ji” last night. The bespectacled half of the duo Kuwabata Ohara, the comedienne has been in the spotlight in the last year due to her promotion of Core Rhythms and a book she published based on her success with the fitness/diet program. She slimmed down from 63kg to 56.5kg after practicing the rigorous dance program for six weeks. She said back in February that she was taking part in “go-kon” (mixer parties) once a month in the hope of finding a romantic partner. But actually she met her fiance 12 years ago when they worked at the same part-time job. Their relationship hit the rocks once but they started dating gain three years ago. On last night’s show, her comedy partner Ohara Masako (33) revealed that she recently split up with her boyfriend.

• Once step ahead in the marriage race is NTV announcer Yamamoto Maiko (30), who got married yesterday to a 31-year-old director in Fuji TV’s drama department.

• Sadder news about a couple of other middle-aged celebrities of yesteryear. Former NTV announcer Ogiwara Hiroko died of cancer on Sunday. She was 54. And former talento Shimizu Yukiko was found to have committed suicide yesterday. She was 49. The body of a woman was found in the Omikami cemetery in Oyamacho, Shizuoka Prefecture yesterday afternoon and personal ID found on the body was that of Shimizu, whose father is buried in the cemetery. Police gave the cause of death as suicide from hydrogen sulphide poisoning. Shimizu debuted in 1977 after winning the “Star Tanjo” audition show. She went on to appear in many variety shows, dramas and movies. Her management agency said she quit in March 2006 in order to look after her ailing mother.

Happy news for Dreams Come True musician Nakamura Masato (50). It was announced yesterday that his wife, former High and Mighty Color vocalist Onaga Maki (21), is expecting their first child. No date was given, but Nakamura is expected to make a formal announcement on his blog today. The couple married in June of last year and “Maakii,” as she is known to fans, said at the time that she would quit the music business. She joined the existing heavy metal band Anti Nobunaga – made up of fellow Okinawa natives Sassy, mACKRz, Gasuto, Meg and Yuusuke – in 2004 and they changed their name. The following year the made their major label debut with the hit single “Pride,” which was the opening theme for the popular anime series “Gundam Seed Destiny.” During Onaga’s three and a half years, the band released 14 singles and five albums and they performed in the U.S. in 2006-07. The band auditioned for a new female vocalist at the end of last year. Dreams Come True (profile), made up of Nakamura and vocalist Yoshida Miwa (44), are one of J-pop’s most popular and successful acts.

Popular model Tominaga Ai (26) formally acknowledged her recent divorce on her blog yesterday. The split between Tominaga and her Paris-based patissier husband was revealed in a gossip magazine back in early March but she insists that there were aspects to that article that were completely untrue. She didn’t clarify the details behind the divorce, saying only that she and her husband had been through things that many couples have to face. She refuted claims made in the magazine article such as that the couple had fought because of the large gap in their earnings, or that Tominaga had been forced by her husband to make a humiliating “dogeza” (prostrate on the floor) apology at a party. But she did apologize to fans and people in her industry that she hadn’t told them earlier about what was going on in her personal life. The couple married in 2004 and had a son the following year. Tominaga, who is one of the few Japanese supermodels established on the international fashion circuit, returned to work in 2006.

Former Indonesian first lady Dewi Sukarno (69, profile) may not be my cup of tea but I have to hand it to her – she knows how to stick up for herself. After her recent comment criticizing Japan’s “over reaction” to the North Korean missile launch on April 5, a member of an “uyoku” (right wing ultra-nationalist) organization decided to broadcast from one of their infamous black sound trucks outside her home in Shibuya, Tokyo on Sunday morning. Dewi-fujin, as the Japanese native is popularly known, clearly took offense and decided the best form of defense was attack. She launched a few missiles of her own – three flower pots, to be exact – from a second-floor balcony and caused some damage to the truck. This of course led to a face off during which her camera is said to have been broken. Police from the local Shibuya station are looking into the matter. Sukarno was working as a teenage bar hostess in Ginza when she was swept away to become one of the many wives of first Indonesian president Achmed Sukarno in 1959. She returned to become a popular face on the Japanese variety show circuit in the mid-1990s.

Singer Okamoto Shin was found dead in his Tokyo home yesterday afternoon, on the very day that friends had planned a major birthday celebration. A spokesperson for the Takinogawa police station said that they were called by a friend of Okamoto, who visited his home in Kita Ward after being unable to contact him only to find the singer dead in his bathtub. The police are investigating the cause of death but they believe it was from natural causes. Okamoto was to turn 60 today, an important milestone celebrated in Japan as “stop-ed-meds.com,” and friends had planned to hold an early birthday party in Yokohama last night. Fellow members of the popular 60s rock band the Jaguars expressed their shock at the sudden death of the band’s vocalist, though he had been having health problems for several years. Drummer and band leader Miya Yukio (65) said, “When I met him a year or two ago, he said he wasn’t well. I asked him to take better care of himself. But I can’t believe he died before me.” Lead guitarist Okitsu Hisayuki (62) said he hoped to perform a memorial concert for his friend of 40 years. After their debut single, “Kimi ni Aitai” became a million seller in 1967, the Jaguars were one of the biggest bands of the short-lived and highly commercial Group Sounds scene. Like most of the major GS acts, they split in 1971 but they did get back together again briefly a decade later. Okamoto performed a concert in February 2008 to celebrate his 40 years in showbiz.