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Japanese Entertainment News & Info HERE! [part IV]
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"Odoru Daisousasen" mobile series to get limited theater screenings
Fri, July 23, 2010 (11:17pm EDT)
The third "Odoru Daisousasen" movie has been doing very well in theaters, and now its related mobile phone series will also be getting a little time on the big screen. Titled "Kakarichou Aoshima Shunsaku: THE MOBILE," the series will be screened for just one week at only two theaters.
The 12-episode series was first revealed in June to be an original story covering the first three cases after detective Shunsaku Aoshima (played by Yuji Oda) gets promoted to section chief. Part of the story is connected to the plot of the movie, which opened in theaters about a month after the mobile series began.
So far, the mobile series has been available only to users of NTT DoCoMo phones, but the number of downloads has been astounding. Last year, "Amalfi Begins" was similarly released as mobile content in connection with the movie "Amalfi: Megami no Hoshu" (which also starred Oda), and that achieved 1.6 million downloads. "Kakarichou Aoshima Shunsaku: THE MOBILE," however, has already passed 3.5 million downloads and is expected to exceed 5 million in the end. Based on the number of downloads, DoCoMo is considering applying for a Guinness world record, if possible.
Due to the show's success, Toho is teaming up with DoCoMo to bring the series to two of Toho's theaters (in Yurakucho, Tokyo, and in Umeda, Osaka) as a 70-minute film. There will be only one screening per day at each theater, limited to the week of August 7-13.
Meanwhile, "Odoru Daisousasen: The Movie 3" is on track to become the number-one live-action Japanese film of the year, having earned 4.1 billion yen on 3 million tickets so far. With the start of summer break and the expected boost from the screening of the mobile series, Toho is hoping for even bigger box office success.
Source> www.tokyograph.com |
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AKB48 approves metal cover album
Sun, July 25, 2010 (11:11am EDT)
Idol unit AKB48 will have its songs covered by metal group STUDIO BURNING in an official cover album next month. Titled "JKB48," the album will contain seven songs, including "Seifu wa Arashi ni Yume wo Miru," "Zannen Shoujo," and "Melos no Michi."
"JKB48" will be the first authorized cover album of AKB48 songs. The release date has been set for August 14.
STUDIO BURNING is a 3-member unit consisting of vocalist JUN, bassist BENNY, and guitarist Kyosuke.
Source> www.tokyograph.com |
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Yua Shinkawa named Miss Magazine
Sun, July 25, 2010 (10:55am EDT)
The results of the 2010 Miss Magazine idol competition were announced on Sunday. The grand prize winner was 16-year-old Yua Shinkawa, who made her television drama debut in 2008 and currently appears in the recently released movie "Matataki."
The Miss Weekly Shonen Magazine prize went to Fumika Shimizu (15), and Miss Young Magazine went to Rei Kawashima (14). The special readers' prize was given to Izumi Hinata (20), while the special judges' prize was given to Haruka Tachibana (18).
The five winners will release a DVD together on August 25.
Source> www.tokyograph.com |
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Tokyo Purin's Makino diagnosed with cancer
Sun, July 25, 2010 (11:51am EDT)
Avex singing duo Tokyo Purin announced some serious news on Saturday: member Takashi Makino (46) has been diagnosed with lung cancer. Makino revealed his condition during a live appearance at the end of Saturday's broadcast of the Sendai-area show "Ara Ara Kashiko."
Makino explained that in mid-June, he went to the doctor because of stomach pains, and it was discovered that water had built up in his heart and in both lungs. Because of the risk of heart failure, he was immediately hospitalized and underwent surgery to remove the water. When his doctor investigated the source of the water, malignant cancer cells were found in Makino's lungs. He was notified of his condition on June 28.
Makino used to be a heavy smoker (said to have smoked three packs a day), but he had reportedly taken care of his health ever since quitting at the age of 32. Because of that, he said that he was in disbelief when his doctor told him about the cancer.
The singer stated that he does not plan to take a complete break from his work, but the extent of his activities will depend on his doctor's advice.
Source> www.tokyograph.com |
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Music brings ASEAN nations together
HANOI —
A major musical event is in the making to prepare for a performance before East Asian leaders due to meet on the occasion of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and East Asia Summit meetings in Hanoi in October.
Artists from each of the 10 countries making up ASEAN will form an orchestra to be conducted by Yoshikazu Fukumura from Japan.
The performance is expected to become an official feature of the international conferences, according to officials with the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The idea was conceived when Fukumura, a renowned 64-year-old conductor, took charge of the performance by the symphony orchestra of Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music in November last year.
At the time, he talked about regional trends in the world of classical music with the head of Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory as well as with officials of the ASEAN Secretariat and the Nippon Foundation, a Japanese philanthropic organization.
According to Fukumura, while most orchestras in ASEAN countries recruit a good number of Westerners, Vietnam has five orchestras made up almost entirely of local artists.
Many Vietnamese acquired excellent musical skills because of Vietnam’s historical ties with the West, the birthplace of classical music, Fukumura said. The country used to be a French colony and had a bond of socialist brotherhood with the former Soviet Union and Eastern European nations.
Since Vietnam is this year’s holder of the ASEAN chairmanship, Fukumura and others came up with the idea to form an orchestra of musicians from all ASEAN countries. The proposal was endorsed by ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan, who advocates fostering closer ties among peoples from various communities of ASEAN countries.
The Nippon Foundation offered funding and the Vietnamese government also came out in favor of the project in April.
Fukumura for long has been active internationally and has worked in Europe and Latin America as well. In Southeast Asia, he conducted the orchestras of Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.
In the 1990s, he helped restore the prestige of the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra at the request of the Vietnamese government, after the country was battered by acute political and economic turmoil. His efforts earned Fukumura Hanoi’s trust.
The planned ‘‘ASEAN orchestra’’ is expected to comprise about 80 musicians, of which 60 will come from Vietnamese orchestras. Two or three musicians will be picked from each of the other ASEAN countries to make up the remainder.
Fukumura attended the first round of auditions in Myanmar in late May and talent hunting took place in Cambodia and Laos earlier this month.
The ASEAN orchestra will play at the Hanoi Opera House before the leaders of 16 nations comprising ASEAN as well as countries including Japan, China and South Korea.
‘‘Each country has its unique culture but an orchestra can bring together people from various cultural backgrounds,’’ Fukumura said.
People often say orchestras are meant to play Western music, Fukumura pointed out. ‘‘But just as English is an international language, orchestras—and classical music—can be as international.’‘
‘‘I want to see the ASEAN orchestra become a permanent institution,’’ he said. ‘‘If we keep up our efforts, we’ll be able to create Asian music.’’
Source: www.japantoday.com |
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Angelina Jolie says Pitt is 'wonderful father'
TOKYO —
Actress Angelina Jolie, in Tokyo for the weekend opening of action thriller “Salt,” brushed off rumors about her shaky relations with Brad Pitt.
“He was just a wonderful father,” she said of Pitt, during work on the film, in which she plays a tough spy. He often brought the children to the set, she recalled.
“They played with fake blood, and they found mommy very strange in her different hair,” she said.
Pitt and Jolie have been partners since they began a relationship while working on the 2005 film “Mr. & Mrs. Smith.” They are raising six children.
Last week, Pitt and Jolie accepted undisclosed damages in London’s High Court to settle a privacy claim against a British tabloid that had reported in January that they were planning to split.
Asked about her ability to work and maintain a happy family, Jolie told reporters at a Tokyo hotel: “Brad is the word that makes it possible.”
Jolie, who arrived Monday, brought four of the children along on the Japan trip. They have already spent some time shopping for toys inspired by Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki’s animation characters Ponyo and Totoro, she said.
Jolie, 35, acknowledged she once surprised her 8-year-old son Maddox with her disguise as a male naval officer in “Salt.”
He came into the room and reluctantly shook hands with the person he didn’t know was his mother.
“And I said, ‘Honey, it’s mommy,’” Jolie said.
“I think I freaked him out,” she said with a laugh, adding that he then watched her peel off her fake ears, hands and nose.
“I play these roles, but I’m always in every minute their mom first,” she said. “I’m a bit of a goofy. I’m funny at home, I think.”
Her children aren’t going to be seeing the movie, though.
“I think it’s very hard for them to see someone trying to kill their mom, even if she wins,” she said.
Jolie performed her own stunts in “Salt” and recounted an on-set injury to the audience that left her scarred. She sliced open part of her face just above her nose when tumbling into a doorway with a gun.
Jolie said she first thought she suffered a concussion because she couldn’t hear anything, but later realized she was wearing earplugs.
Source: www.japantoday.com |
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Japanese philanthropist holds benefit to promote music in Vietnam
NEW YORK —
A nongovernmental organization led by a New York-based Tokyo native is striving to use music as a means to improve the lives of people in trouble spots around the world.
Tomo Nomura, who recently organized a concert to raise funds for programs in Vietnam, calls music a unifying force.
“This concert is a continuation of our efforts to promote our ‘Power of Muze’ initiative globally, as well as a means to raise funds for our project in Da Nang,” Nomura said at the piano concert that was held July 7 at the Church of All Nations in Manhattan. “I believe music has the power to generate hope and to heal.”
As founder and president of the Human Security Association, which was formed in 2009 to encourage and empower people suffering in hot spots worldwide, Nomura has been influenced by his own connection to music.
The initiative’s name, Power of Muze, is based on a belief in the unifying power of music to inspire and generate hope, and uses a term coined from the words music and muse.
For more than 15 years as a member of the New York Men’s Choir, Nomura witnessed how songs lifted the spirits of the sickest patients at a New Jersey hospital where his group sang Christmas carols each year.
Called “Power of Muze: Making a Wish for a Peaceful World,” the New York church event was geared to raise money to benefit Da Nang’s citizens by exposing them to more music.
The city suffered a great deal during the Vietnam War. Agent Orange and other defoliants were used heavily in Vietnam, and the impact is still felt today.
An estimated 2 million to 4 million people have been exposed to the agents. Approximately 200,000 people, including children, still have mental and physical ailments.
Through the New York event, Nomura’s organization collected money to send pianos and other instruments to the major port city in central Vietnam.
In addition to a grand piano earmarked for use at Da Nang City Hall, Nomura said two upright pianos are to be donated to a hospital and a rehabilitation center.
Nomura was struck after learning the city’s one grand piano is only played at a resort hotel for its guests and not for the larger population.
At the New York performance, American composer and pianist Quentin Fielding played 10 songs, including “Tanabata Song” to celebrate the Japanese star festival that fell on the same day.
The 22-year-old Fielding was first approached by Nomura’s staff after a charity performance last year. He said he was impressed by the group’s efforts to promote music, which is his greatest passion.
Bui The Giang, Vietnam’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, and Thuy Diep, a New York-based fashion designer who donated items to help raise money at a raffle, were among the audience.
“The sound of music can subdue the sound of war,” the Vietnamese envoy said in his speech. As a former soldier he remembered how music helped him and others during tough times, he said, and believes his countrymen and women will benefit from exposure to more music.
Meanwhile, Kazuo Tase, chief of the Human Security Unit at the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, praised the organization’s aims to advance the human security concept on a local scale.
“Human security is not only about physical security, but also the feeling of security and mental healthiness,” he said. “Music could be a very good entry point,” he added, noting how it brings people together and instills in them a “real sense of security.”
The church concert was the second put on by the organization. The first took place in February at Carnegie Hall, where it was attended by U.N. officials and diplomats, among others.
The Human Security Association is preparing to host a concert in Da Nang on Aug. 29 using the donated instruments to mark the launch of its Vietnam program.
Nomura came to New York in 1994 and has since set ambitious goals for himself, both local and international.
In addition to his work in Vietnam, some of his board members are already active in Africa and the Balkans.
He is even thinking about staging a concert in 2014 in Sarajevo to mark the centenary of the start of World War I.
“Music is universal and music tries to unify people because it is a common language,” Nomura said. “That is why I thought I could help the human security activities or issues through music.”
Source: www.japantoday.com |
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98-year-old director examines A-bomb, war through films
TOKYO —
While many film directors around the world have worked until their senior years, not many have managed to maintain the will and physical strength to continue their careers until they are 98 years old as Kaneto Shindo has.
His strong opposition to wars and nuclear weapons is what is driving the award-winning director and scriptwriter to keep shooting films despite now being wheelchair-bound.
Nearly 60 years after making the 1952 film ‘‘Genbaku no Ko’’ (Children of the Atomic Bomb) on the A-bombing of Hiroshima, which was the first independent piece produced by his own film production company, the Hiroshima native is now making a film about World War II and the lead-up to the bombing in what he calls his ‘‘last piece of work.’‘
‘‘I am a filmmaker, and a filmmaker must continue to make films on the atomic bombings, forever,’’ said Shindo in a recent interview in Tokyo, after finishing shooting ‘‘Ichimai no Hagaki’’ (A Postcard), his 49th film, scheduled to be released later this year.
Shindo said he had both seen the beauty of the city and its devastation by the atomic bombing on Aug 6. 1945, and was driven by the strong urge to depict the incident when he made his first A-bomb film.
‘‘The beautiful city I knew in childhood was turned into rubble just by a single bomb…It killed tens of thousands of people instantly, unlike other bombs that can only kill a maximum of a hundred at a time,’’ Shindo said. ‘‘That is a crime against humanity.’‘
His crew started filming in the city seven years after the bombing, when it was still mostly in ruins, despite having a budget of just three million yen at a time when film-making usually cost tens of millions of yen.
The black-and-white film shows a young woman visiting children she had taught as a kindergarten teacher after the blast while depicting the suffering caused by the bombing through the daily lives and conversations of the characters.
One of the scenes depicting the moment of the blast shows a clock ticking as a mother breast-feeds her baby, children playing, sunflowers standing high against the sky and people doing their morning chores, and then a flash of white light when the atomic bomb was dropped by the United States.
Shindo himself did not experience the Hiroshima bombing as he had been drafted at the time, but repeatedly revised his self-written script through daily meetings with atomic bomb victims, making sure he did not exaggerate the facts about the bombing and the damage it left.
As a result, the piece came to hold a power and sincerity that has led some atomic bomb survivors to call it the only atomic bomb film they can relate to.
Shindo’s sincere attitude towards the issue and deep sympathy captured the hearts of many of the survivors and inspired them—even those with severe burns to their face and body—to volunteer to appear in the film.
Through the repeated exchanges with them, Shindo said he came to think that although they are called ‘‘survivors,’’ their lives were actually ruined to a point that it is equivalent to being killed, a sense that reinforced his opposition to nuclear weapons.
Although he has a varied output of movies and scripts, producing pieces on a range of social issues as well as work in the comedy and documentary genres, his films on war and nuclear weapons are, by far, the centerpiece of a career decorated with a number of international awards, with ‘‘Genbaku no Ko’’ the first to be recognized.
Those films reflect Shindo’s core belief that the life of ordinary people should be cherished and that such destructive forces as war that deprive people of their ordinary lives should be strongly protested against.
‘‘I am looking at the war from the eyes of average people,’’ Shindo said, adding his first Hiroshima film, as well as the latest one, takes such a standpoint.
The latest film ‘‘Ichimai no Hagaki’’ deals with a postcard a soldier headed to the warfront receives from his wife in which she writes, ‘‘There is a festival today but without you, there is no attraction.’’ The film is based on Shindo’s experience of becoming one of only six people to survive in the 100-man unit he belonged to during World War II.
One of his comrades in the unit died after receiving such a postcard, which Shindo believes was telling the man that he was ‘‘the most precious thing’’ in the world to his wife.
‘‘It is war that rips away the most precious thing from people’’ and eventually takes away everything, Shindo said. ‘‘The death of a soldier would destroy his family in the end. And that’s the very reason I am against the war.’‘
Although he says ‘‘Ichimai no Hagaki’’ may be his last film, he still indicated a desire to further explore the topic, and noted that he might have done ‘‘Genbaku no Ko’’ differently if he had had the scientific understanding of the effects of the A-bombs now available.
‘‘I still want to make a film about it,’’ he said.
His stance and enthusiasm for the film-making on the topic has never changed over the years.
‘‘My wish would be to die after crying out one last time ‘no more wars,’‘’ he said.
Source: www.japantoday.com |
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Singer Kato urges U.S. to admit A-bombings 'mistake'
Wednesday 04th August, 07:05 AM JST
NAGASAKI —
Tokiko Kato, a renowned singer who took part in making the recently released documentary film on a survivor of both atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, said the United States must admit it ‘‘made a big mistake’’ in dropping the bombs in order to realize a world without nuclear weapons.
Kato, who sang a song and served as a narrator of the film ‘‘Niju Hibaku—Yamaguchi Tsutomu-san no Yuigon’’ (Twice Bombed, Twice Survived—The Last Words of Peace Speaker Tsutomu Yamaguchi), a film on the man who died this January at age 93, said that the United States dropped the bombs ‘‘not because it had no other choice in ending’’ World War II but because it wanted to experiment with the bombs.
‘‘By observing one’s own country’s history critically, the United States too can change its path,’’ she said in a recent interview with Kyodo News. Kato, who visited the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum a few years ago to see the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, said she was shocked by the lack of explanations on the extent of the damage it caused to the city and its people.
Seeing some young American people passing by the aircraft, Kato stopped them to tell them about the tragedy it has created, but their response made her think the country has been keeping its dark history sealed.
Kato was also critical of the view that Japan is being protected under the U.S. nuclear umbrella, calling it ‘‘a fiction.’’ ‘‘Japan is merely conducting its foreign policy under such an assumption,’’ she said.
Source: www.japantoday.com |
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Kyoko Koizumi relives her Harajuku days
Tuesday 27th July, 05:00 AM JST
TOKYO —
Actress Kyoko Koizumi, 44, held a public recording of her special radio program “Koizumi Kyoko - Harajuku Hyakkei” on J-Wave this week at their studio in Omotesando. “Harajuku Hakkei” features Koizumi talking about photos of the famous district that she has collected and published in the magazine Switch.
The actress said she had been coming to Harajuku since her middle school days. She was joined on the program by songwriter Yasushi Akimoto, 54, who penned Koizumi’s best known classic “Nantte Tatte Idol.” Akimoto praised the actress, saying, “I think Koizumi is the best of the best as far as living idols go. Even at this age, she hasn’t lost her magic.”
Source: www.japantoday.com |
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Actress Ai Saotome dies at 51
Tuesday 27th July, 10:56 AM JST
TOKYO —
Ai Saotome, an actress who appeared in numerous Japanese films and TV dramas, died of multiple organ failure at a hospital in Seattle on July 20, according to an agency to which she once belonged. She was 51.
Saotome, a native of Kagoshima Prefecture whose real name was Satomi Setoguchi, made her debut in a 1974 romance film starring opposite singer-actor Hideki Saijo. She ended her acting career after becoming pregnant and lived in Seattle from 2002.
Source: www.japantoday.com |
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Rei Kikukawa looking for someone to cook for
Wednesday 28th July, 05:00 AM JST
TOKYO —
Actress Rei Kikukawa, 32, took the opportunity to yearn for her ideal man at a recent event to promote the 25th anniversary of New Zealand’s Cloudy Bay winery.
The Todai graduate gave a showcase of her own cooking that matches the wine, she said. Kikukawa said she likes to cook, but admitted that she eats her cooking alone. “I want someone to cook for,” she said, adding that her ideal man must be someone with whom she can enjoy fine dining and drinking. “We’ll be happy every day,” she cooed.
Kikukawa said she likes alcohol, and confessed that once she made a friend stay out with her until 3 a.m. while she got drunk.
Source: www.japantoday.com |
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'Dollhouse' star Eliza Dushku to visit Japan
Thursday 29th July, 05:00 AM JST
TOKYO —
American actress Eliza Dushku, 29, who starred in the popular U.S. television series “True Calling,” and who can currently be seen in “Dollhouse,” will visit Japan for the first time on Aug 2 to promote DVD release of “Dollhouse.”
“Dollhouse” is a science-fiction drama about a corporation running numerous underground establishments (known as “Dollhouses”) across the globe which program individuals referred to as Actives (or Dolls) with temporary personalities and skills. Eliza’s character undergoes many personality changes such as a lover, negotiator, assassin and porn queen.
Source: www.japantoday.com |
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Model Nozomi Sasaki takes snaps for Fujifilm
Friday 30th July, 05:00 AM JST
TOKYO —
Model Nozomi Sasaki, 22, will promote Fujifilm’s new line of FinePix digital cameras in a series of upcoming commercials. One commercial in the series that has already premiered features Sasaki in cowboy garb, “quick-drawing” the camera like a wild west gunslinger, and snapping a photo of a dog jumping through the air to catch a 10-gallon hat.
The next commercial to air will feature Sasaki taking photos of her three pet dogs.
The new FinePix Z800EXR hits stores on Aug. 7. The new commercial will premiere on the same day.
Source: www.japantoday.com |
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Southern All Stars singer Keisuke Kuwata diagnosed with cancer
Saturday 31st July, 05:00 AM JST
TOKYO —
Keisuke Kuwata, a member of the legendary Japanese band Southern All Stars, has been diagnosed with early-stage esophageal cancer, and will have surgery to try and remove the disease some time next month, his management said this week.
The timing of the surgery has forced the band to delay the Oct 20 release of their new album as well as cancel their national tour that was to begin on Oct 28. In the 30 years Kuwata has been active as a musician, this will be the first time illness has caused him to cancel a recording or a performance.
Kuwata is upbeat about the cancer having been discovered early, however, and told fans on his website that he’ll be back on board before year’s end.
Source: www.japantoday.com |
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Convicted ex-pop idol Sakai gets divorced
Saturday 31st July, 11:17 AM JST
TOKYO —
Pop idol and actress Noriko Sakai, who was convicted of stimulant drug use and possession last year, has got divorced, her former management company, Sun Music Production, said Friday. Sakai, 39, and Yuichi Takaso, 42, who was also convicted of the same charges last year, had been in divorce talks for months, according to people close to her.
In November, Sakai was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for three years, by the Tokyo District Court for smoking a stimulant drug during a family trip to Amamioshima Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, and possessing the drug at her Tokyo home, both last summer.
During her trial, Sakai said Takaso offered her the drug and she felt that she needed to divorce him in order to rehabilitate herself. Takaso, a self-styled professional surfer, received a two-year prison term, suspended for four years, from the court. Sakai debuted in 1986 in a TV drama and released her first record the following year. She gained popularity in other parts of Asia, including mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, in the early 1990s. She married Takaso in 1998 and gave birth to their son in 1999.
Source: www.japantoday.com |
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Katy Perry to perform in Japan on Aug 16
Sunday 01st August, 05:00 AM JST
TOKYO —
American singer Katy Perry, 25, will make a rush trip across the Pacific for a live concert in Japan on Aug 16. Her May hit, “California Gurls featuring Snoop Dog” held the No. 1 spot on American charts for six weeks. Her third visit to Japan comes ahead of the release of her new album, “Teenage Dream,” on Aug 25.
The Japan concert will be held at a location that has yet to be announced. Perry herself seems to be looking forward to the visit, saying she’d like to dress up as a geisha and “become an anime character.”
Source: www.japantoday.com |
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Italian pair selected as world 'cosplay' champion
Sunday 01st August, 11:31 PM JST
NAGOYA —
A pair from Italy took the grand prize for costume role-players at an annual world championship in Nagoya on Sunday, beating contenders from 14 other countries. The contest marked the climax of the World Cosplay Summit 2010, a signature summer event in the city which various entities including the Foreign Ministry jointly organized to enhance exchanges featuring characters in Japan-originated animated films, manga comics and games.
The winning pair, dressed as Link and Ganondorf, characters in a game titled ‘‘The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess,’’ performed an action-filled three-minute play on stage in front of an audience of about 15,000. It is the second cosplay championship title for Italian contenders since the competition was launched in 2005. The summit itself in noncompetitive form was launched in 2003 to appreciate the unique subculture originated in Japan together with frenzied fans around the globe.
Source: www.japantoday.com |
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Ryoko Yonekura to play Scarlett O'Hara in stage version of 'Gone With the Wind'
Monday 02nd August, 05:00 AM JST
TOKYO —
Actress Ryoko Yonekura, 34, will take on the role of Scarlett O’Hara, the main character of “Gone with the Wind,” in a play scheduled to open in June next year at the Imperial Theater in Tokyo.
Producer Toho said the play will commemorate its 100th anniversary. Yonekura said she will be under great pressure since the story is a masterpiece of not only world literature and film history, but will also be a milestone in the history of the Imperial Theater.
A musical version of “Gone with the Wind” was staged once before in 2003 with Mao Daichi as Scarlett, but next year’s version will be a drama with no music.
It is the first time for Yonekura to perform in a TOHO theatrical. According to the company’s repertoire, in the company’s internal voting for “who would fit the role of Scarlett,” Yonekura was ranked No. 1. In recent years, Yonekura has distinguished herself on the stage, especially with the Broadway musical “Chicago.”
The role of Rhett Butler, played by Clark Gable in the 1939 film, will go to Yasufumi Terawaki, 48, while Jun Shibuki, 41, will play Melanie Wilkes, and Koki OKada, 44, takes the Ashley Wilkes role.
Source: www.japantoday.com |
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Kumi Koda encourages beachgoers to eat well
Tuesday 03rd August, 05:00 AM JST
TOKYO —
Singer Kumi Koda made waves at Enoshima Beach this week during a one-day promotion for a new line of six low-calorie foods created as a tie-up with convenience chain 7-11.
At the “Koda Kumi x Seven Eleven” beach house, the singer wowed audiences in a bright pink bikini and tiny jean shorts as she performed her new song “Lollipop.”
“I really recommend the bibimbap,” Koda told the crowd of around 2,000 people, encouraging them to diet properly by eating well. This was the first time in four years the singer has appeared at a beach event, and she vowed to make it a more frequent occurance.
Source: www.japantoday.com |
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Author
