Japanese Entertainment News & Info HERE! [part IV]

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Plastic Tree's Arimura recovers, band announces new album
Thu, January 20, 2011 (5:58pm EST)



The management agency for visual-kei band Plastic Tree delivered some good news on Thursday: vocalist Ryutaro Arimura has completely recovered from Guillain-Barré syndrome and will be resuming activities, including the band's nationwide tour that starts this March.

Last month, Plastic Tree canceled two concerts after Arimura was diagnosed with the disorder. Guillain-Barré syndrome, which affects the nervous system and can lead to paralysis, is incurable but highly treatable. Fortunately, Arimura was diagnosed while the disorder was still in an early stage and received treatment right away.

Along with the news of Arimura's return, it was revealed that Plastic Tree will release a new album titled "ammonite" on April 6, which will be their first one since December 2009. The band is currently recording for the album, which is planned to have a total of 12 tracks. The limited edition of the album will come with a DVD that reportedly includes the music video for their song "13th Friday" and some off-shot footage.

Plastic Tree's tour will consist of 21 shows, starting on March 14 at Akasaka BLITZ in Tokyo.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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NTV ending "Koi no Karasawagi" after 17 years
Fri, January 21, 2011 (11:23am EST)

Another long-running television show is coming to an end this spring. NTV's talk show "Koi no Karasawagi" (also known by the title "Much Ado About Love") will be taken off the air at the end of March, 17 years after its debut in April 1994.

Just last week, it was revealed that TBS is ending "Tokyo Friend Park II" after an 18-year run, counting its predecessor "Tokyo Friend Park." Like that show, "Koi no Karasawagi" once enjoyed high ratings, but its numbers have significantly declined. After frequently dipping below 10%, it was moved from its long-established Saturday 11:00pm time slot to its current slot on Fridays at 11:30pm, but ratings remained in single-digit territory.

Hosted by Sanma Akashiya (55), "Koi no Karasawagi" features a cast of women discussing love-related issues. The cast is currently in its 17th generation, and the show never held a recruitment process for a new generation for the upcoming year.

"Koi no Karasawagi" also spawned a series of drama specials called "Koi no Karasawagi: Love Stories," which aired once a year between 2004 and 2009. After "Love Stories IV" in 2007, which starred Maki Horikita, Satomi Ishihara, and Asami Mizukawa, ratings dropped sharply from double digits to the mid-single digits in 2008 and 2009.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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"Kinpachi-sensei" to retire with special episode in March
Thu, January 20, 2011 (5:37pm EST)



The popular drama series "3 Nen B Gumi Kinpachi Sensei" will come to a conclusion this March with a final special episode. The show, which stars Tetsuya Takeda (61) as a junior high school teacher, has had a total of 8 seasons since 1979, with the last one in 2007-2008. This finale will be the drama's 12th special episode.

The show is known for covering a wide range of real-life problems, such as teenage pregnancy, bullying, gender identity disorder, and drugs. Over the show's 8 seasons, Takeda's character "Kinpachi-sensei" has guided approximately 240 students to graduation. In several cases, the show helped launch the careers of the young stars playing his students, including Kaori Sugita, Kazuya Kamenashi, and Aya Ueto.

The upcoming episode, tentatively titled "3 Nen B Gumi Kinpachi Sensei Final," will deal with Kinpachi-sensei's retirement. Filming starts next week, though the student cast has not yet been reported. TBS plans to broadcast the special at the end of March.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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AKB48 creates new sub-unit with Oshima, Kitahara, Sashihara, Yokoyama
Fri, January 21, 2011 (10:13am EST)



Idol group AKB48 is launching another spin-off unit. The group is called "Not yet" and will consist of four members: Yuko Oshima (22), Rie Kitahara (19), Rino Sashihara (19), and Yui Yokoyama (18). They will release their first single "Shuumatsu Not yet" on March 16.

The new unit was revealed during AKB48's concert in Shibuya on Friday. They reportedly recorded their single secretly at the end of last year, despite AKB48's busy schedule. The song's lyrics were written by producer Yasushi Akimoto, while Jun Abe was in charge of composition and GIRL NEXT DOOR's Daisuke Suzuki handled the arrangement.

AKB48 already has multiple spin-off units, including No Sleeves and French Kiss. Since those two units each have three members, it was decided that Not yet would outdo them by having four members.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Chinese comic book artist aspires to make it big in Japan manga world

TOKYO —

A promising comic book artist from Shanghai aiming to become one of the first foreigners to make it big in Japan’s manga market will soon debut in a popular comic magazine of a Japanese publisher for young males.

If his creation proves successful, it is possible that more foreign creators will follow in his footsteps, leading to the internationalization of Japan’s manga culture, which already has many followers around the world, industry observers said.

Liu Chong, 25, grew up in the northeastern Chinese province of Hebei, reading popular works of Japanese manga including science-fiction-comedy Doraemon and the Dragon Ball adventure series. He has been a manga enthusiast ever since he was a primary school student and began creating his own works from his college days.

He began contributing to a Chinese manga magazine under a pseudonym, L Dart, and his work once beat widely read Japanese serial Detective Conan, which was carried by the publication in Chinese, in popularity rankings.

L Dart’s success caught the attention of major Japanese publishing house Shogakukan Inc, which decided to commission him to write a story for its Gekkan! Spirits magazine.

He completed a new work after more than a year spent in cooperation with Shogakukan editor Takashi Hayakawa, who advised the Chinese creator by e-mail on how to write a story tailored to the Japanese audience.

L Dart’s 60-page story, provisionally titled, Killin-Gi, is a fantasy version of China’s historical epic, The Three Kingdoms, and is due to appear in the Feb 26 issue of the Shogakukan monthly.

‘‘This is a great opportunity for me,’’ L Dart says. ‘‘If you are to write a story in China based on The Three Kingdoms, you have to be loyal to historical facts but my Japanese editors let me give free rein to my imagination.’‘

Editor Hayakawa says he was amazed by the depth of L Dart’s understanding of Japanese manga. ‘‘What I wanted was to introduce a (Chinese) artist with Japanese vibes rather than Chinese vibes. We intend to hunt for new talent among young Chinese,’’ he said.

Japanese watch many foreign films and TV dramas but when it comes to manga, their preference is predominantly for the works of Japanese creators, says Kaichiro Morikawa, a Meiji University associate professor, who is an expert on Japanese subcultures.

‘‘Enlisting foreign talent could help promote (cultural) exchanges between Japan and other countries but it is also desirable because it could help energize Japan’s manga culture,’’ he said.

Source: www.japantoday.com

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Rakugo storyteller Hayashiya Sampei to marry actress Kokubu

Sunday 23rd January, 03:41 AM JST

TOKYO —

Rakugo storyteller Hayashiya Sampei will marry actress Sachiko Kokubu, their agencies said Saturday.

Sampei, 40, succeeded the name of his father, who was a major performer of the traditional Japanese comedic storytelling, in 2009. Kokubu, 34, made her debut as a fashion model.

Source: www.japantoday.com

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Nao Minamisawa tries out her Chinese on set of new drama

Sunday 23rd January, 03:24 AM JST



TOKYO —

Actress Nao Minamisawa, 20, will appear in the forthcoming NHK drama “Maigo” (Lost Child) alongside 80-year-old Yun Yu Chun from China. Yun plays an elderly foreign lady who gets lost and seeks assistance from the people around her.

Describing day-to-day life on the set, Minamisawa—who studied Chinese as her secondary foreign language at university—said, “I thought I should try out my Chinese, so I would write notes in my notebook and point to them. It managed quite well.”

The drama airs on NHK from Feb 19.

Source: www.japantoday.com

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cutman-booche announces breakup
Sat, January 22, 2011 (12:46pm EST)



The band cutman-booche announced on Saturday that they have disbanded. Vocalist Kim Wooyong explained that he and drummer Junpei Komiyama recently had a discussion about the band, and they determined that they have different views about their music. As a result, they felt that there would be no meaning in continuing together.

cutman-booche originally formed in Osaka in 2002 and was active as a three-piece band until bassist Shusaku Hayashi left in 2009. They released their third album, "Hello?," in June of last year.

Neither of the two musicians have announced any specific plans for their future, but details will likely be revealed through their blogs and Twitter accounts.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Sakai to celebrate 800th program in TV cooking series

Monday 24th January, 04:55 AM JST



TOKYO —

Veteran actor and TV personality Masaaki Sakai, 64, will celebrate the 800th episode in the TBS Saturday night cooking program “Chubo Desu Yo” on Jan 29. He will be joined by co-host and announcer Erina Masuda, 25.

Looking back on the program, Sakai said, “The cooking is the easy part. It’s more difficult drawing conversation out of our guests.” Asked if he thinks he will make it to 1,000 programs in four years, Sakai said, “I’ll try my best to stay healthy enough for it.”

Source: www.japantoday.com

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Tearful Sawajiri confirms plan to divorce, promises to change attitude

Monday 24th January, 09:41 AM JST



TOKYO —

Actress Erika Sawajiri, 24, on Sunday confirmed her plan to divorce 46-year-old media creator Tsuyoshi Takashiro. After attending a publicity event for beauty clinic Takano Yuri as a special guest, Sawajiri, who has been hounded by the press following her erratic behavior, rumors of divorce and reconciliation attempts with her husband, held a press conference at which she said: “We have agreed to file for divorce.”

Sawajiri tearfully said that if the Japanese public could forgive her recent rebellious behavior, she planned to change her attitude and return to her celebrity lifestyle in Japan (she had spent much of the last 12 months in Spain). Sawajiri also explained that her sudden disappearance from public view last September was an attempt to maintain her privacy while she and Takashiro discussed divorce proceedings.

“It took three months to get to this point,” she explained. “I think my mental state has been affected by the strain. I would like to conclude this matter as quickly as possible and return my life to some sense of normality.”

Source: www.japantoday.com

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Manzai Pioneer Itoshi Dies       
January 24, 2011



The world of manzai comedy has lost one of its pioneers. Kimi Koishi died yesterday of lung cancer. He was 83. According to his management agency, he became ill in January 2010 and spent the last year in and out of hospital, from where he appeared by satellite link on an NHK show last December.

Real name Shinohara Isao, he was just 12 when he formed a "young manzai" comedy duo with his elder brother in 1940. As they matured, and calling themselves Yumeji Itoshi - Kimi Koishi, they went on to become the role models for just about every manzai artist since, in particular the "kamigata manzai" of Osaka and the surrounding region. From 1963-75, they hosted a popular game show on what would later become the TV Asahi network. In 1993, they became the first manzai act to be awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon, given by the government for contributions to culture and the arts. The elder brother passed away in 2003, and apart from a one-off collaboration with Nishikawa Kiyoshi (64), Itoshi never performed manzai again.

Source: www.japan-zone.com

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Morning Musume's Ai Takahashi cast in "Dance of the Vampires" musical
Sun, January 23, 2011 (5:48pm EST)



Morning Musume's Ai Takahashi (24) is set to appear in a new production of the musical "Dance of the Vampires" ("Tanz der Vampire"), being performed this coming fall. The musical is Takahashi's first work that has been scheduled for after her graduation from Morning Musume later this year.

The musical, based on the Roman Polanski film "The Fearless Vampire Killers," had its first Japanese production performed in 2006. It appears that Yuichiro Yamaguchi (54) and Kenji Urai (29) are returning in their roles as Graf Von Krolock and Alfred. The heroine Sarah will again be double cast, this time by Takahashi and actress Rina Chinen (29).



"Dance of the Vampires" will be the last production of the year at the Imperial Garden Theater, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary. The curtain will go up on November 27, and performances will run until December 24.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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AKB48 confirms "Majisuka Gakuen" sequel
Sun, January 23, 2011 (5:27pm EST)



During the encore of their concert on Sunday, AKB48 announced that there will be a sequel to their popular drama series "Majisuka Gakuen," which aired from January to March of last year. "Majisuka Gakuen 2" will air in the same late night time slot on TV Tokyo (Friday 12:12am), starting in April.

The original series starred Atsuko Maeda as a transfer student who arrives at the all-girls school Majisuka Gakuen, which is full of yankees, and she becomes involved in the power struggle among the various factions. The new series will have additional groups vying for the top spot within the school, as well as more movement by the rival school Yabakune Joshi Koukou.

While the first series had 60 members of the AKB48 family appear, the group is aiming to include even more members this time.

Yasushi Akimoto will again be in charge of producing and planning. The series is scheduled for a total of 12 episodes.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Stirring up a hornet's nest

By Chris Betros



TOKYO —

Words like action hero and Seth Rogen don’t usually go together, so it was a big gamble for the 28-year-old pudgy Canadian actor to take on the lead role in “The Green Hornet.” Rogen, known for playing mainly slackers and idiots in films such as “Superbad,” “Knocked Up,” “The Pineapple Express” and “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” slimmed down considerably for the title role in “The Green Hornet,” and described the project as a passion that has taken him four years to bring to the big screen (he also produced the film and co-wrote the script).

“I have been a lifelong comic book and superhero fan and over the past few years, these types of movies have become more popular. I thought we could inject something new into the genre,” Rogen said during a brief visit to Tokyo along with the film’s French director Michel Gondry, 47, and Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou, 31, who plays Kato, the Green Hornet’s valet, sidekick, coffee maker and gadget guru. “The Green Hornet” is Chou’s English-language film debut and he also sings a song at the end of the film.

When the trio (plus special guest, Japanese actress Ryoko Shinohara, 37, present for no apparent reason) arrived at a green carpet event at Roppongi Hills Arena, there was no doubt who was the most popular—Chou. The singer has been a best-selling artist in Asia since 2000, but is largely unknown in the West. Reflecting his popularity in Asia, Kato’s masked visage is featured more prominently than that of Rogen in posters for the movie in Japan, Taiwan, Korea and Hong Kong.

“The Green Hornet” is based on comic book characters who appeared in a 1930s radio serial, and a 26-episode 1960s TV series, which launched Bruce Lee’s career as Kato. In the movie, an action comedy shot in 3D, Rogen plays Britt Reid, the party animal son of a media tycoon who dies mysteriously. He befriends his father’s employee, Kato, and the pair inadvertently become masked vigilantes after a prankish night out. Kato creates a car called the Black Beauty, equipped with everything a crime-fighting duo should have, such as grill-mounted flamethrowers, Stinger missiles, machine guns, front wheel anti-riot spikes, ejector seats, fax machine, turntable and an icemaker. Meanwhile, they both have the hots for Reid’s secretary, Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz), which leads their “bromance” to turn into knock-down fights between each other when they are not battling villains.

“He beat me up pretty badly,” said Rogen of his action scenes with Chou. “What I like best about the story is that no matter how much they spar, these two people need each other and it shows what they can do when they finally get along. I also think audiences can relate to Britt Reid more than other superheroes. They can look at me being a jerk and say ‘I’m a lot cooler than that guy.’”

Gondry (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”) said one thing different he wanted to do with the superhero genre was to make the Asian sidekick more hip than the hero. “Some people in Hollywood were really against that at the beginning,” he said.

The character of Kato has an interesting history. In the 1930s, he was Japanese but during World War II, his heritage was changed amid anti-Japanese feeling in the U.S. (although his Japanese name was retained). Chou said he was very nervous about following in Bruce Lee’s footsteps. “Whoever plays Kato is always going to be compared to Bruce Lee. He is like God to Asians. I just tried to play Kato my way and bring my own sensibility to the character.” His martial arts scenes probably resemble Jackie Chan more than Lee.  

The actors said they loved the big action scenes but didn’t always know what was going on. “Michel would tell us to do something and we had no idea why we were doing it or how it would look later,” said Rogen. “We’d sit in a car in front of a blue screen for half an hour, pretending we were being chased and dodging attacks. But they did tell us that whatever we built for the movie, we could destroy, so you’ll see lots of explosions.”

Source: www.japantoday.com

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Anime song singer Ayane performs in Beijing

Tuesday 25th January, 02:36 AM JST



BEIJING —

About 800 Chinese fans were frenzied as Japanese anime song singer Ayane gave a live performance in Beijing over the weekend. The audience waved glow sticks in their hands as Ayane took the stage Saturday during the J-Pop in China 2011 event to promote Japanese pop culture in China.

‘‘I would like to deliver heart-lifting messages through songs especially during a time when differences in opinions are noticeable,’’ Ayane said.

Source: www.japantoday.com

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Nana Mizuki winds up Live Grace tour

Tuesday 25th January, 03:44 AM JST



YOKOHAMA —

Singer Nana Mizuki, 31, finished her Live Grace Orchestra tour at Yokohama Arena on Sunday night. But she told fans that next summer she will embark on another nationwide tour.

Mizuki made her grand entrance flying in on a wire from 20 meters above the stage. A 90-member full orchestra accompanied her for the performance before 15,000 fans.

Her next tour will kick off in May and will consist of 14 stops across Japan. She is expected to release two singles in conjunction with the tour.

Source: www.japantoday.com

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AKB48's single becomes million seller

Tuesday 25th January, 06:41 AM JST



TOKYO —

“Beginner,” a single released by all-girl Japanese pop idol group AKB48 last October, has sold more than 1 million copies, music information provider Oricon Inc said Monday.

The song became the first million-seller single in Japan in three years and five months, since sales of “Sen-no kaze-ni natte” sung by tenor Masafumi Akikawa passed the 1 million mark in August 2007, according to the company.

Source: www.japantoday.com

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Lavigne Fans Get Sneak Peek in Tokyo       
January 25, 2011



Canadian rock star Avril Lavigne (26) was in Tokyo yesterday to give some of her Japanese fans the world's first glimpse of her upcoming album. "Goodbye Lullaby" will be released in Japan before anywhere else on March 2. So in order to keep the album master tape secure - and no doubt partly as a publicity stunt - yesterday's "listening party" was held at the central Tokyo offices of security company Secom. 50 lucky fans were selected by lottery to attend the event, Lavigne's first appearance in Japan in more than two years. In addition to hearing five tracks from the album ("Push", "Everybody Hurts", "Goodbye", "Smile", and "Wish You Were Here"), they got the first look at the promo video for the first single release, "What the Hell."

Lavigne has sold more than five million albums in this country, a good chunk of her global 40 million in sales. Among her Twitter posts about her her latest visit were, "On my way now to my album listening party....so excited to see all my Japanese fans tonight!!!!" and "Nothing like a traditional cup of green tea in Japan to help with the jet lag. Yummy too." She said she'll be back in Japan for the album release in March.

Source: www.japan-zone.com

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A Rough Start to the Year       
January 25, 2011



It's been a bad start to the year for talento Lasar Ishii (55, photo left). Management for the star have acknowledged media reports that he and his wife of 32 years have divorced. He and his ex-wife are said to have been living apart for the last 15 years. And according to today's issue of the "Josei Jishin" weekly magazine, around the same time that the couple got formally divorced at the beginning of this month, Lasar was dumped by his 20-something girlfriend. Adding to the upheaval, Lasar was named as a last-minute replacement for ailing kabuki actor Nakamura Kanzaburo (55) for a stage production starting next month. He posted to Twitter, "What happened to my New Year?! Three surprises in a row!"

The magazine report says that Lasar and his now reportedly ex-girlfriend were spotted out at dinner on Christmas Eve, looking very happy. He was even seen presenting her with a ring, but it seems the happiness wasn't to last.


Lasar formed the comedy trio Conto Akashingo with Watanabe Masayuki (56) and Komiya Takayasu (54) in 1977 and they got their break on the hugely popular and influential TV comedy show "Oretachi Hyokinzoku." Lasar dropped out of Waseda University to join the Teatro Echo theatrical troupe, and it was there that he met his future wife, with whom he has two daughters. His image of having a solid career and happy family life was damaged in 1997 when an affair with an actress 12 years younger was made public.

NTV Loses Two Announcers

At a regular press conference yesterday, Nippon Terebi chairman Hosokawa Noritada (70) formally announced the departure of two of the network's popular announcers. He said he was sad to lose "Zoom In! Super" presenter Hatori Shinichi (39, photo right), who will become a freelancer at the end of March, but seemed less upset regarding Natsume Miku (26). A presenter on the quiz show "Ichiokunin Daishitsumon" she will quit NTV at the end of this month. It has been reported that she will go freelance, but when asked Hosokawa simply said, "I have no idea."

Source: www.japan-zone.com

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Japanese Indies Music Website Muzie to merge with Avex

January 24, 2011 by J!-ENT

News has went out to members of the Japanese independent music site that Muzie will now be merged with Avex Marketing, Inc. on February 1st.

According to Avex, the services will not change and the site will continue as it is but now the site will be located at muzie.ne.jp instead of muzie.co.jp.

Avex Marketing will now handle consignment agreements and contract matters.

This will take effect on February 1st, 2011.

Source: www.nt2099.com/J-ENT