Japanese Entertainment News & Info HERE! [part IV]

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Charts: TVXQ, Tomomi Itano, Yamapi, Arashi
Wed, February 2, 2011 (8:38am EST)

Boy bands dominated the charts this week, from the rebooted Korean group TVXQ to Tomohisa Yamashita (of NEWS) to Arashi. However, while AKB48 member Tomomi Itano didn't capture the top spot, she had a highly successful solo debut that launched her to #2 on the charts.



Now down to only two members, TVXQ released their single "Why? (Keep Your Head Down)" last week and sold 231,000 copies to rank #1. This is only the second time since Oricon began tracking sales in 1968 that a single by a foreign artist sold more than 200,000 copies in the first week. The first time was just last year, when TVXQ (as a five-member group) sold 256,000 copies of "BREAK OUT!" The single also marks TVXQ's 9th chart-topper, extending their record for "most number-one singles by a foreign artist."



Tomomi Itano's first solo single, "Dear J," ranked #2 at 163,000 copies sold, largely thanks to her existing popularity as part of AKB48. This makes her the first solo female artist to sell more than 150,000 copies in the first week since Hikaru Utada's "Flavor of Life" (271,000 copies) in 2007. For a solo debut from a member of a girl group, the last artist to break the 150,000 mark was Morning Musume's Maki Goto in 2001 with "Ai no Bakayarou" (268,000 copies).

The #3 to #8 positions were also new singles, coming from YUI, w-inds., Ketsumeishi, DIR EN GREY, Yukari Tamura, and Ranka Lee (Megumi Nakajima).



On the album rankings, Tomohisa Yamashita's "SUPERGOOD, SUPERBAD" sold 102,000 copies to take #1. Counting his albums with NEWS, this is his fifth consecutive release at the top of the charts.

flumpool entered the rankings at #2, followed by AK-69. Meisa Kuroki (#6), Choshinsung (#7), the pillows (#8), and Sonar Pocket (#10) also made the top ten.



In DVDs, Arashi set a new record by selling 618,000 copies of their "ARASHI 10-11 TOUR'Scene' ~Kimi to Boku no Miteiru Fuukei~ STADIUM." No other music DVD has ever sold more than 600,000 copies in the first week. This now puts them at a total of 7 number-one DVDs. They also now have the top 3 DVDs in terms of first-week sales, with "ARASHI Anniversary Tour 5x10" at #2 (477,000) and "5x10 All the BEST! CLIPS 1999-2009" at #3 (428,000).

Korean girl group KARA, who have recently been dealing with management issues that threatened to break them apart, reached #9 on the overall charts with 10,000 copies of their "KARADISE 2011 ~ SEASON'S GREETINGS FROM THAI." This is a new record for them, as their previous best video release was #11 on the Blu-ray charts.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Solo project of Kagerou's Daisuke to release posthumous album in April
Wed, February 2, 2011 (9:24am EST)



Daisuke to Kuro no Injatachi, the solo project of the late vocalist Daisuke Oshida, is getting its first album released thanks to the collaboration of several artists. The album is titled "Shikkoku no Hikari" and is scheduled to go on sale on April 20.

Daisuke was once a member of the band Fatima before he formed Kagerou in 1999. After the band's breakup in 2007, he created a new group called the studs, which went on hiatus in 2009. Last April, he launched his solo project Daisuke to Kuro no Injatachi, but shortly after its first single, he suddenly passed away on July 15 at the age of 31.

Before his death, Daisuke had begun work on "Shikkoku no Hikari" as a mini-album. Several artists who were close to him later resumed production on the project, resulting in the finished album. The participants include his fellow Kagerou members Shizumi, kazu, and Yuana; ex-the studs bandmate aie; MUCC member Tatsuro; MERRY members Gara, Yuu, and Kenichi; kannivalism; 12012; and boogieman.

"Shikkoku no Hikari" has a total of 12 tracks listed. The limited CD+DVD edition will come with video clips for two of the songs.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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BIG BANG announces single, tour, global Uniqlo collaboration
Wed, February 2, 2011 (6:52pm EST)



Korean group BIG BANG have announced some of their plans for this year. In April, they will release a new single, though the title and date have not been announced yet. They will then go on a 7-show tour taking them to Osaka-jo Hall (May 10-11), Chiba's Makuhari Messe (May 13-15), and Nagoya's Nippon Gaishi Hall (May 17-18) for a total estimated audience of 90,000 fans.

They will kick things off this week with a major promotional campaign with retailer Uniqlo. Starting on February 5, they will have 10 different T-shirts on sale in all of Uniqlo's 825 stores nationwide and all of the stores overseas. There will also be 5 different parkas on sale, though it is not clear whether those will also be available in all stores.

According to Sports Nippon, the specialty UT store in Harajuku will reserve one of its three floors to sell only BIG BANG items on February 5 and 6. Although that store has previously done collaborations with big artists such as Ringo Shiina, Puffy, and Unicorn, this is the first time ever for Uniqlo that an artist has taken over an entire floor.

The collaboration will include the group's logo being put up on the store's glass windows, and the interior being designed with a BIG BANG theme. The store will also play BIG BANG music videos inside.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Tori Matsuzaka plays 9-year-old in mobile drama "Megami no Itazura"
Wed, February 2, 2011 (7:12pm EST)



"Samurai Sentai Shinkenger" star Tori Matsuzaka (22) is going to star in a mobile drama on BeeTV starting next month. The show, called "Megami no Itazura ~Kimi ni Natta Boku~," will also feature Ryohei Suzuki (27), Shugo Oshinari (29), and Anne (24).



Matsuzaka plays the 23-year-old protagonist Hideyuki, who returns to Japan from studying abroad after he hears of his father's death. Due to an accident, his soul somehow gets switched with that of a 9-year-old boy named Takumi. The young boy, now in a different body, must deal with Hideyuki's close friends (Suzuki and Oshinari) and deciding the fate of Hideyuki's father's business. Anne plays the "goddess" that the show's title refers to.

Since filming started, Matsuzaka has reportedly been closely observing children's habits in order to get into the character. It is also said that he has been using the 1988 Tom Hanks movie "Big" as reference material.

24 episodes are planned at 5 minutes each. BeeTV will begin distribution on March 20, with updates planned every Wednesday.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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2011 Elan D'or Awards
Thu, February 3, 2011 (9:35am EST)



The 2011 Elan D'or Awards were presented on Thursday by the All Nippon Producers Association. As usual, the highlight of the event was the presentation of the "newcomer awards," given to actors and actresses who were notably active over the past year and who are now drawing high expectations. On average, this year's batch is older than usual: Kenta Kiritani (30), Michiko Kichise (35), Takeru Sato (21), Nao Matsushita (25), Osamu Mukai (28), and Hikari Mitsushima (25).

Matsushita and Mukai received particular attention due to being the co-stars of the much-talked-about drama series "Gegege no Nyoubou," which significantly boosted both of their careers.

The TV Taro Award for best film went to Tetsuya Nakashima's "Kokuhaku," while the TV Guide Award for best drama went to the taiga series "Ryomaden."

In the producer awards, Yuji Ishida and Yutaka Suzuki won in the film category for their work on "Kokuhaku." Genki Kawamura received honorable mention for "Akunin" and "Kokuhaku." In the television category, Kei Suzuki received the prize for "Ryomaden," and Fumi Hashimoto received honorable mention for "Freeter, Ie wo Kau."

Two special awards were handed out: one to actress Shinobu Terajima to celebrate the fact that she won the Silver Bear award for Best Actress at last year's Berlin International Film Festival, and the other to the production team behind "Gegege no Nyoubou."

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Arashi members drawn in manga form in Asahi Shimbun feature
Thu, February 3, 2011 (9:50am EST)



The February 3 issue of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper featured a special collaboration between boy band Arashi and a few manga artists, titled "ARASHI meets MANGA." The 8-page feature included illustrations of Arashi's five members, drawn by the artists who did the original works behind some of the dramas and films that they have starred in. Each of the members also gave their thoughts on those works.

The illustrations were drawn by:

    * Taiyo Matsumoto ("Tekkon Kinkreet") - Kazunari Ninomiya
    * Chica Umino ("Honey and Clover") - Sho Sakurai
    * Yoko Kamio ("Hana Yori Dango") - Jun Matsumoto
    * Kenji Nagatomo ("Bartender") - Masaki Aiba
    * Fujiko Fujio A ("Kaibutsu-kun") - Satoshi Ohno

A gallery of the images can be found here.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Fuji TV, NTV, TV Asahi announce increased profits in 2010
Thu, February 3, 2011 (10:14am EST)

The five major television broadcasters in Tokyo have released their consolidated balance sheets for the period of April-December 2010. Advertising revenues appear to be recovering, particularly for Fuji TV, NTV and TV Asahi, who all posted gains compared to the previous year.

Fuji TV, which achieved the highest ratings last year, announced a net profit of 13.5 billion yen, more than doubling their 2009 figures. Both NTV and TV Asahi benefited from cutting their production costs, leading NTV's net profit to increase 36.8% to 16.7 billion yen and TV Asahi's to increase 43.8% to 6.4 billion yen.

On the other end, TBS's advertising revenues dropped due to the network's poor ratings, resulting in a 13.2% decrease in net profit to 1.7 billion yen.

TV Tokyo's net profit amounted to 3.1 billion yen. Since the network transitioned to a holding company just last October, it does not have any comparable numbers from 2009.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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FUNKY MONKEY BABYS provide theme song for drama "Propose Kyoudai"
Thu, February 3, 2011 (7:35pm EST)



FUNKY MONKEY BABYS' 2008 song "Kokuhaku" will be used as the theme song for Fuji TV's romantic comedy miniseries "Propose Kyoudai ~Umare Junbetsu Otoko ga Kekkon Suru Houhou."

The drama was actually first announced last month. The omnibus consists of four episodes airing on consecutive nights, each focusing on a different couple. The lead characters are three brothers and their cousin, and each has a different personality based on his birth order (oldest child, middle child, youngest child, only child).



Ryuta Sato (30) plays the oldest brother, an overly serious chef who can't refuse a request for a favor. Teppei Koike (25) plays the middle child, an office worker who always chooses the safe route instead of facing important challenges. Aoi Nakamura (19) plays the youngest child, a spoiled part-timer who doesn't hesitate to speak his mind. Lastly, Atsushi Ito (27) plays their cousin, an interior designer who lives life at his own pace.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mL74gv ... s400/Nozomi+Sasaki+(22).jpg

The four women that they get involved with will be played by Anne (24), Nozomi Sasaki (22), Yuika Motokariya (23), and Becky (26), respectively.

The series will air on Fuji TV at 11:00pm on February 21-24. While the original version of "Kokuhaku" will be the show's theme song, FUNKY MONKEY BABYS has also recorded an acoustic version of the song that will be released digitally on February 21, the day the show premieres.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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EXILE's AKIRA to play Juri Ueno's husband in taiga drama "Gou"
Thu, February 3, 2011 (7:05pm EST)



AKIRA (29) will become the first member of EXILE to act in one of NHK's taiga dramas, it has been learned. He will appear in the ongoing series "Gou ~Himetachi no Sengoku~" in the role of Toyotomi Hidekatsu, one of the husbands of the main character Gou, who is played by lead actress Juri Ueno (24).



Historically, Hidekatsu was the nephew of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He became the second husband of Gou after she divorced Saji Kazunari, but Hidekatsu died shortly after that during Japan's invasions of Korea. Gou later married her third and final husband, Tokugawa Hidetada, played by Osamu Mukai (28).

As an actor, AKIRA has appeared in a few films and television dramas. Last year, he received Best New Actor in the 19th Japan Movie Critics Awards for his role in the 2009 film "Chanto Tsutaeru."

AKIRA's appearance in "Gou" will start with the series' 17th episode, scheduled to air on May 1.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Cast revealed for Shunsuke Kazama's movie "Maebashi Visual-kei"
Thu, February 3, 2011 (6:37pm EST)



More information about director Gitan Otsuru's new film "Maebashi Visual-kei" has been revealed. The movie was announced last October with Johnny's Jr. member Shunsuke Kazama (27) as the star, but now the film's full cast and release date are known.



The film, also known by the English title "Maebashi Visual Rockers" according to its website, is a coming-of-age story about four young men playing in a visual-kei band in a rural town, with dreams of someday turning pro. Kazama plays the lead vocalist of the band, and the other members will be played by Masaya Kikawada (30), Takao Sugiura (27), and Ray Fujita (22).



Visual-kei band heidi. will appear in the film as themselves, and they are also performing the film's theme song, "Gekkou Showtime." Other cast members include Diamond Yukai, Marty Friedman, Kazuki Kato, Minase Yashiro, and Yuri Morishita.

The movie will first be screened in an Ikebukuro theater starting March 12, followed by other theaters throughout the country on April 9.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Kana Nishino achieves 25 million total downloads
Fri, February 4, 2011 (10:23pm EST)



Singer Kana Nishino (21), who is sometimes called the "queen of chaku-uta," has just reached an impressive milestone. Since her debut, her songs have been legitimately downloaded a total of 25 million times in a variety of formats, from chaku-uta ringtones to mobile video clips to full-length songs for the PC.

Nishino made her debut almost three years ago on February 20, 2008, with the single "I." This means that, on average, her songs have been downloaded approximately 23,000 times each day, though the bulk of the downloads actually happened within the past year. Based on data from download service Recochoku, Nishino was the #1 artist of 2010 in the chaku-uta and chaku-uta full categories.

Nishino also recently announced that she will hold her first Nippon Budokan concert on September 8, as the final show of her 16-city tour that starts on July 29.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Hey! Say! JUMP's Keito Okamoto cast in final "3 Nen B Gumi Kinpachi Sensei" episode
Fri, February 4, 2011 (10:40pm EST)



Last month, it was announced that the popular drama series "3 Nen B Gumi Kinpachi Sensei" will be ending this March with a special episode. The full cast has not yet been announced, but it was revealed on Friday that Hey! Say! JUMP member Keito Okamoto (17) will be playing one of the main students, a troublemaker named Kageura.

Many other members of Johnny's Jimusho have played students in "3 Nen B Gumi Kinpachi Sensei" over the years, including Masahiko Kondo (46) and Kazuya Kamenashi (24). In fact, Okamoto's own father, Kenichi Okamoto (41), also played a student in one of the series' special episodes in December 1985. This makes them the first father-son pair to both appear on the show, though actress Kaori Tsuchiya (46) and actor Shunta Fukawa (18) were the first parent and child to do so.

The "3 Nen B Gumi Kinpachi Sensei Final" (tentative title) will be aired on TBS at the end of March.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Mayumi Hasegawa overcomes infertility with second child
Fri, February 4, 2011 (11:36pm EST)



Actress Mayumi Hasegawa (40) successfully gave birth to her second child, a daughter, on the afternoon of January 31. She revealed that the birth was the result of multiple attempts at in vitro fertilization after she was diagnosed with infertility.

Hasegawa married a businessman (43) in 2001. She gave birth naturally to their son in 2003, but she found that she was unable to conceive again after that. She was diagnosed with antisperm antibodies as the cause of her infertility, so she and her husband tried in vitro fertilization. However, due to recurrent miscarriage, they had to attempt fertilization four times before achieving success.

Hasegawa talked about her experience on her own blog. "Some of you are probably dealing with infertility. I hope I can be of help in some way," she wrote. It also said that Hasegawa is currently studying infertility counseling.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Action star Rina Takeda plays ninja in "KUNOICHI"
Sat, February 5, 2011 (12:22am EST)



Action actress Rina Takeda (19) has been given her third starring movie role, playing a female ninja in a film titled "KUNOICHI."

Takeda has been practicing karate since the age of 10, winning multiple tournaments as a teenager. In 2008, she caught the attention of "Shaolin Shoujo" producer Fuyuhiko Nishi, leading him to cast her in his directorial debut, "High Kick Girl!" She also starred in the similar movie "KG: Karate Girl," which just opened in theaters this weekend.

In "KUNOICHI," Takeda plays a ninja who rescues women who have been taken captive. The film is directed by Seiji Chiba, known for wrks such as "Sengoku: Iga no Ran" and "Nukenin." The action director is Kensuke Sonomura, who coordinated the action scenes in "GANTZ" and other films such as Noboru Iguchi's "Machine Girl."

"KUNOICHI" will begin its theatrical run on March 19.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Super Sentai Series movie features 199 heroes
Fri, February 4, 2011 (11:09pm EST)

The latest Super Sentai Series movie has been revealed. Titled "Gokaiger Goseiger Super Sentai 199 Hero Daikessen," the film will live up to its name by featuring all 199 heroes from the 35 series so far, from "Himitsu Sentai Goranger" (1975) to the upcoming "Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger" (premieres February 13).

The movie will not actually include all 199 heroes at once. Rather, it will star the five protagonists of "Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger," who have the ability to freely transform into any of the members of the previous Super Sentai teams, giving them access to a wide range of powers. In this way, the Gokaiger team will bring all of the past heroes back onto the big screen.

"Gokaiger Goseiger Super Sentai 199 Hero Daikessen" opens in Japan on May 21.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Takanori Nishikawa stars in "Okusama wa 18-sai" live-action remake
Sat, February 5, 2011 (12:54am EST)



The shoujo manga series "Okusama wa 18-sai" is getting another television drama adaptation, this time starring 40-year-old musician and actor Takanori Nishikawa (also known as T.M.Revolution). His co-star will be young actress Natsuna Watanabe (21).

The original manga was written by Miyoko Motomura in 1969-1970, and it was turned into a successful drama series from September 1970 to September 1971 with Tetsuo Ishidate and Yuko Okazaki as the leads. The comedic story tells of a Japanese language teacher who is secretly married to one of his high school students.

The new remake is Nishikawa's first time starring in a television series. His co-star Watanabe, who shortened her stage name to just Natsuna a couple years ago, recently gained some attention for her nude role in the first live-action "GANTZ" movie.

A total of four episodes are planned. The first half-hour episode will air on satellite channel Fuji TV TWO on March 27 at 10:00pm. The remaining episodes have not yet been scheduled for broadcast.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Glay wraps up national tour at Saitama Super Arena

Monday 07th February, 11:02 AM JST



SAITAMA —

Rock band Glay wrapped up their all-Japan tour at the Saitama Super Arena on Sunday. For the final stop on the tour, Glay performed before approximately 20,000 fans and included their hit, “Yuwaku” and new single, “Precious.”

Glay recorded the highest turnout in the history of Japanese music in 1999, when 200,000 fans attended a single performance during their “Pure Soul” tour. Vocalist Teru described the record-setting event as “a dream come true” and wrapped up their recent tour with a plea for audiences to cheer them on in accomplishing a similar turnout again.

The tour featured 37 performances in 29 venues. Next the band will hold live performances on July 30 and 31 to commemorate the 15th year since the founding of their fan club.

Source: www.japantoday.com

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Mai Yamagishi to cohost NHK's 'Saturday Sports' program

Monday 07th February, 02:00 AM JST



TOKYO —

NHK will revive its “Saturday Sports” program after a five-year absence on April 2. Freelance newscaster Mai Yamagishi will host the program alongside veteran sportscaster Tsuyoshi Matsuo.

Yamagishi has performed a wide range of roles in her career, including fashion model, actress and swimsuit model. She also hosted the 2009 NHK “J-League Time” soccer news show. “Saturday Sports” will air from 10:15 p.m.

Source: www.japantoday.com

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K-pop group Choshinsei member Yoonhak to star in Japanese drama

Sunday 06th February, 05:42 AM JST



GIFU —

Yoonhak, a member of the popular South Korean boy band Choshinsei, will star in an NHK drama series about city employees in central Japan’s Gifu Prefecture, who aspire to make ‘‘kimchi’’ Korean pickles to boost tourism.

‘‘Koisuru Kimchi’’ (kimchi in love) is produced by NHK’s Gifu broadcasting station to commemorate its 70th anniversary, and is set in the city of Kakamigahara in the prefecture.

Yoonhak plays a handsome Korean employee from the city of Chuncheon, South Korea, who comes to the Japanese city on an international exchange program.

In the drama, he becomes the target of affection of the main character, played by Japanese actress Shihori Kanjiya as another Kakamigahara city employee.

The drama will start airing in the local area on Feb 18 and in other places in Japan on March 21.

Source: www.japantoday.com

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JSA Puts Sumo on Hold       
February 07, 2011



The world of sumo faces perhaps its greatest ever crisis after last week's revelations of bout fixing in the sport. The exposure of a series of text messages sent between more than a dozen top level rikishi (wrestlers) was followed by public admissions by two of them and a coach. Though such "yaocho" (bout fixing) rumors and accusations have circulated for years, this time the evidence is out in the open and cannot be ignored. As a result, the Japan Sumo Association announced yesterday that next month's "haru basho" (spring tournament), one of six major events held every other month during the year, would be called off and the sport will be in a state of suspension until thorough investigations are carried out. It is the first cancellation of a basho in the post-war period other than one occasion in 1946 when structural repairs were required at the official venue.

The sport has its roots in the traditional religion of shinto and is officially a government affiliate with preferential tax treatment, so membership of the sumo world brings with it the expectation of high moral standards. But that image has been greatly damaged by a series of major scandals over the last few years. 2007 saw the hazing death of a 17-year-old trainee and the arrest of his "oyakata" (stablemaster); in 2008, drug use led to the expulsion of two Russian rikishi and the resignation of the JSA chief; Mongolian Yokozuna (grand champion) Asashoryu quit the sport while at the top of his game in 2010 after accusations of a drunken assault; gambling by rikishi on baseball games led to the expulsion of two top rikishi last summer, and it was police investigation of that gambling that led to the latest scandal.

Source: www.japan-zone.com