Japanese Entertainment News & Info HERE! [part II]

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GIRL NEXT DOOR ties in with "Atashinchi no Danshi"
Tue, March 31, 2009 (2:00am EDT)



It has been decided that GIRL NEXT DOOR's upcoming single "Infinity" will be used as the theme song of the Fuji TV drama series "Atashinchi no Danshi," which stars actress Maki Horikita. The drama is a comedy about a homeless 20-year-old girl who suddenly marries a company president and becomes the "mother" of six handsome but unusual sons.

This is the second time that GIRL NEXT DOOR has done a theme song for a television drama. Last year, they sang "Jonetsu no Daisho" for the TV Asahi series "Giragira." "Infinity" will be released on June 3.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Yoshimoto readers rate their comedians
Tue, March 31, 2009 (2:33am EDT)

Yoshimoto Kogyo's magazine Monthly Yoshimoto has published the results of its reader-voted "otokomae" (handsome) and "busaiku" (ugly) rankings for 2009.

Kazuhiro Fujiwara of License topped the otokomae list, while Hiroyuki Yashiro of Karika ranked first in the busaiku list. Both actually moved up a spot from last year's rankings because the two previous title holders, Satoshi Inoue of Jicho Kacho (otokomae) and Ryota Yamasato of Nankai Candies (busaiku), were no longer eligible to be on the lists.

Satoshi Kanda of the newly popular combo Hannya ranked second in the otokomae list, followed by Akira Ishida of M-1 Grand Prix winner NON STYLE. The other member of NON STYLE, Yusuke Inoue, ranked eighth on the same list.

As for the busaiku list, Takashi Yoshida of Black Mayonnaise moved up a spot to second, followed by Q-chan of Hiking Walking. Interestingly, NON STYLE's Yusuke Inoue also made the busaiku list, ranking in ninth.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Aya Ueto returns to music with "Reborn" theme
Tue, March 31, 2009 (1:47am EDT)



Actress Aya Ueto is set to release her first single in two years. The song, titled "Smile for...," is originally part of a concept album for the Smile Project 2009, a music collection intended to bring smiles to faces across Japan. However, it has also been selected as the new ending theme for the "Katekyo Hitman Reborn!" anime series.

The single is set for a CD release on June 3 and a chaku-uta release on April 1. Because the song will begin airplay on "Katekyo Hitman Reborn!" starting April 4, priority was given for the chaku-uta release.

Like Ueto, "Smile for..." is a positive and upbeat song that gives off a feeling of "spring." It was written and composed by singer Kohmi Hirose, who is involved in the Smile Project 2009.

The single will be released in a regular CD edition, a first-press CD+DVD edition, and a "Reborn! edition" that features a collaborative CD jacket with art from the anime.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Norika Fujiwara in first drama since divorce
Tue, March 31, 2009 (1:25am EDT)



Norika Fujiwara has been given her first TV drama role since her divorce last week with comedian Tomonori Jinnai. She will star in a three-part miniseries on NHK titled "Tsure ga Utsu ni Narimashite," based on a popular essay by manga artist and illustrator Tenten Hosokawa.



Fujiwara plays the wife of a man who suddenly falls into depression. The story follows their battle with his illness over the span of a year and a half. Taizo Harada (of Neptune) plays the husband. Other cast members include Jun Fubuki, Osamu Shitara (of Bananaman), and Taro Suruga. For Suruga, who is the son of Tsurube Shofukutei and the vocalist of the band sleepydog, this will be his TV drama debut.

NHK plans to film the drama from early April to early May. The three episodes will be aired on Friday nights at 10:00pm, starting on May 29.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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88-year-old Mori ready for 2,000th performance of signature play

Wednesday 01st April, 03:58 AM JST



TOKYO —

Veteran actress Mitsuko Mori is gearing up for her 2,000th performance in her signature play ‘‘Horoki’’ (Journal of a Vagabond) on May 9, her 89th birthday. ‘‘I’ll keep playing this forever by taking care of myself,’’ Mori said at a recent promotional event for the long-running autobiographical play by the late novelist Fumiko Hayashi, which will commence at the Imperial Theater in Tokyo on May 5.

‘‘I don’t want anybody else to play this role, but that’s something only God can decide. I pray I can keep performing,’’ Mori said, referring to the part of Hayashi that she has played since 1961.

Mori still searches for something new in her performances. ‘‘I even found a scene at the beginning of Act 1 in which my interpretation might have been wrong while reading over the script this time round,’’ she said.

Source: www.japantoday.com

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Seiko Matsuda dyes her hair 'Celebrity Beige' for new commercial

Wednesday 01st April, 06:22 AM JST



TOKYO —

Singer-actress Seiko Matsuda, 47, shines in a new commercial for the latest products in the Diosa range of hair dyes by Schwarzkopf & Henkel.

Matsuda, who wears a backless black dress in the commercial, said that she thought beige was the best color for women around 40, bringing out the beauty in their skin. Matsuda went on to say it was a fine color for classy women and said that it would make them love themselves even more.

The Diosa range entered the Japanese market last year targeting women around 40. Demand was high for a “classy beige” product and Schwarzkopf released their Beige Brown and Deep Beige Brown hair dyes on March 2.

The commercial airs from Wednesday.

Source: www.japantoday.com

whitedove

Takuya Kimura becomes "Mr. Brain"
Wed, April 1, 2009 (1:00am EDT)



SMAP member Takuya Kimura has picked up his next starring role in a television drama. He will play the lead in TBS's comedy/mystery series "MR.BRAIN," scheduled to start in mid-spring.

Kimura plays the part of Ryusuke Tsukumo, a neuroscience researcher affiliated with a National Police Agency laboratory. Although his skills help solve difficult cases, he has one flaw: he is generally "clueless to the situation" (better known by the slang term "KY," or "kuuki o yomenai"), leading to various comical interactions. In general, each episode will be a different case.



Kimura's assistant will be played by Haruka Ayase, while Hiro Mizushima will take on the role of a young cop. Other characters include the head of the lab (Mao Daichi), another detective (Teruyuki Kagawa), and a couple of researchers (Yuji Tanaka of Bakusho Mondai and Tortoise Matsumoto of Ulfuls).



TBS plans to broadcast the drama in its Saturday 7:56pm time slot, which will be occupied by "God Hand Teru" starting April 11. "MR.BRAIN" will begin on May 23.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove

Aozora's Tomomi Oka gives birth
Wed, April 1, 2009 (12:05am EDT)

Comedienne Tomomi Oka (31) of the duo Aozora became a mother on Monday afternoon. She gave birth to a son named Shinnosuke, apparently inspired by the title character of "Crayon Shin-chan."

Oka got married to a salaryman (30) last November after they learned that she was pregnant. She has been on maternity leave since January.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Ryuji Akiyama's marriage discovered
Wed, April 1, 2009 (12:07am EDT)



Comedian Ryuji Akiyama (30) of the owarai trio Robert has been married since April of last year. The news was just revealed on Tuesday, and in fact, the marriage had been kept secret even from the other two members of Robert until recently.

Akiyama's wife (29) is currently an employee at a clothing store. The couple reportedly had been dating for 7 years when they registered their marriage on the woman's birthday last year.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove

18th Japan Movie Critics Awards
Wed, April 1, 2009 (1:27am EDT)

The winners of the 18th Japan Movie Critics Awards have been announced, though the prizes will not be formally presented until the awards ceremony on April 23.



This year's winners were:

    * Best Picture: "United Red Army"
    * Best Director: Yojiro Takita ("Okuribito")
    * Best Actor: Noriyuki Higashiyama ("Yamazakura")
    * Best Actress: Eiko Koike ("Seppun")
    * Best Supporting Actor: Ittoku Kishibe ("GS Wonderland")
    * Best Supporting Actress: Maki Sakai ("United Red Army")
    * Best New Actor: Lily Franky ("Gururi no Koto")
    * Best New Actress: Yuriko Yoshitaka ("Hebi ni Piasu")
    * Judges' Special Prize: Makoto Fujita ("Ashita e no Yuigon")
    * Judges' Special Prize: Seiko Matsuda ("Hotaru no Haka")
    * Best Music Artist: Joe Hisaishi ("Okuribito," "Gake no Ue no Ponyo")
    * Bset Cinematography: Shigeru Komatsubara ("Koisuru Tomato")
    * Special Achievement Award: Yutaka Okada (Argo Pictures)
    * Special Achievement Award: Keiichi Uraoka
    * Special Award: Minoru Kawasaki
    * International Activity Award: Shun Shibata
    * Golden Glory Award: Chiharu Kuri
    * Golden Glory Award: Hiroko Sakurai
    * Golden Glory Award: Chako van Leeuwen
    * Diamond Award: Susumu Hani
    * Diamond Award: Shoichi Ozawa

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove

Charts: Ayu, Perfume
Wed, April 1, 2009 (2:01am EDT)



In this week's Oricon ranking news, Ayumi Hamasaki's tenth original full album, "NEXT LEVEL," topped the charts with almost 241,000 copies sold in its first week of release. Ever since the release of Ayu's first album "A Song for XX" in 1999, she has put out a #1 album for 11 consecutive years, which extends her record as a female artist.

Following Ayu's album is Korean group TVXQ's "The Secret Code," selling 158,000 copies. This is their second consecutive Top 10 album. Also in the top ten this week were two compilations from Kumi Koda, ranking at #6 and #7.



On the singles chart, Perfume's newest single, "One Room Disco," gained the top spot with 77,000 in sales, giving them their second #1 single. They were followed by Gackt and the GazettE, while DJ OZMA's unit Yajima Biyoshitsu achieved #5 with their second release.

Former Hello! Project member Mari Yaguchi also reached the top ten at #6 with her single "Seishun Boku," coupled with AIR BAND's "Seishun Ore." Rock band 10-FEET ranked #10 with their latest single.

And for the second week in a row, Hikaru Utada's "This Is The One" held the top spot on the foreign albums chart.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove

New Arashi DVD ranks 3rd ever in first week sales
Wed, April 1, 2009 (2:35am EDT)



Arashi's latest live DVD, "ARASHI AROUND ASIA 2008 in Tokyo," received the top spot on the DVD charts this week by selling 230,000 copies. This surpasses EXILE's "EXILE PERFECT LIVE 2008," which sold 214,000 copies in its first week of sales. Among all movies, owarai, and music DVDs, "ARASHI AROUND ASIA 2008 in Tokyo" now holds this year's current record for first week sales.

In addition, the DVD now ranks 3rd in history for first week sales among music DVDs, behind KAT-TUN's "Real Face Film" (374,000) and SMAP's "Live MIJ" (281,000).

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove

Former pop singer Suzuki Sachiko (40) seems a bit embarrassed about yesterday's media reports of an attempted suicide. One half of the top 80s/90s idol duo Wink, she gave a quickly-arranged press conference last night to address news reports that she had been rushed to hospital after a suspected drug overdose on Sunday. Speaking to reporters at the TV Asahi studios in Tokyo, she started by saying "I was more surprised than anyone by yesterday's news. As you can see, I'm fine. I apologize for having caused such concern." She said that she is naturally a night person and has been taking prescription sleeping pills for the last two years. Unable to sleep on Saturday night, even after taking her pills, she stayed up all night. The next morning she had a long telephone conversation with a friend until exhaustion finally caught up with her and she fell asleep while still on the phone. Alarmed, the friend called for an ambulance and Suzuki says she was awoken by the sound of banging on her front door. She let the paramedics in and was able to walk to the ambulance. She was admitted to a hospital, where she was told she was anemic and in need of rest, and put on an I.V. She stayed the night and checked out Monday morning. Suzuki said, "I live alone, so I eat out a lot. From now on I'll try and look after myself a bit better." Her former singing partner, Aida Shoko (39) got married to a doctor last July. Wink split up in 1996 and performed together for the first time in a decade last December when they gave a one-off performance at the 50th Nihon Record Taisho awards.

Source: www.japan-zone.com

whitedove

Renowned supporting actor Kaneda Ryunosuke died of chronic kidney failure late at a Saitama Prefecture hospital on Monday night. He was 80. Kaneda made his stage debut at the age of 5 but didn't have the first of many movie roles until 1968. In recent years he appeared in such TV dramas as "Tokyo Tower" in 2006 and the "Bayside Shakedown" spinoff movie "Koshounin Mashita Masayoshi" (Negotiator, 2005). He had been suffering from diabetes for the last few years and was admitted to hospital in late March with a leg injury.

Source: www.japan-zone.com

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Retired actress Minamida Yoko (76) was hospitalized yesterday after losing consciousness. Her condition is not said to be life threatening but she is expected to spend at least a week in hospital. Her husband, actor Nagato Hiroyuki (75) spoke tearfully to reporters last night as he expressed his fear that his wife might end up in a vegetative state. She retired several years ago after beginning to show signs of dementia, and her husband has been caring for her since. It wasn't until during filming of a TV Asahi documentary last November that her condition was diagnosed as Alzheimers. The program was the network's most widely viewed show of last year. Nagato and Minamida were both up and coming stars when they became Japan's most famous screen couple in the 1955 hit "Taiyo no Kisetsu," one of the definitive movies of the postwar era.

Source: www.japan-zone.com

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Actress Fukada Kyoko (26) and young baseball star Saito Yuki (20) were spotted out together on a dinner date in February, according to today's issue of women's weekly magazine "Josei Seven." Fukuda is one of Japan's most poipular young actreses, and is currently starring as the sexy villain Doronjo in the big screen adaptation of the "Yatterman" anime. Saito, known as the "handerchief prince" since becoming an overnight star as a pitcher for his high school team, has almost single-handedly turned Waseda University into a baseball powerhouse in the last couple of years.

Source: www.japan-zone.com

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SMAP's Kimutaku eager to try role as neuroscientist in new TV drama

Thursday 02nd April, 04:19 AM JST



TOKYO —

SMAP’s Takuya Kimura, 36, will play the leading role of a neuroscientist in the new TBS television drama “Mr. Brain,” which starts May 23 at 7:56 p.m.  He will portray a neuroscientist serving at the National Police Agency’s National Research Institute of Police Science, who uncannily solves difficult cases within the agency. Up until now, Kimura, popularly known as Kimutaku, has lent his talents to a variety of roles, including prime minister, but this will be his first attempt at playing a neuroscientist.

Taking a break from filming, Kimura said: “I had so many questions when I learned that I’d be put in a position like this.” He went on to say that, while he feels lost at times, he’s excited to take on the new challenge because, “the story and situation are open to a wide variety of possibilities. I hope to really flesh out the character as I go along.”

Source: www.japantoday.com

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Celebs line up to promote new cell phone broadcaster BeeTV

Thursday 02nd April, 11:10 AM JST



TOKYO —

Avex Broadcasting & Communications Inc, a new company founded by Avex Entertainment and NTT Docomo, announced Wednesday that it will produce and broadcast dramas, variety shows, music shows and animation exclusively for cell phones through its new service BeeTV.

Twenty-one programs, all of which run for less than 10 minutes, have already been given the green light, and guests from 7 of those programs assembled in a Tokyo hotel on Wednesday. Singer-celebrity Akiko Wada, 58, said: “Until now, many shows have just dabbled on the surface of issues. We’re going to get right into it in the new shows. I want to take on issues people are comfortable talking about because Akiko Wada is listening.”

Actor Hayato Ichihara, 22, who will play a businessman trying to get married in “How to marry a 40-year-old woman in 90 days,” said that he watches news and martial arts on his cell phone when he is on the train or in between filming scenes. He said “I hope people make good use of their time by watching my drama.”

BeeTV starts airing its programs on May 1 and can be seen for 315 yen a month.

Source: www.japantoday.com

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VAMPS to tour America
Thu, April 2, 2009 (1:24am EDT)



Rock band VAMPS has announced the dates for their upcoming U.S. tour. The group has a total of ten shows scheduled, starting in New York on July 11 and ending in Los Angeles on August 1. Two of the performances will be part of the Warped Tour stops in Hartford, Connecticut, and Columbia, Maryland.

The full schedule is available on their MySpace page and on their official website.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove

Dir en grey to play at European festivals
Thu, April 2, 2009 (1:49am EDT)



This June, rock band Dir en grey will appear at five music festivals across Europe. They will first play at Germany's Rock-im-Park (June 5) and Rock-am-Ring (June 7), followed by the Download Festival in England on June 12.

Dir en grey will then be at Nova Rock in Austria on June 20, and finally they will perform at Sweden's Metaltown fest on June 27.



girugamesh and MUCC are also scheduled to perform at Metaltown.

Source: www.tokyograph.com