Japanese Entertainment News & Info HERE! [part III]

whitedove

"Shizumanu Taiyo" cast unveiled
Sat, April 25, 2009 (9:16pm EDT)



The big-budget film "Shizumanu Taiyo," directed by Setsuro Wakamatsu ("Whiteout"), had its main cast recently revealed. The movie was initially announced in December, with actor Ken Watanabe as the star.

The movie is based on Toyoko Yamasaki's novel about the chair of an airline labor union (Watanabe) and his battle against the company. The story is modeled after real-life events during the 1980s.



Tomokazu Miura is co-starring as Watanabe's main antagonist. Oher cast members include Yasuko Matsuyuki as a cabin crew member, Kyoka Suzuki as Watanabe's wife, and Koji Ishizaka as the airline president.

Filming took place overseas for about a month, and the rest of the movie is now being shot in Japan. It is expected to wrap up in June, and the final cut is scheduled for theatrical release on October 24. Expectations are high for the movie, as its budget is roughly 2 billion yen for a 3-hour picture.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove

Watari, Ueto play father and daughter in drama special
Sat, April 25, 2009 (9:51pm EDT)



Veteran actor Tetsuya Watari is teaming up with actress Aya Ueto as co-stars in a TV Asahi drama special called "Kekkon." The drama comes from screenwriter Sugako Hashida and producer Fukuko Ishii, who have previously worked together on the TBS series "Wataru Seken wa Oni Bakari."



As the title suggests, the show is a family dama revolving around the topic of marriage. Ueto plays the only child of Watari and his wife (played by Keiko Takahashi). Satoshi Tokushige takes on the role of Ueto's prospective partner, the only son of another couple (Teruhiko Saigo and Ayako Wakao).

This is actually Watari's third time as lead actor in a drama special by the screenwriter-producer combo of Hashida and Ishii. The first two - "Omoide Kakurenbo" in 2000 and "Fuufu" in 2006 - both had over 20% ratings.

TV Asahi has not yet determined a broadcast date for "Kekkon," but the network has said that they plan to air it before the end of this year.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove

Oricon: whose face would you want?
Sat, April 25, 2009 (11:00pm EDT)



Earlier this year, Oricon asked 600 men ranging from their teens to their forties, "Which male celebrity's face would you want to have?" Naturally, men considered popularity with women as the main factor, leading to Masaharu Fukuyama topping the list. Takuya Kimura ranked #2, followed by Hiro Mizushima.

   1. Masaharu Fukuyama
   2. Takuya Kimura
   3. Hiro Mizushima
   4. Satoshi Tsumabuki
   5. Teppei Koike
   6. Junichi Okada
   7. Masahiro Motoki
   8. Tomohisa Yamashita
   9. Mocomichi Hayami
  10. Koshi Inaba
  11. Hiroki Narimiya

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove

"Kitaro" creator's life told in NHK's morning drama
Sat, April 25, 2009 (10:35pm EDT)

On Wednesday, NHK announced that its 82nd Asadora will be "Gegege no Nyoubou," based on a 2008 autobiography by Nunoe Mura, the wife of "Gegege no Kitaro" mangaka Shigeru Mizuki. The story revolves around the life of the married couple, told from the perspective of Mura.

In 1961, Nunoe had an omiai with the then-unknown manga artist Shigeru Mura (Mizuki's real name), and the two married shortly after. They lived poorly and overcame many obstacles as Mizuki worked to gain recognition with "Gegege no Kitaro."

The drama will start with Nunoe at 29 years old. The cast has not yet been chosen, though the female lead will be decided this summer.

The last Asadora based on the life of a real person was "Imotako Nankin" in 2006, which was adapted from the autobiography of writer Seiko Tanabe.

"Gegege no Nyoubou" will start on March 29, 2010. The story is also being turned into a theatrical film, directed by Takuji Suzuki. The movie will start filming this fall and will open in the early summer of 2010.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove

Model Tsubasa Masuwaka and Miss Japan Marino Miyata to host new kids show
Sunday 26th April, 05:52 AM JST



TOKYO -
Fashion model Tsubasa Masuwaka, 23, and Miss Japan 2009 Marino Miyata, 17, on Monday will start hosting a new children's program on Fuji TV, titled "We Can". The program, which is aimed at elementary school students, discusses topics such as home, school and neighborhood events from the viewpoint of students.

It is the first time for Masuwaka and Miyata to host a show, and Masukawa said: "The show has a fresh feeling, something I haven't seen before."

The program is seeking applications nationwide for elementary school girls to work as both editors and models. Those interested can apply to be a "We Can" Girl' via Fuji TV's KIDS website.

"?We Can" airs on BS Fuji weekdays from 7.15 to 7.30 a.m.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove

Shiki to perform Cats at new theater in Yokohama

Monday 27th April, 05:25 AM JST

TOKYO —

Major musical troupe Shiki Theatre Co will begin performances of the popular musical production Cats in November at its new theater in Yokohama, continuing to stage the longest-running musical production in Japan. The theater company, which owns the Cats Theatre in Tokyo’s Shinagawa Ward, said it will construct a similar playhouse in the Minato Mirai 21 seaside area of the port city south of Tokyo.

Shiki Theatre has performed Cats more than 7,000 times in Tokyo and seven other major cities since its first stage in 1983. The troupe continues to set records for the number of performances of a musical production in Japan. Yokohama Mayor Hiroshi Nakada welcomed the announcement, telling reporters, ‘‘We’ll make Yokohama a town where people from all over Asia can come and enjoy live entertainment.’’

Source: www.japantoday.com

whitedove

Actor Tsukamoto expects fewer death sentences under new jury system

Monday 27th April, 06:17 AM JST



TOKYO —

Actor Takashi Tsukamoto, who plays a murder suspect in an upcoming TV drama about the imminent lay jury system, said he expects fewer death sentences to be handed down in real courts after the system starts next month. Tsukamoto, 26, made the remarks during a recent promotional event for the drama ‘‘Samayoi Zakura’’ (Stray Cherry Blossoms) that he took part in together with co-stars Atsushi Ito and Rosa Kato.

Tsukamoto plays the role of a part-time worker who is tried for the murder of three housewives, while Ito plays a citizen who becomes one of the lay jurors examining the murder case along with professional judges.

’’I think the number of death sentences is likely to go down under the new system. Who could make a decision leading to the death of a defendant after closely watching the defendant and his or her parents with their own eyes?’’ Tsukamoto said. ‘‘I don’t think I would be able to vote for the death penalty.’’

Ito, meanwhile, promoted the instructive nature of the drama based on the manga comic story by Mamora Goda, saying, ‘‘I think the program offers new knowledge about the system and makes you more ready for it.’’

The drama will be aired on May 30 on the Fuji Television network nine days after the system begins in Japan.

Source: www.japantoday.com

whitedove

Journalists rap SMAP arrest, hype

Kyodo News



As the entertainment industry reels from the arrest of SMAP's Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, journalists debated whether Tokyo police acted properly and slammed the mass media for failing to cover the incident with a more critical eye.

Shuntaro Torigoe, former editor in chief of Sunday Mainichi weekly magazine, said it was "unreasonable" for the police to arrest the 34-year-old pop idol for "public indecency for being naked in a deserted park at 3 a.m."

When someone who is drunk is making a lot of noise, police usually try to protect the person, he said, adding that Kusanagi was arrested simply because he is a celebrity and that police probably suspected he was on drugs.

"But this is wrong," Torigoe said. "It's pathetic when I see the mass media fueling such a brouhaha based on a misjudgment by the police" and companies scrambling to cancel commercials featuring him, he said.

A drug test carried out on the star came up negative.

The Akasaka police, which arrested Kusanagi and searched his home for a half hour anyway, said it has been getting nonstop calls from Kusanagi fans, mostly women, protesting their actions.

A senior officer at the station said they arrested Kusanagi on the spot "because stripping naked was a clear-cut criminal act."

"It was not an act that left any room for doubt," he said.

Akihiro Otani, another well-known journalist, said he believes the star's arrest was "unavoidable" to ensure his safety and prevent him from causing trouble again.

"If a police officer had just scolded him, he might have made a lot of noise again after the officer left," Otani said of the 3 a.m. incident.

whitedove

Oggi model Youn-a marries
Sun, April 26, 2009 (7:14pm EDT)

Youn-a (23), a fashion model for Oggi magazine, announced that she got married on Saturday to a Korean businessman. She held the wedding in her native Korea.

According to her agency, Youn-a plans to establish a new home in Japan and will continue working as a model. Her agency also clarified that she is not pregnant.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove

MAX sings for TV Tokyo drama
Sun, April 26, 2009 (9:03pm EDT)



Pop group MAX has been chosen to provide the theme song for a TV Tokyo daytime drama series called "Kariyushi-sensei Chibaru!" This is their first theme song for a TV series since "Ride on time" was used in TV Asahi's 1998 drama "Sweet Devil," which starred the members of MAX.



"Kariyushi-sensei Chibaru!" is set in the group's native Okinawa. Actress Sachiko Kokubu stars as a former politician ousted after a corruption scandal, winding up on the island as an elementary school teacher. TV Tokyo plans to air the show on weekdays starting June 29, though the exact time slot has not been determined yet.

MAX's song is called "Rough Cut Diamond" and will go on sale in July. This is the group's first single since MINA's return, making it MAX's first one in about seven years with the original members.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove

Announcer Daiki Tanaka ties the knot
Sun, April 26, 2009 (9:28pm EDT)

Fuji TV announcer Daiki Tanaka (28) got married earlier this month, it was learned on Saturday. On April 12, he officially registered his marriage with a 29-year-old OL who graduated one year earlier than he did from Keio University. They held the wedding overseas on the same day.

Tanaka has been part of Fuji TV since 2003 and is currently a regular on shows such as "Sport!"

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove

Miyavi announces European tour dates
Mon, April 27, 2009 (1:19am EDT)



Miyavi has announced a new world tour, which will include Europe and South America. The European leg of the tour is scheduled to start on September 19 in Moscow and end on October 11 in Barcelona, with a total of 17 shows. Ticket sales begin on April 29.

The European dates will be followed by concerts in South America, though the schedule for those shows has not yet been announced.

More details about the tour are available on Miyavi's MySpace page.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove

Masahiro Kobayashi aims to create "modern Tokyo Story"
Mon, April 27, 2009 (4:36am EDT)



Director Masahiro Kobayashi ("Ai no Yokan") is working on a new film called "Haru to no Tabi." The movie stars veteran actor Tatsuya Nakadai (76), who last played a lead role in the 2002 picture "Shiroi Inu to Waltz wo."

The story portrays the final trip of an old man together with his granddaughter. The film is said to be a look at social issues surrounding family and the elderly. In talking about the movie, the ambitious Kobayashi explained that he wanted to do a modern version of a masterpiece like Yasujiro Ozu's "Tokyo Story" or Akira Kurosawa's "Ikiru."



Nakadai plays a former fisherman named Tadao who lives in Hokkaido with his granddaughter Haru (Eri Tokunaga). Haru says she wants to move to Tokyo and work there, so Tadao pays a visit to his estranged brothers, who both think poorly of Tadao. The brothers are played by Hideji Otaki (with Kin Sugai as his wife) and Akira Emoto.

Shooting started earlier this month in areas such as Hokkaido and Miyagi. It is said that there are already offers from overseas distributors, and Kobayashi is aiming to have the film premiere in 2010 at international movie festivals, especially Cannes.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove

Utada launches MySpace karaoke contest
Mon, April 27, 2009 (3:09am EDT)



Hikaru Utada's newest album, "This Is The One," will finally see a CD release in the United States on May 12. To promote and celebrate the release, Utada has teamed up with MySpace Karaoke for a special contest.

Using the MySpace Karaoke service, contestants can submit a recording of themselves singing Utada's "Come Back to Me." Utada herself will select the winner, who will get the opportunity (along with three friends) to hang out with Utada to sing karaoke together.

The contest is running from April 26 to May 11. More information is available at the MySpace Karaoke website.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove

Tsuyoshi Abe marries Chinese actress
Mon, April 27, 2009 (3:26am EDT)



Actor Tsuyoshi Abe (27) surprisingly announced on Monday that he is now married. His wife is Chinese actress Shi Ke (29), whom he met during filming of the 2006 movie "Stand In Love." The pair registered their marriage on Sunday at a Tokyo office.

Abe, who is a quarter-Japanese, was originally born in China but moved to Japan at the age of 9. He is still active as a celebrity in China, where he is known by the name Li Zhendong. In Japan, Abe is perhaps best known for playing one member of the group F4 in the hit television drama "Hana Yori Dango."

Shi Ke will reportedly take a break from acting around the summer to come to Japan.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove

Uno Kanda marks 1st anniversary of brand launch

Monday 27th April, 02:00 PM JST

]img]http://www.japantoday.com/images/size/200x/2009/04/kanda.jpg[/img]

TOKYO —

Fashion designer and celebrity Uno Kanda, 34, attended an event at the Takashimaya department store in Nihonbashi on the weekend to celebrate the first anniversary of her brand “UNO稫ANDA.”

Kanda modeled a few new items at the event, including a parasol and gloves for women. “This umbrella cuts out 99.9% of the sun’s rays – making it the first of its kind in the world,” she said.

Kanda’s husband, Takuro Nishimura, a 39-year-old businessman involved in real estate and the pachinko industry, also attended the event. When reporters asked Kanda about a possible sixth wedding ceremony, she turned to him and asked where they would have it next. Nishimura put his hand to his ear and feigned he couldn’t hear her.

Source: www.japantoday.com

whitedove

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

Source: www.japan-zone.com

whitedove

Curtain falls on JVC Jazz Festival New York

Tuesday 28th April, 03:39 AM JST

NEW YORK —

The curtain has fallen on the JVC Jazz Festival New York, and the Big Apple will likely be without a flagship jazz festival until new sponsorship emerges.

A spokesman for the Japanese electronics company said it would not be sponsoring any jazz events in 2009, ending what he called “a productive and successful relationship” dating back to 1984 when JVC first attached its name to the New York festival.

“JVC is proud of its association with the Jazz Festivals, but the marketplace in which JVC competes today has changed dramatically, and so JVC has chosen to take our promotional activities in a different direction, and one that will no longer include jazz event sponsorship,” Terry Shea, a spokesman for the New Jersey-based JVC U.S.A., said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press.

Jazz impresario George Wein, who arranged the original JVC sponsorship deal, called JVC “the best sponsor anybody ever had.”

Instead of a festival, the 83-year-old Wein is producing under his own name three concerts at Carnegie Hall in late June, when the JVC event usually takes place. He chose performers he was confident could fill the costly venue - British singer-pianist Jamie Cullum and Diana Krall.

“I booked artists that I knew I could do on my own without a festival, without a sponsor, and at least not get hurt,” said Wein in a telephone interview from his Manhattan home.

Last year’s two-week JVC Jazz Festival New York featured nearly 40 concerts—including 11 in Carnegie Hall’s two main performance spaces with such artists as Herbie Hancock, Chris Botti and Joao Gilberto—plus nearly 200 additional events at clubs, schools, museums and other venues.

In 2007, Wein sold his company, Festival Productions—whose lineup included the JVC-sponsored festivals in Newport, Rhode Island, and New York—to the Festival Network, which retained Wein in an advisory capacity.

But Festival Network ran into financial trouble. Wein said he had stopped working with the group and earlier this year, Rhode Island’s Department of Environmental Management terminated Festival Network’s contract to present the Newport jazz and folk festivals because of late payments. Wein put up his own money and obtained a license from state and local authorities to produce the two festivals this summer.

Wein said he felt a less pressing need to put on a festival in New York, where in any given week there are dozens of jazz events in clubs and other venues.

“Going back to Newport was a much more personal thing for me because Newport was something I founded in 1954,” said Wein, who launched the country’s first jazz festival in the Rhode Island seaside resort.

New York City still has one June jazz festival, the modestly budgeted avant-garde Vision Festival XIV at an arts center on the Lower East Side, but founder Patricia Nicholson Parker said it would be “kind of foolish to see it as a replacement” for the more mainstream JVC event. In upstate New York, three long-running jazz festivals will take place in June—in Rochester, Syracuse and Saratoga Springs.

Chris Shields, executive chairman of Festival Network, insisted in an e-mail that his company “has every expectation of producing another outstanding NYC Jazz Festival in 2009. Announcements and details will be forthcoming.”

But several jazz industry insiders said they were not aware of any plans for such a festival. Spokespersons for two leading jazz labels, Blue Note and Concord, said they did not know of any of their artists participating in a New York City jazz festival this summer.

“We are having no dialogue with them (Festival Network) about any of our artists for any events that they are producing or affiliated with in any way,” said Jack Randall, vice president of A&R for Boston-based Ted Kurland Associates, a leading booking agency which handles dozens of jazz artists including the Marsalis family, Sonny Rollins and Ornette Coleman.

Wein first launched a major jazz festival in New York in 1972. JVC became the festival’s main sponsor in 1984.

Wein said he has already reserved dates at Carnegie Hall for June 2010 in hopes that he will be able to present a full-fledged festival next summer if he can line up new sponsorship: “I would like to keep the festival alive.”

Source: www.japantoday.com

whitedove

Management for singer and actress Nishikawa Mineko (50) said yesterday that her divorce is finally complete. She met her husband, Murakami Takashi (44), in November 2000 when he was her guide for a travel show on the small island of Okishotou in Shimane Prefecture. The couple married seven months later and split their time between her house in Tokyo and Murakami's family home on the island, where his role as grave keeper for the exiled 12th century emperor Gotoba drew additional media attention. He was elected to the local town council in 2002 and also opened a bar in Tokyo the same year. But after he had an affair with a woman he met at the bar and became verbally abusive towards Nishikawa, she filed for a divorce. Her lawyers initiated divorce arbitration in January 2008 but Murakami failed to show up in court. The lawyers filed again in June, and the following October Murakami admitted to the affair and the court issued the divorce. But there remained the matter of money Nishikawa had put into the building of a luxury house on Okishotou. After negotiation, it was decided that Murakami's parents would pay his half of the outstanding mortgage. The first payment was made at the end of March, finally bringing closure to the divorce. Nishikawa is to give a press conference today. She won a national song contest in 1973 and became an overnight star when her debut single was a big hit the following year. She had a string of hits before switching to acting in 1979. She made the news in 1993 following the publication of a nude photo book, and again in 1998 when her newly built holiday home in Nasu Kogen was destroyed by a typhoon.

Source: www.japan-zone.com

whitedove

NEWS to host "24 Hour Television"
Tue, April 28, 2009 (1:23am EDT)



NTV has announced that its annual charity telethon "24 Hour Television" will have popular boy band NEWS as its main personalities this year. Now in its 32nd year, the telethon has featured Johnny's talents for seven years straight.

This year's telethon will be at Tokyo Big Sight instead of the usual Nippon Budokan. The event, whose theme is "START! ~Ippo wo Fumidasou~," will be held on August 29-30.

Source: www.tokyograph.com