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Japanese Entertainment News & Info HERE! [part IV]
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Post Last Edit by whitedove at 11-5-2010 16:29
Yosuke Eguchi, Yu Aoi make cakes in "Coin de Rue"
Sat, May 8, 2010 (12:55pm EDT)
Yosuke Eguchi (42) and Yu Aoi (24) will co-star in a new movie by director Yoshihiro Fukagawa ("60-sai no Love Letter," "Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora"). Both of them will play pastry chefs in the film, which is titled "Yogashiten Coin de Rue."
Eguchi plays Tomura, a man who was once known as the "legendary patissier" before he suddenly stopped making his famous cakes and became a lecturer and critic. Aoi, on the other hand, plays a young woman named Natsume who moves from Kagoshima to Tokyo to chase after her boyfriend. Natsume begins working at a shop called "Coin de Rue," where Tomura is a regular, and their encounter leads them both to personal growth.
It is said that Aoi's lines are entirely in Kagoshima-ben, which she has been earnestly practicing. She and Eguchi also had to train a lot for their baking scenes.
Supporting cast members include Noriko Eguchi, Hiroyuki Onoue, Sumie Sasaki, and Keiko Toda. Filming already took place last fall, and the movie is scheduled for theatrical release in early 2011.
Source: www.tokyograph.com |
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Shotgun wedding for Punkbooboo's Sato
Sun, May 9, 2010 (7:01am EDT)
Comedian Tetsuo Sato (34) of the duo Punkbooboo has been married since last month, it was recently learned. Sato announced through his agency that he registered his marriage on April 3 to a 27-year-old woman, who is now pregnant.
This past February, Sato stated that he had been in a long-distance relationship with a woman he was dating for nine years, but they broke up last year.
Source: www.tokyograph.com |
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First movie and musical on Teresa Teng's life
Sun, May 9, 2010 (11:54am EDT)
On Saturday, it was announced in Taiwan that the life of singer Teresa Teng is being turned into a movie and a musical for the first time. So far, her life has only been dramatized for television.
Teresa's brother Frank announced the projects at an event commemorating the 15th anniversary of her death. Teng died in 1995 at the age of 42 while on vacation in Thailand.
Movie adaptation offers had come in from multiple countries in Asia, but approval was finally given to a Chinese production company. The film will apparently focus on Teng's singing in support of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Although the majority of the film will take place in China, some of it will also be set in Japan. The movie reportedly has a total budget of 1 billion yen.
Meanwhile, a musical is being produced by a famous Taiwanese composer. It is planned to have an extended run at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre starting this December, with performances in Taiwan expected to follow.
Source: www.tokyograph.com |
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Haruka Ayase returns in "Hotaru no Hikari"
Sun, May 9, 2010 (7:21pm EDT)
The popular 2007 drama series "Hotaru no Hikari" is returning for a second season, it was learned on Sunday. Haruka Ayase (25) will once again play the starring role.
Originally based on a shojo manga by Satoru Hiura, the first series told the story of a young office lady named Hotaru, who has no interest in romance and instead prefers spending her time lazily at home. However, her life changes when circumstances lead her to live under the same roof as her boss. Although the first series focused on Hotaru's reawakening to love, "Hotaru no Hikari 2" will be more about her path towards possible marriage.
Naohito Fujiki (37) will also return for the new series. NTV plans to broadcast the show on Wednesdays at 10:00pm, starting in July.
Source: www.tokyograph.com |
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Kengo Kora joins Maki Horikita in "Byakuyakou"
Sun, May 9, 2010 (4:05am EDT)
Up-and-coming actor Kengo Kora (22) has been given the male lead in the "Byakuyakou" movie, which was recently revealed to star Maki Horikita (21). It has also been announced that the movie is being directed by Yoshihiro Fukagawa.
Based on the Keigo Higashino novel of the same name, "Byakuyakou" revolves around Yukiho (Horikita) and Ryoji (Kora), a young couple who, as children, each end up murdering their single parents. Having grown up to become young adults, they are forced to keep their secret hidden, especially with one of the detectives (Eiichiro Funakoshi) from the original murders still keeping his eye on the case. Willing to go to any extreme to protect Yukiho, including committing rape and murder, Ryoji delves deeper and deeper into darkness.
Filming already started late last month. Theatrical release has been set for early spring 2011.
Source: www.tokyograph.com |
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SMAP Announce National Concert Tour in Summer
SMAP will start their national concert tour "We are SMAP! Tour 2010" at five venues and 19 performances from July 31st. It has been 2 years since their last tour. It is estimated that the live at Tokyo Dome on September 15th, 10.24 million audiences will be reached since their first concert at Nippon Budokan on the New Year's Day of 1991, which makes them the only group mobilize more than 10 million audience and sets a new record in Johnny's history. A ceremony is scheduled on the "Over 10 million" day.
The title of the tour, "We are SMAP!", is to "show the piece of the world and the universe", and will be shouted by fans at the end of the show with the well-known charity song "We are the World". "We will do our best, follow us!" said Kusanagi, showing his full determination to accomplish a monumental landmark.
And the new album with the same title will be released in July, under the help of a variety of famous musicians. People can enjoy their new songs in the coming tour.
Source: http://www.musicjapanplus.jp/new ... id=4583&start=1 |
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The Brilliant Green Guitarist Quits
May 11, 2010
Guitarist Matsui Ryo (38, photo left) has quit the rock band The Brilliant Green. He made the sudden announcement yesterday on the group's official website, saying only that the decision was for "personal reasons." He addressed fans, saying, "I'm proud to have been a member of The Brilliant Green. I hope you will continue to support them." The band only recently moved to the Warner Music Japan label and got back to business for the first time in two years. They released the single "Like Yesterday" in February.
Made up of Matsui, vocalist Kawase Tomoko (35, photo center), and bassist Okuda Shunsaku (38, photo right), The Brilliant Green was formed in 1995. They made their major label debut with the all-English "Bye Bye Mr. Mug" in 1997. The following year they had a breakthrough hit with "There will be love there," which was also the theme for the TBS drama series "Love Again." But between 2001 and 2007, Kawase worked more on her solo career as Tommy February6, and Matsui had a stint with his own band, Meister.
Source: www.japan-zone.com |
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The New Faces of DoCoMo
DoCoMo campaign 2010Actor Watanabe Ken (50) is one of the new faces of NTT's DoCoMo mobile phone network. He teams up with young actor Okada Masaki (20) for a new TV commercial that airs from today, while actress Horikita Maki (21) and singer Kimura Kaela (25) pair up in a CM from next Tuesday. The four appeared at a PR even in Tokyo on Monday to announce the "Hitorito, Hitotsu" campaign. Asked what a mobile phone means to him, the Hollywood-based Watanabe said, "Due to my work, I'm often overseas or far away from my family. So for me it's an important tool, a lifeline."
Source: www.japan-zone.com |
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Japanese broadcasters pin hopes on online radio
TOKYO —
Once a highly popular entertainment medium, especially among Japanese youth, radio is battling to remain relevant as stations lose more and more listeners.
According to the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association, shipments of radios slid from 2.89 million units in 1998 to an estimated 1.87 million units over the course of 10 years.
To turn around the situation, 13 private radio broadcasters from the greater Tokyo metropolitan area and the Kansai region centering on Osaka got together and began streaming their programming over the Internet on a trial basis.
Public reaction to the new service, Radiko, has been exceedingly positive. The website, radiko.jp, got more than 1 million hits on the day of its launch on March 15.
Nippon Cultural Broadcasting Inc, one of the Tokyo broadcasters, whose service can be accessed on the site, says some 40% of people who commented on the online broadcasts within the first three days were not regular radio listeners.
“Radio will win back the recognition it deserves only if we provide an environment where people have no trouble listening to it,” said Yoshitaka Miyazawa, a senior official with the Association of IP Simulcast Radio, which operates Radiko.
High-rises springing up in urban areas have been one of the reasons why people have forsaken radio, as the tall buildings are blocking radio waves from reaching listeners.
Radiko offers the programming of seven firms based in the greater Tokyo area and six in Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo and Nara prefectures and webcasts it simultaneously with the same programs going out over the airwaves.
The full-fledged service is due to commence in August after the end of the trial and the association is considering widening the service area.
Icons representing each broadcaster are displayed at the bottom of the website’s home page. By clicking on them, listeners can get stereo sound quality, even when the programs are broadcast monaurally on the radio.
Popular disc jockey Piston Nishizawa, one of the hosts of the music and variety show “AllNightNippon Gold,” aired by Nippon Broadcasting System Inc, is upbeat about the promise of the online radio.
“Radiko has the potential to do even better if it interfaces with other online media such as Twitter and blogs,” he said. “This could help create new ways to enjoy entertainment.”
There are still some technical challenges, however.
“Radiko broadcasts have an average time delay of about 10 seconds, so they may not be adequate in meeting emergency needs when it comes to issuing earthquake and other disaster alerts,” said an executive with one of the broadcast firms.
The broadcasters association is also in the dark about the legal aspects of the new service, considering that separate contracts may be required in addition to existing ones that allow music to be played over conventional radio, for example.
“This is a new enterprise, for which regulations have yet to be set,” Miyazawa said.
Meanwhile, some broadcasters are bracing for stiffer competition because Web site users can easily zap through channels.
Other firms are also catching on to the new broadcast trend.
Community Simul Radio Alliance, a grouping of 36 community-based FM radio stations across Japan, already runs a Web site similar to Radiko.
In March, application software became available letting Apple Inc’s iPhone users tap simultaneous radio broadcasts.
Source: www.japantoday.com |
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SMAP to begin nationwide tour July 31
Tuesday 11th May, 03:13 AM JST
TOKYO —
Popular all-male J-pop group SMAP will begin an all-Japan tour on July 31. The upcoming tour will be their first national string of performances since 2008 and will mark their 20th national tour overall.
The tour will begin in Hokkaido at Sapporo Dome, with the final performance scheduled for Tokyo Dome on Sept 19. SMAP will perform 19 times at five major venues throughout Japan.
According to recording studio Victor the tour is expected to draw more than 1 million fans. If so, this will set a record.
SMAP appears regularly on several television shows weekly, and individual members appear in everything from commercials and billboard ads, to movies and solo projects. |
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Kazuki Kato leads "Kamisama Help!"
Mon, May 10, 2010 (10:38am EDT)
Kazuki Kato (25) will take on a new starring movie role in the comedy "Kamisama Help!," directed by Shota Sasaki. This will effectively be his first film lead. He had originally starred in Eiji Uchida's "Dakara Oretachi wa, Asa wo Matteita" that was scheduled for release this past February, but the movie was canned after co-actor Manabu Oshio (32) was arrested for drugs last year.
"Kamisama Help!" takes place at a closed school where a mass murder occurred 25 years earlier. Kato plays both a teacher and a "horror planner." He will also sing the film's theme song, a cover of the 1985 hit "Kamisama Help!" by the band The Checkers.
Kato's supporting cast has not yet been announced. The film is scheduled for release on August 7.
Source: www.tokyograph.com |
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Yuko Takeuchi plays detective in "Strawberry Night"
Mon, May 10, 2010 (10:54am EDT)
Actress Yuko Takuechi (30) will take on her first role as a police detective in a Fuji TV drama special later this year, titled "Strawberry Night."
"Strawberry Night" is an adaptation of Tetsuya Honda's bestselling mystery of the same name. The book, published in 2006, has sold 600,000 copies so far.
Takeuchi plays the protagonist, Reiko Himekawa, a young detective who has quickly risen through the ranks to become a member of the first investigative division. While trying to solve a mysterious murder, she comes across the keyword "Strawberry Night," and she must decipher its meaning in order to crack the case.
Takeuchi's supporting cast includes Tetsuya Takeda (61) and Hidetoshi Nishijima (39). Fuji TV plans to air the drama this fall, though the exact broadcast date is still undecided.
Source: www.tokyograph.com |
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Hayami, Shida to co-star in live-action "Hammer Session!"
Mon, May 10, 2010 (11:24am EDT)
Namoshiro Tanahashi's manga series "Hammer Session!" is being turned into a live-action drama, starring Mocomichi Hayami (25) and Mirai Shida (17). TBS will air the series next season.
The popular comic was originally serialized from 2006 to 2009. In the drama version, Hayami plays a genius swindler who escapes from a prison transport vehicle and assumes a new identity as a high school teacher. He conducts his classes in an extreme style known as "hammer session," forcing his students to become stronger.
Shida plays one of the students. Although she was celebrating her birthday at the show's press event on Monday, her fellow cast members surprised her by throwing her into the swimming pool.
The rest of the cast includes Jingi Irie (17), Manami Higa (23), Kaoru Sugita (45), Naomasa Musaka (56), and Fumiyo Kohinata (56). The series will premiere this July in TBS's Saturday 7:56pm time slot.
Source: www.tokyograph.com |
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SMAP's Takuya Kimura Enters Anime World in 1st 3D Ad
posted on 2010-05-11 05:00 EDT
"KimuTaku" becomes Tea King of animated land in Asahi's TV, theatrical ads
Not-So-Daily Link of Day: Asahi Soft Drinks has announced on Monday that 37-year-old SMAP band member Takuya Kimura (Howl's Moving Castle's Howl) is stepping into an anime world in two commercials for the new TeaO drink brand this week. One of the commercials is "KimuTaku's" first 3D commercial.
The 30-second "Cup Dance" commercial premiered on Japanese airwaves on Tuesday morning. In the commercial, Kimura becomes Tea-O, the king of black tea and dances with the animated characters of the Land of Black Tea (Kocha no Kuni).
Another commercial, "Episode Zero," will premiere in Japanese theaters in stereoscopic 3D on Saturday. It is slated to run for only two weeks. As in "Cup Dance," the 3D commercial features Tea-O and the animated characters of the Land of Black Tea.
Kimura is starring in a new live-action television series called Tsuki no Koibito (Moon Lovers), which premiered on Monday night. This December, he will headline a live-action film adaptation of the space opera anime classic, Space Battleship Yamato (adapted as Star Blazers in English).
The selling point of the Tea-O black tea drink is "zero sweeteners, zero calories." There are two new flavors that are launching on Tuesday: TeaO Golden Straight Tea and TeaO Golden Milk Tea.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/ ... -world-in-1st-3d-ad |
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Shane Acker thrives on self-destruction, grenades and the end of the world
By Sarah Cortina
TOKYO —
In “The Astounding Talent of Mr. Grenade” (2003), an anthropomorphic grenade performing a vaudeville juggling act accidentally pulls out its own pin, literally going out with a “bang.” In “The Hangnail” (1999), a man taunts a stray dog while gorging on corn chips. When he notices a hangnail on his finger, he tries to remove it, but rips off half his skin in the process—at which point the hungry dog exacts its bloody revenge.
A mind capable of creating such bizarre animated films must have a profound interest in… “Self-destruction?” suggests Shane Acker, 39, whose first feature-length movie, “9,” opened in Japan last weekend.
“9” is set in a post-apocalyptic world where humans have died out due to an unspecified global disaster. The only remaining life forms are sentient rag dolls called Stitchpunks and the gruesome robot-like machines that hunt them down. The film begins when one of the dolls, known only as 9, awakens in the barren landscape with no idea of who or where he is. He eventually discovers others of his kind, and they band together to uncover their origins and defeat the monsters.
The first version of “9” was actually an animated short that Acker made while a student at UCLA’s School of the Arts. Though it had just a 10-minute running time and no dialogue, it was enough to catch the eye of director Tim Burton, who approached Acker about turning it into a full-length feature. Burton and fellow devotee of the bizarre Timur Bekmambetov (director of “Night Watch” and producer of the forthcoming “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”) signed on to produce, with Acker taking the helm as director.
The project proved to be an enormous challenge, he says during a visit to Tokyo. “I’d never done anything long-form… I’d never worked with live actors before, I’d never really worked with a team larger than eight or 10 people.” Essentially, he admits, he had to “learn how to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.”
Acker, a native of Illinois, has always been interested in illustration and cartooning, but started out as an architecture major. He took his first animation class to fulfill an elective requirement and “something just clicked… At the end of the day, [architecture] is a service profession. As much as you might like to think you’re an artist, you’re really working in the service of somebody else.” Animation, on the other hand, allowed him the opportunity to pursue his artistic vision.
Or so he thought. Acker admits that one of the hardest things about directing a feature film was learning to negotiate the political and business side of the industry. But a piece of advice from Burton helped him to reassess his situation.
“He told me it’s not always about finding the exact right project; it’s about finding a project in which you feel like you can start to inject these things that you are interested in, and sort of push from the inside out.”
There’s no denying that Acker’s vision is fully present in “9,” especially when it comes to the absence of human characters. In fact, flesh-and-blood people seldom appear from Acker’s work, which leads us to ask — what’s the deal?
“I just hate humans,” Acker deadpans.
Really? “No. What I love about animation is it’s inherently unreal. That’s the definition of animation—how do you bring the inanimate to life? How do you infuse it with a soul in some way? You’re not seeing a human, you’re seeing something completely ‘other,’ and if you can start to see the humanity in that, then I feel like I’ve done my job.”
Despite his love of animation, Acker is open to directing live-action films someday, though he says he would still want to do something bizarre and fantastical. For now, he’s getting back to the nuts and bolts of animation with another short film, as well as developing a second animated feature that he describes as a “Dark Crystal meets Secret of Nimh, kind of Lord of the Rings thing.”
He’s also going back to school. While “9” received generally positive reviews after its release in the U.S. last September, the director is realistic about the limitations of his training.
“I’m starting to learn how to screen-write, and all these things that I didn’t really focus on a lot in animation school. So I’m trying to build up my skill set, now that I’m a director.”
All three of Shane Acker’s short films can be viewed on his website, www.shaneacker.com. The original “9” is playing at Brillia Short Shorts Theater until June 11. See www.brillia-sst.jp for details.
Source: www.japantoday.com |
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Ken Watanabe cheers on Samurai Blue
Tuesday 11th May, 11:39 AM JST
TOKYO —
Actor Ken Watanabe, 50, gave a supporting cheer for the Samurai Blue national World Cup team at a press conference for NTT Docomo this week. “Make it into the Top 4, aim to win. Take onto the field with you courage and resolution, and remember that your country is depending on you,” the actor said.
Docomo’s new campaign commercial features Watanabe and singer-songwriter Kaela Kimura, 25, as two Docomo mobile phones, along with Masaki Okada, 20, and Maki Horikita, 21, in human roles. Watanabe joked, “I’d like to continue making more commercials from here on out, so if I could just trade numbers with Kaela.”
Source: www.japantoday.com |
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'Golden girl' Norika Fujiwara touts benefits of kiwifruit
Wednesday 12th May, 03:00 AM JST
TOKYO —
Actress Norika Fujiwara, 38, has been chosen as the “2010 Zespri Kiwifruit Image Character.” Clad in a green and yellow kiwifruit-color costume, Fujiwara attended the campaign launch at Harajuku this week. “Kiwifruit is very healthy and enhances the beauty of women,” she said.
In the commercial, Fujiwara holds two green and gold types of kiwifruit, jumps on trampolines and goes into the water. The commercials were filmed in New Zealand where Fujiwara said she enjoyed picking the fruit herself.
“I always want to be a golden girl,” she said. “Even when I get older, I don’t want to lose my curiosity to take on new challenges in my work and personal life.”
Naturally, reporters asked her about her love life. “Of course, I’d like to always be in love. Women in love have a special glow,” she said.
Source: www.tokyograph.com |
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Takuya Kimura’s latest drama is on top of the ratings!
May 10, 2010 by J!-ENT
Takuya Kimura has been the drama king in Japan for 15 years and although Japanese drama ratings are nowhere near their high 20-30% mark, Kimura has scored the top rating for his Fuji TV drama “Tsuki no Koibito MOON LOVERS” which also stars Lin Chiling and Ryoko Shinohara.
The drama scored a 22.4% rating in the Kanto area and 20.2% in the Kansai area. Meanwhile, Hiroshi Abe’s
“Shinzanmono” (newcomer) comes in second with a 21.0% rating.
Source: www.nt2099.com/J-ENT |
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Yutaka Sado to conduct Berlin Philharmonic next year
Thursday 13th May, 04:03 AM JST
BERLIN —
Yutaka Sado will conduct a concert by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in May next year in the German capital, the orchestra said Wednesday. The 48-year-old Kyoto native will be the first Japanese to conduct the renowned orchestra since Seiji Ozawa several years ago.
The Berlin Philharmonic made the announcement in revealing its concert schedule for the next performing year starting in September.
Source: www.japantoday.com |
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Post time 11-5-2010 04:27 PM
变色卡
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![[Disney+ 2024] BLOOD FREE/DOMINANT SPECIES - Ju Ji Hoon, Han Hyo Joo, Lee Hee Joon, Lee Mu Saeng](https://uf.cari.com.my/forumx/mforum/block/19/19d21a65bfffd47b8261100ca1c0fb1b.jpg)
