Japanese Entertainment News

Entertainment news from Japan-zone.com-Your Guide to Japan and Japanese Culture: :D

October 20, 2005

World-famous fashion designer Miyake Issei (67) was among the winners of this year's 17th Praemium Imperiale prizes. The awards are presented each year by the Japan Art Association. The awards ceremony was held at Meiji Kinenkan hall in central Tokyo, with honorary patrons Prince and Princess Hitachi attending. Each of the five winners received \15 million, a diploma and a medal. Miyake won in the sculpture category, as his designs are famous for their use of modern materials and 3-dimensional quality, such as the famous "Pleats Please" brand. The other award recipients included architect Taniguchi Yoshio and pianist Martha Argerich.

• Stevie Wonder is coming to Japan at the end of this month to promote his first new album in ten years. He's also bringing an 11-member band, so there is obviously some serious PR going into the new album, "A Time to Love." Though his music is often used in TV shows and commercials, he will be making his first studio appearance on a TV music show. According to Universal Records, he will arrive at Narita Airport on October 31 and stay in Japan for six days.

bmwracer wrote:Entertainment news from Japan-zone.com-Your Guide to Japan and Japanese Culture: :D

October 20, 2005

World-famous fashion designer Miyake Issei (67) was among the winners of this year's 17th Praemium Imperiale prizes. The awards are presented each year by the Japan Art Association. The awards ceremony was held at Meiji Kinenkan hall in central Tokyo, with honorary patrons Prince and Princess Hitachi attending. Each of the five winners received \15 million, a diploma and a medal. Miyake won in the sculpture category, as his designs are famous for their use of modern materials and 3-dimensional quality, such as the famous "Pleats Please" brand.

I saw some of his pleated fashion on exhibit last winter at the Mori Tower Musueum in Roppongi Hills....quite eccentric and innovative. He's so well known all over the world now he can throw his name on a crusty shoe rag and it'll probably sell for 300 dollars.

bmwracer wrote:œ Congratulations to baseball's Chiba Lotte Marines, who won the Pacific League playoffs and will be in the Japan Series for the first time in 31 years. Managed by the popular Bobby Valentine, the Marines are a fairly low-profile team but have former MLB star Benny Agbayani. In the Japan Series they will be up against the fanatically supported Hanshin Tigers.

GO BENNY!!!!!!!!! :woot: :woot:

bmwracer wrote:Hollywood star Steven Seagal (55) is in town at the moment, promoting not only his latest movie but also a new CD. The actor appeared on the Tokudane wide show this morning, speaking fluent Japanese and doing a pretty good PR job. His latest action film, "Into the Sun" was filmed entirely in Tokyo and Seagal's dialog is almost all in Japanese, and Kansai-ben no less! He is married to a Japanese and has two children working in the entertainment business here as well as his own aikido dojo. But his American roots are there to see in his new CD, a blues album called "Songs From the Crystal Cave." He collaborated on the album with such major names as Stevie Wonder. Asked during the Tokudane show for a comment on Sylvester Stallone's new "Rocky 6" project, Seagal grinned as he said that Sly obviously didn't get much work these days.

As much as I don't care for Seagal, he is right about Stallone.

I like the Rocky series however, that era is long and gone. Rocky 6 is going to be a huge bomb at the box office. :rolleyes:

ahochaude wrote:As much as I don't care for Seagal, he is right about Stallone.

The same can be said for Seagal. :hehe:

bmwracer wrote:
The same can be said for Seagal. :hehe:

that's for sure...but at least as the article implies...seagal can fall back on his akido skills since they're real. he learned all that ish in japan before he joined the CIA for a stint....

Entertainment news from Japan-zone.com-Your Guide to Japan and Japanese Culture: :D

October 21, 2005

Popular model/actress Yamada Yu (21) is paying the price for her new-found fame, \4 million to be exact. That's how much she lost in cash and jewellery when her familiy's home in central Tokyo was burglarized last weekend. Nobody was home on Saturday evening when the security alarm went off, notifying local police. They arrived to find a window broken and \2 million in cash and the same amount in watches and jewellery missing. Yamada's face is everywhere these days but the fact that she still lives at home and that the cash was all in \500 coins suggests that she still has her feet on the ground despite her leap to stardom over the last year.

• Pop duo Chemistry will release a new album on November 16, their first in 21 months. "Fo(u)r" is also their first self-produced studio work. They will play a 5-city tour from next January and ten lucky fans will be invited to meet them backstage at each venue. Member Kawabata Kaname (26) is said to be a big fan of comedy star Laser Ramon Hard Gay, whose catchphrase "Foh-!" may not be the inspiration for the new album title but is likely to be heard on the tour.

• Veteran comedian Miyagi Kenji of the manzai duo W Kenji died at a Tokyo hospital this week of lung cancer. He was 81. His widow Toshiko (58) said he had been in and out of hospital since being diagnosed with terminal cancer last year. "He loved cigarettes and smoked three packs a day. I wasn't able to ask him to quit," she told the press. Together with his late partner Higashi Kenji, Miyagi was a popular comedian in the early 1960s. He continued performing up to November of last year.

bmwracer wrote:Popular model/actress Yamada Yu (21) is paying the price for her new-found fame, \4 million to be exact. ... They
\2 million in cash ... and that the cash was all in \500 coins ...

Yikes, they took 4000 coins? :crazy:

dochira wrote:
Yikes, they took 4000 coins? :crazy:

Hahahaha.... That's just bizarre....
And here I thought Takahashi Ai was the only weirdo idol with a 500yen coin collection.... :shakehead:

mizune wrote:
Hahahaha.... That's just bizarre....
And here I thought Takahashi Ai was the only weirdo idol with a 500yen coin collection.... :shakehead:

what you don't have $40,000 in quarters lying around at the pad? shiet i do....parking meters and laundry are b*tch. :P

Tu_triky wrote:
what you don't have $40,000 in quarters lying around at the pad? shiet i do....parking meters and laundry are b*tch. :P

Can't say I have. I do have $50 in quarters, and even that is a lot for me. :hehe:

dochira wrote:
Can't say I have. I do have $50 in quarters, and even that is a lot for me. :hehe:

funny thing is...my quarters are cardboard cut outs.....strangely they don't buy me much when i go to 7 Eleven.

i have 6 $5 rolls of quarters in my drawer at work (change from lunch), 2 $10 rolls in my car (meter).

who needs change!?

krim wrote:i have 6 $5 rolls of quarters in my drawer at work (change from lunch), 2 $10 rolls in my car (meter).

who needs change!?

i have 3 egg rolls in my glove compartment from the local 99 cent chinese restaurant...who needs to eat? :P

All I have is TP, who needs to :shit: ? :rofl:

Tu_triky wrote:

i have 3 egg rolls in my glove compartment from the local 99 cent chinese restaurant...who needs to eat? :P

ONLY if you have rooster sauce. :hehe: :nut:

dochira wrote:All I have is TP, who needs to :shit: ? :rofl:

pass some under the partition to my avatar please. :hehe:

krim wrote:

ONLY if you have rooster sauce. :hehe: :nut:

i do...i use it to color sand my car when i have to re-finish the exterior after dings and dents...also works as a great engine degreaser. :mwahaha:

Entertainment news from Japan-zone.com-Your Guide to Japan and Japanese Culture: :D

October 22, 2005

The 18th Tokyo International Film Festival kicks off today and runs until October 30. As last year, films will be shown at two main venues in the city: the Bunkamura arts complex in Shibuya and the trendy Roppongi Hills. And this year, the festival has a particularly distinct Asian flavor. The opening film is "Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles," the latest from celebrated Chinese director Zhang Yimou, while "Rikidozan" - a joint Japanese-South Korean biopic of the famous pro wrestler of Korean descent who was Japan's first real TV icon - will be the festival's closing screening. "Riding Alone..." stars veteran Takakura Ken, as a man who goes to China to meet his estranged and dying son. Director Zhang is head of this year's jury, which will have to choose from a selection of 15 films in the competition category. In addition to the above and a selection of Japanese films, there are 12 from Southeast Asia, up from seven last year. Among the high-profile guests this year are Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park, who will hold a discussion event with Japan's animation master Miyazaki Hayao, and Hollywood star Tommy Lee Jones. The Hollywood blockbuster's getting their first exposure in Japan include Terry Gilliam's "The Brothers Grimm," starring Matt Damon and Heath Ledger; "Proof," starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins; Johnny Cash biopic "Walk the Line" with Joaquin Phoenix; and Roman Polanski's version of "Oliver Twist."

bmwracer wrote:Entertainment news from Japan-zone.com-Your Guide to Japan and Japanese Culture: :D

October 22, 2005

The 18th Tokyo International Film Festival kicks off today and runs until October 30. As last year, films will be shown at two main venues in the city: the Bunkamura arts complex in Shibuya and the trendy Roppongi Hills. And this year, the festival has a particularly distinct Asian flavor. The opening film is "Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles," the latest from celebrated Chinese director Zhang Yimou, while "Rikidozan" - a joint Japanese-South Korean biopic of the famous pro wrestler of Korean descent who was Japan's first real TV icon - will be the festival's closing screening. "Riding Alone..." stars veteran Takakura Ken, as a man who goes to China to meet his estranged and dying son. Director Zhang is head of this year's jury, which will have to choose from a selection of 15 films in the competition category. In addition to the above and a selection of Japanese films, there are 12 from Southeast Asia, up from seven last year. Among the high-profile guests this year are Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park, who will hold a discussion event with Japan's animation master Miyazaki Hayao, and Hollywood star Tommy Lee Jones. The Hollywood blockbuster's getting their first exposure in Japan include Terry Gilliam's "The Brothers Grimm," starring Matt Damon and Heath Ledger; "Proof," starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins; Johnny Cash biopic "Walk the Line" with Joaquin Phoenix; and Roman Polanski's version of "Oliver Twist."

can't believe they didn't mentioned the hugely anticipated Haru no Yuki starring Satoshi Tsumabuki and Yuko Takeuchi! this adapation of the Yukio Mishima is sure to be a big draw given the importance of Mishima to modern Japanese literature, only bolstered by two of the biggest names in Japanese entertainment acting in the film.

the movie is playing tomorrow October 22nd at the TIFF

Tu_triky wrote:


i do...i use it to color sand my car when i have to re-finish the exterior after dings and dents...also works as a great engine degreaser. :mwahaha:

That Vietnamese brand spicy sauce with the Rooster on the bottle?

That ish is good!