Japanese Entertainment News

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November 11, 2005

The Watanabe productions talent agency held a huge party yesterday to celebrate its 50th anniversary. "NabePro" as it's known has produced some of the biggest stars of the postwar era, including the comedy/musical legends Crazy Cats and Drifters and singer Matsutoya Yumi (photo). A total of 2,500 people attended the party, with dozens of stars on stage at any given time.

• Big things are expected from singer-songwriter Ayaka. The 17-year old high school student's singing ability has pundits comparing with Utada Hikaru and Mariah Carey, no less. She made an appearance at an event to showcase new Warner Music artists at the Tokyo International Forum and gave a preview of her debut single, "I Believe." The single, not due for release till next February, is to be the theme song for the highly anticipated TBS drama series "Rinbukyoku." The series will pair hugely popular South Korean star Choi Ji Woo (30) and local heart throb Takenouchi Yutaka (34).

• Popular singer Uehara Takako (21) and Johnny's Jimusho star Akanishi Jin (21) were spotted on a date recently. The two were recently photographed in a romantic clinch outside a Chinese restaurant by the weekly gossip magazine Friday. But according to a Johnny's spokesperson, they have since broken up. Uehara became a teenage star as a member of the idol pop group Speed, while Akanishi is one of the six young singers who make up Kat-Tun.

• Takahashi Hiro, former vocalist of the 80s band Tulip died at a Tokyo hospital on November 4 of multiple organ failure, it was reported yesterday. He was 41.

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

November 14, 2005

Singer and music producer Tsunku (37) has suggested that he might start a male version of the hugely succesful Morning Musume. Speaking at an event in his hometown of Higashi Osaka, he hinted that the group would only be open to good-looking and talented guys from the local area. The event was actually to promote a new image song for the city written by Tsunku, and the idea for a new boy idol group may or may not have been an ad lib. We'll have to wait and see.

• Hollywood superstars Brad Pitt (41) and Angeline Jolie (30) will be in town at the end of the month. They'll be here to promote the movie that brought them together romantically in real life, "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," which opens here on December 3. No doubt the world's media will be in tow, watching for more signs of impending marriage between the two. As it will be their first official public appearance together since the finalization of Pitt's divorce from Jennifer Aniston, some are even hoping that the trip will be used to make the big announcement.

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

November 14, 2005

Singer and music producer Tsunku (37) has suggested that he might start a male version of the hugely succesful Morning Musume. Speaking at an event in his hometown of Higashi Osaka, he hinted that the group would only be open to good-looking and talented guys from the local area. The event was actually to promote a new image song for the city written by Tsunku, and the idea for a new boy idol group may or may not have been an ad lib. We'll have to wait and see.

Yikes. :crazy: What about Johnny's? Isn't that considered as the male version? He is trying to snatch Kitagawa's business lol. :beaten:

sashimi wrote:
Yikes. :crazy: What about Johnny's? Isn't that considered as the male version? He is trying to snatch Kitagawa's business lol. :beaten:

He could call the group Evening Musuko. :rolleyes: :rofl:

dochira wrote:He could call the group Evening Musuko. :rolleyes: :rofl:

Or Morning Musume-Fangirl Edition. :hehe:

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

November 15, 2005

The latest weekly TV ratings for the Kanto area, Oct. 31 - Nov. 6 (provided by Video Research):

1. Sazae-san (animation, Fuji TV) - 21.5%
2. Drama Complex, Hotaru no Haka (drama, NTV) - 21.2%
3. Shoten (rakugo comedy, NTV) - 20.7%
4. SMAP x SMAP (variety, Fuji TV) - 20.7%
5. Friday Drama, Hana Yori Dango (drama, TBS) - 20.5%

Sazae-san and Shoten are both long-running family favorites. Drama Complex is a new concept in what for 24 years was the Tuesday Suspense Theater time slot. The new 2-hour show plans to feature a wide variety of types of drama, comedy and action. The first feature starred Matsushima Nanako in an adaptation of the novel "Hotaru no Haka" (Grave of the Fireflies), which was earlier an anime hit for Miyazaki Hayao's Studio Ghibli. The Drama Complex theme music was written by guitarist Hotei Tomoyasu, his first composition for a TV show. Smap members continue to enjoy healthy ratings for most of the shows they are involved in, though only SMAP x SMAP, which features all five of them, made the Top 30.

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

November 16, 2005

Actress Yonekura Ryoko (30) is in shock after the death of her father. Yonekura Yasumi died yesterday at a Yokohama hospital of lung cancer. He was 57. Yonekura said in a fax statement from her agency Oscar Productions, "I still can't believe it and don't know what to think. My father understood me better than anyone and always supported me as an actress. I just don't have the words to thank him."

• Former sumo star turned TV talento Mainoumi Shuhei (37) is to make an apearance in the Hollywood movie "Memoirs of a Geisha" (titled "Sayuri" in Japan). During his 8-year career, the diminuitive wrestler made up for his lack of height by developing an astonishing range of fighting techniques. His bouts with the man-mountain Konishiki were always a highlight of any sumo tournament. He retired from the sport in 1999. He has since appeared regularly on Tv as a sumo and sports commentator and in occasional dramatic roles. The new movie will have its world premiere on November 29 at the Ryogoku Kokugikan stadium in Tokyo where sumo tournaments are held three times a year.

• Toshiba EMI is to release 14 songs penned by the late John Lennon as ringtones. It is the first time in the world for the music of a former Beatle to be used due to complicated copyright issues. Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono (72), says she thinks her husband would have approved. "John always loved new technology. I think this will open new doors for many people to find his music." The first two songs to be released will be "Imagine" and "So This is Christmas."

• British funk band Jamiroquai are in Japan for their 7th tour, the first in three years. They opened the tour last night at the Nippon Budokan, where they played a 17-song set, including old hits and tracks from their latest album "Dynamite," for 8,000 fans. They play another gig there tonight before moving to Osaka for two more shows.

dochira wrote:
He could call the group Evening Musuko. :rolleyes: :rofl:

he could call it "wack ass bitches"

bmwracer wrote:Actress Yonekura Ryoko (30) is in shock after the death of her father. Yonekura Yasumi died yesterday at a Yokohama hospital of lung cancer. He was 57. Yonekura said in a fax statement from her agency Oscar Productions, "I still can't believe it and don't know what to think. My father understood me better than anyone and always supported me as an actress. I just don't have the words to thank him."

Just saw this on the Japanese news here. Condolences to Yonekura Ryoko. Hope she is doing okay and is able to get through this.

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

November 18, 2005

Mino Monta (61) has been named as one of the emcee's for this year's Kohaku Uta Gassen. The song spectacle has been an institution on NHK every New Year's Eve for generations but has seen declining viewer ratings in recent years. The network obviously hopes the man known as "Mister TV" and the King of the Ratings will help reverse the trend. He currently has a total of eight regular weekly shows, three of them live. For Kohaku, he will be accompanied by NHK announcer Yamane Motoyo (57), who is very popular with middle-aged men.

• TV Asahi announcer Takeuchi Emi (28) is seriously involved with a company president, according to the latest issue of weekly magazine Friday. She managed to duck out of a press conference for an upcoming variety show as soon as her romance with Nojiri Yoshitaka (33), president of wedding organizer Take and Give - Needs, was mentioned by a reporter. In 2001, Nojiri became the youngest ever president to take his company onto the Nasdaq Japan stock market.

Rinrin wrote:Just saw this on the Japanese news here. Condolences to Yonekura Ryoko. Hope she is doing okay and is able to get through this.

Very unfortunate. Her father was pretty young... Makes you wonder if he was a smoker or something. :sweat:

bmwracer wrote:
November 16, 2005

Actress Yonekura Ryoko (30) is in shock after the death of her father. Yonekura Yasumi died yesterday at a Yokohama hospital of lung cancer. He was 57. Yonekura said in a fax statement from her agency Oscar Productions, "I still can't believe it and don't know what to think. My father understood me better than anyone and always supported me as an actress. I just don't have the words to thank him."

Oh my God, I'm really sorry, poor Ryoko !!!!! :puppydog:
My condolences to her and I hope she'll get through this !!!!!

bmwracer wrote:Actress Yonekura Ryoko (30) is in shock after the death of her father. Yonekura Yasumi died yesterday at a Yokohama hospital of lung cancer. He was 57. Yonekura said in a fax statement from her agency Oscar Productions, "I still can't believe it and don't know what to think. My father understood me better than anyone and always supported me as an actress. I just don't have the words to thank him."

Heard about that. I also heard that she'll be taking a break from work.

ahochaude wrote:Heard about that. I also heard that she'll be taking a break from work.

That's understandable.

Do you know for how long? She's supposed to be in a new drama at the beginning of the year... Wonder how her father's death will affect the taping/filming schedule of the drama, if at all.

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

November 21, 2005

Singer Shinohara Tomoe (26) seems to be making something of a comeback. She made a big impact back in the mid-90s with her bubbly personality and outlandish fashion sense, and her single "Ultra Relax" was a big hit in 1997. She disappeared from the music scene over the last few years as she concentrated on theater work, but has been popping up on variety shows again lately. In October she released her first single in five years. This week she's in Paris for a month-long event to promote Japanese pop culture. It was also announced that she will be back in the City of Light next June to take part in a major music festival.

• Meanwhile, the "anime USA" festival was held in Washington DC over the weekend. Pop trio m.o.v.e. were on hand to provide a live rendition of "Dogfight," the theme song to the anime series "Initial D." The 3-day event attracted about 3,500 fans of anime and manga.

• And coming in the opposite direction, it was announced that Bon Jovi will be touring Japan for the 13th time next April. They'll play 6 stadium shows, bringing their total here to 35, a new record for a foreign band. They currently share the record with the Rolling Stones with 29.

bmwracer wrote:
That's understandable.

Do you know for how long? She's supposed to be in a new drama at the beginning of the year... Wonder how her father's death will affect the taping/filming schedule of the drama, if at all.

From my understanding, I think her break is TBD. I could be wrong though....

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

November 22, 2005

Actor Watanabe Ken (46) has been named to a list of the world's sexiest men. He was included in the "International Men of Sexiness" in the latest edition of the weekly People Magazine. Other notable names include British actor Clive Owen, Aussie country-rocker Keith Urban, CNN's Anderson Cooper and Swiss tennis star Roger Federer. Watanabe is commended for his humility, discipline, simplicity and adaptability. Topping the poll as the "Sexiest Man Alive" was actor Matthew McConaughey.

• The celebs turned out for the opening of a new restaurant in central Tokyo yesterday. Cotton Club, a recreation of the famous New York night spot of the 1920s, officially opens for business in the new Marunouchi Tokia building tonight. But people like Kano Mika (38), musician and Morning Musume producer Tsunku (37), and Rakuten CEO Mikitani Hiroshi (40) got a sneak preview of the venue's food and live jazz.

• Actor Nakamura Shigeyuki (38) revealed on his website yesterday that he has been divorced since last month. He made his debut as a member of the Johnny's Jimusho idol group Eagles in 1983 and has been a second-tier actor since the group broke up in 1985. He married former actress Shirase Megumi in 2000.

• The latest Harry Potter movie opened on over 800 screens here last Saturday and pulled in \367 million at the box office on its first day.

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

November 23, 2005

Today is the Kinro Kansha no Hi (Labor Thanksgiving Day) national holiday.

With their latest chart topper, Kinki Kids have now had more No.1 albums than any other male idol act. With their 9th album going straight to No.1, they surpassed their Johnny's Jimusho stablemates SMAP and V6 on eight. "H Album-Hand" has sold almost quarter of a million copies in its first week. Meanwhile, member Domoto Koichi (photo, 26) is going to be taking his job even more seriously. As one half of the hugely popular duo - the other half being Domoto Tsuyoshi (no relation) - he has been an idol for over a decade. But Koichi has always been the more serious of the two and now he is being rewarded with a new level of responsibility. From 2007 he will take over the running of an annual stage show at Tokyo's Imperial Theater which, for the seven years up to the 2006 production, has been run by his boss Johnny Kitagawa. Koichi will be responsible for the production, casting, music and creation of the show. "Endless Shock," the 2006 show, will be put on in February and March of next year. Tickets are already extremely hard to come by.

bmwracer wrote:
...With their 9th album going straight to No.1, they surpassed their Johnny's Jimusho stablemates SMAP and V6 on eight. "H Album-Hand" has sold almost quarter of a million copies in its first week. ...

Did you know they name their albums after the letters of the alphabet? It's like Sesame Street in their section at the music store. :hehe:

dochira wrote:Did you know they name their albums after the letters of the alphabet? It's like Sesame Street in their section at the music store. :hehe:

Wonder what happens when the reach the end of the alphabet... Will lthey breakup/retire?