Japanese Entertainment News

bmwracer wrote:Popular actor Fujiki Naoto (33) got married to a 28-year old OL (office worker) on Tuesday, according to his official website. The announcement was made yesterday only to memebrs of his fan club. Fujiki, who has been having some success recently as a singer, met A-san when they were both attending Waseda University, so the relationship has been a well-kept secret for many years. She is said to work in the fashion industry. Fujiki made his movie debut in 1997's "Hana Yori Dango" while still a student, but became a star with the Fuji TV comedy series "Naasu no Shigoto." he made his singing debut in 1999 and has since released 12 singles and 5 albums. He got his first emcee job this year as host of the NTV show "Oshare-ism."

wow......sutaa no koi......omedetou Nao-san.......

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

January 4, 2006

Talento Henmi Emiri (29) and Yoshimoto comedian Kimura Yuichi (42) are expected to announce an engagement soon. Spokespeople for the two officially acknowledged their relationship yesterday, but said the stars themselves would not be speaking to the media just yet. Henmi, the daughter of singer Henmi Mari and her first husband, actor Saigo Teruhiko, has been the subject of romantic rumors many times. Her mother went through her second divorce just last November. Kimura has been a solo comedian since his partner was arrested in 1990, but is best known as part of the Downtown entourage. For many years, he has been the "brain" behind Matsumoto Hitoshi, considered one of Japan's top comic talents.

• Matsudaira Ken (52) and Yuriko (37), his second wife of three months, headed off for their honeymoon in Las Vegas yesterday. Spotted by reporters at Narita Airport, it was their first public appearance together since their marriage on October 11. The "Matsuken Samba" boom seems to have lost its steam, but his marriage to the former actress has put him back in the spotlight. He said the couple have no plans for a wedding ceremony.

• Comedian Ishii Masanori (32) and his former comedian wife Kamemura Kana (26) have divorced. Ishii, one half of the manzai duo Ari to Kirigirsu, revealed the split on a TV variety show on New Year's Day. Kamemura was formerly a member of the comedy duo Versus. Ishii has recently been a regular on the local Disney Channel.

• NHK's Kohaku Uta Gassen song spectacular on New Year's Eve managed to stop the rot in its audience ratings. The numbers didn't reach the 50% that emcee Mino Monta was aiming for, but at 42.9% was up almost 4 points from last year's record low and stopped a 4-year slide. But the numbers are still low for what was once a national institution that had almost every household in the country tuning in.

But the numbers are still low for what was once a national institution that had almost every household in the country tuning in.

Well, it was kind of boring as hell. They need more accidental on air boobage.

kitakaze wrote:

But the numbers are still low for what was once a national institution that had almost every household in the country tuning in.

Well, it was kind of boring as hell. They need more accidental on air boobage.

I'm guessing Janet Jackson's invitation was lost in the mail. ;)

dochira wrote:I'm guessing Janet Jackson's invitation was lost in the mail. ;)

She's not needed: there's more than enough gravure idols to take her place...

bmwracer wrote:
She's not needed: there's more than enough gravure idols to take her place...

If they ever have a "Super Bowl Moment" like Janet....I would be so all over that video like vinegar on sushi rice. :dancing: :hehe:

dochira wrote:
If they ever have a "Super Bowl Moment" like Janet....I would be so all over that video like vinegar on sushi rice. :dancing: :hehe:

and then they'd shave their heads and go to the temple to make atonement publicly.

dochira wrote:
If they ever have a "Super Bowl Moment" like Janet....I would be so all over that video like vinegar on sushi rice. :dancing: :hehe:

umm... yeah, in the back of the video store, there's a set of red velvet curtains, go ahead and go back there... plenty of "super bowl moments" and such there. :nut: :hehe:

Tu_triky wrote:
and then they'd shave their heads and go to the temple to make atonement publicly.

Just as long as the rest of them is left, I could use the zoom feature on the media players.

dochira wrote:
Just as long as the rest of them is left, I could use the zoom feature on the media players.

my what nice round...bald...domes...you have.

krim wrote:
umm... yeah, in the back of the video store, there's a set of red velvet curtains, go ahead and go back there... plenty of "super bowl moments" and such there. :nut: :hehe:

Super Bowl, World Series, World Cup... moments, huh? :naughty:

dochira wrote:
Super Bowl, World Series, World Cup... moments, huh? :naughty:

exactly! :hehe:

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

January 5, 2006

More stats on the recent Kohaku Uta Gassen (Red-White Song Battle) on NHK. The New Year's Eve song spectacular features red and white teams, those being the lucky new Year colors. The white team were this year's winners, and a particularly out of tune SMAP rendition of their latest single "Triangle" pulled in the night's highest rating of 48.6%. But the red team act that got the highest audience rating, and got the audience's pulse racing, was sexy songstress Koda Kumi (23), who managed 47.2%. Probably because she promised to go bra-less, something that would have been unheard of before NHK started pulling out the stops to reverse the show's - and the network's - dramatic slide in popularity. Koda is called "ero kakkoii," which translates as "erotic cool." And that pretty acurately sums up her often semi-naked, hip grinding style that mimics US female R&B and hip hop acts. Her nearest rival for the red team's ratings crown was "sexy" rival Gorie, actually comedian Gori in drag, with 47%.

• Meanwhile, Kohaku emcee Mino Monta is said to be recovering well following surgery just days after the show. He was admitted to hospital on New Year's Day and underwent almost two hours of surgery on his back yesterday morning. Though he started out in radio, Mino's emcee style is to always stand. And doing so for several decades has taken its toll on his back, especially as he has eight regular shows and does several hours of live TV every weekday. He plans to be back on TV screens from January 16.

• The Hakone Ekiden, a 2-day relay road race featuring teams of university students, had an audience rating of 28.3%, the 3rd highest to date. The annual event, held for the 82nd time and broadcast on NTV, covers a distance of over 100km between central Tokyo and the onsen resort of Hakone and back again. The overall title was won this year by Asia University for the first time.

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

January 6, 2006

Two shameless attention seekers announced their recording debuts yesterday. Comedian Razor Ramon HG (30), whose Hard Gay character made probably the biggest splash in the variety circuit last year, said he'll be releasing his first single on February 8. Not too surprisingly, it'll be a cover of Saijo Hideki's "Young Man", itself a cover of the Village People hit "YMCA". He also unveiled his latest catchphrase, "Wasshoi!" Somewhat less appealing is the idea of Horie Takafumi (33), CEO of IT company Livedoor, and his new band. Horiemon likes to use the expression "souteigai" (thinking outside the box) and so has provisionally used that as the name of the band. They are said to be working on a mini-album of 80s-style pop due for release in March. Unfazed by the failure of his attempts to buy a baseball franchise and a major TV network and get elected to the Diet, Horie has become a regular on the variety circuit and seems willing to do anything for publicity.

• Ichiro (32) proved an able villian but was no match for Furuhata Ninzaburo. The Seattle Mariners superstar made his acting debut Wednesday, playing himself in the second segment of a 3-night special that pitted three major names against the popular detective, played by Tamura Masakazu (62). The show got a very impressive 27% audience rating in the Kanto area. Other stars in the special included Fujiwara Tatsuya and Matsushima Nanako. Tamura has said he'll be retiring from the role.

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

January 6, 2006

• Ichiro (32) proved an able villian but was no match for Furuhata Ninzaburo. The Seattle Mariners superstar made his acting debut Wednesday, playing himself in the second segment of a 3-night special that pitted three major names against the popular detective, played by Tamura Masakazu (62). The show got a very impressive 27% audience rating in the Kanto area. Other stars in the special included Fujiwara Tatsuya and Matsushima Nanako. Tamura has said he'll be retiring from the role.

]

I love Tamura Masakazu as Furuhata Ninzaburo!! LOL :bonk: :mrgreen:

bmwracer wrote:
But the red team act that got the highest audience rating, and got the audience's pulse racing, was sexy songstress Koda Kumi (23), who managed 47.2%. Probably because she promised to go bra-less...

Crap, I'll need to go back to the tape to see this...

bmwracer wrote:
Tamura has said he'll be retiring from the role.

That's sad to hear. I enjoyed watching the Furuhata series.

Dang, didn't even see her part of the show. :grumble:

I'm amazed all you boys missed that! My brother enjoyed watching that part of the show a lot! :hehe:

Awwwww, no more Furuhata Ninzaburo? I enjoyed watching Tamura Masakazu in that role! :(

Rinrin wrote:I'm amazed all you boys missed that! My brother enjoyed watching that part of the show a lot! :hehe:

Awwwww, no more Furuhata Ninzaburo? I enjoyed watching Tamura Masakazu in that role! :(

Ok she boost the rating but Red team lost.. :beaten: I do like her version of Cutie Honey hehehee.. :hehe:

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

January 9, 2006

Today is the Seijin no Hi (Coming of Age Day) national holiday. Congratulations to all you 20-year-olds who are adults as of this year.

• "Rinne" is the latest Japanese horror movie to be selected for a Hollywood makeover. Director Shimizu Takashi (33) is considered a hot property in Tinseltown after the success of "The Grudge" - his adaptation of his won film "Juon", and over 20 movie companies were said to be chasing him for the rights to the US version. Shimizu, star Yuka (25) and other cast and crew were in central Tokyo for the opening of Rinne on Saturday night. The title refers to the Buddhist endless cycle of rebirth, and the US version of the movie is likely to be titled "Rebirth".

• Actor and playwright Noda Hideki (50) has re-married, this time to an actress half his age. He sent a fax to the media on Saturday announcing that he and Fujita Yoko (25) had registered their marriage on December 12. They only met for the first time last spring. Noda married actress Takeshita Akiko, a member of his Yume no Yuminsha theater troupe, in 1986 but they split the following year. He was also romantically involved with award-winning actress Ohtake Shinobu, with whom he lived for five years. Fujita has appeared in several movies and can currently be seen in the Vodafone TV commercials.