Entertainment news from Japan-zone.com-Your Guide to Japan and Japanese Culture:
April 27, 2006
Now this is one showbiz couple that's caught everyone by surprise. According to the latest issue of the weekly magazine Friday, actress Koizumi Kyoko (40) is involved in a secret love affair with Kamenashi Kazuya (20) of the boy band Kat-Tun, who was photographed visiting her Tokyo apartment in her car. The magazine says he now spends about half of every week at her home. The pair have not worked together, and are said to have met through the owner of a bar in the capital. Johnny's Jimusho, which represents Kamenashi, as well as just about every other young male pop star in Japan, has denied that the pair's relationship is romantic. They added that Koizumi is a "dai sempai" (lit. respected superior) who has been offering fashion and other advice. Koizumi was one of the top idol singers of the 1980s, when she gained the nickname Kyon-Kyon, and is now an established actress. She was married for several years to actor Nagase Masatoshi (39), but they divorced in 2004. Kamenashi is one of the most promising among the young crop of Johnny's stars. Kat-Tun recently topped all the charts with their debut single, album and DVD, while Kamenashi last year teamed up with fellow Johnny's member Yamashita Tomohisa as the duo Shuji to Akira, releasing one of the year's best-selling singles. He also appeared in last year's hugely popular NTV drama series "Gokusen".
• Talento Enamoto Kanako (25) is pregnant with her second child, a year after she and retired baseball star Sasaki Kazuhiro (38) had their first. She is expecting the baby in mid-July. Sasaki divorced his wife, a former talento, a year ago and almost immediately married the already pregnant Enamoto.
April 27, 2006
Now this is one showbiz couple that's caught everyone by surprise. According to the latest issue of the weekly magazine Friday, actress Koizumi Kyoko (40) is involved in a secret love affair with Kamenashi Kazuya (20) of the boy band Kat-Tun, who was photographed visiting her Tokyo apartment in her car. The magazine says he now spends about half of every week at her home. The pair have not worked together, and are said to have met through the owner of a bar in the capital. Johnny's Jimusho, which represents Kamenashi, as well as just about every other young male pop star in Japan, has denied that the pair's relationship is romantic. They added that Koizumi is a "dai sempai" (lit. respected superior) who has been offering fashion and other advice. Koizumi was one of the top idol singers of the 1980s, when she gained the nickname Kyon-Kyon, and is now an established actress. She was married for several years to actor Nagase Masatoshi (39), but they divorced in 2004. Kamenashi is one of the most promising among the young crop of Johnny's stars. Kat-Tun recently topped all the charts with their debut single, album and DVD, while Kamenashi last year teamed up with fellow Johnny's member Yamashita Tomohisa as the duo Shuji to Akira, releasing one of the year's best-selling singles. He also appeared in last year's hugely popular NTV drama series "Gokusen".
• Talento Enamoto Kanako (25) is pregnant with her second child, a year after she and retired baseball star Sasaki Kazuhiro (38) had their first. She is expecting the baby in mid-July. Sasaki divorced his wife, a former talento, a year ago and almost immediately married the already pregnant Enamoto.