Anime Dad wrote:

So, it's true? He gave up being PM to pursue a career as an Elvis impersonator in Las Vegas?

Anime Dad wrote:

And Shindou, what's with all the thread archaeology? You must have been very bored!

chotto - just finding things to do between writing up this report - hate writing reports
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kook05 wrote:

was just wondering if the guy in the show, Koizumi Koutaro is the son of Japanese Prime Minister, Koizumi Junichiro....

Yes he is/was. But he didn't brag about it.

Kotaro Koizumi used to lie about himself on group dates

Actor Koizumi Kotaro attended the production press conference for his upcoming TBS drama "Petero no Souretsu ("The Funeral Procession of Peter")" - July 7, 8:00pm, thereafter Mondays 7:00pm.

Speaking about the theme of "lies" with regards to the drama, Koizumi admitted that he used to lie about himself, "When I was in my late teens to early 20s, I didn't want people to know about my father (Koizumi Junichiro, former Prime Minister of Japan), so I would go on group dates and say that 'I am not related to Koizumi Junichiro'" in order to enjoy his time more."

Actresses Hasegawa Kyoko and Kuninaka Ryoko and more will also join the cast.

Source: Sanspo

Kotaro Koizumi to be lead in new WOWOW drama

Koizumi Kotaro will be playing the lead role in new WOWOW drama "Shi no Zoki" which will be shown from 12 July in the Sundays 10pm timeslot and consists of 5 episodes. The drama which is based on the novel by Asano Ryo, features Koizumi as Numazaki Kyota, a director working in a TV programme production company who happens to discover a woman's corpse in a forest at Fuji. It is later found through the autopsy that the woman froze to death and one of her kidneys was extracted. At the same time, it is found that a couple sent to the Kyuai Kinen Hospital for treatment of their injuries had engaged in the trading of organs thus leading the hospital's director Ota Isamu (Ogi Shigemitsu) to report this to the police. As a result, Hino Seiichiro (Takeda Tetsuya), the surgeon who performed the organ transplant operation is summoned by the police for questioning. After hearing about Hino's case, Numazaki starts investigating if the body found in Fuji had anything to do with it. Co-stars also include Toyohara Kosuke and Konishi Manami.

Koizumi who is 36 years old this year, expressed his wish to have this drama become a turning point in his acting career. He commented that as the theme of this drama is rather heavy, there may be no clear answers as to who is right or wrong so he hopes that viewers can keep watching till the end in order to find out for themselves.

Source: Eiga.com

Kotaro Koizumi to star in NHK drama

Koizumi Kotaro will be starring in his first leading role in a NHK drama when he appears in the upcoming "Juken no Cinderella" starting from 10 July in the Sundays 10pm timeslot. His co-star Kawaguchi Haruna is also making her first appearance in a NHK drama.

Koizumi plays Igarashi, a charismatic private tutor who used to be No.1 in Japan but lost his job. He is diagnosed with a terminal illness and said to have just one year left to live. Igarashi meets a senior high school girl Maki (Kawaguchi) who is struggling to make ends meet by taking on multiple part-time jobs and comes to him for help in her supplementary exam so that she can graduate from high school successfully. Igarashi who has lost his passion for teaching, decides then to prove everyone wrong by promising to turn Maki's grades around to the extent that she can qualify for University of Tokyo.

Co-stars include Tomita Yasuko who plays Maki's mother Chieko who can't seem to express her love for her daughter, Yamaguchi Sayaka, Yamada Yuki, Matsuo Satoru, Kawahara Kazuma, Endo Nina, Harada Kana, Kojima Kazuya and Hakamada Yoshihiko.

Sources: Yomiuri Hochi / Oricon

Kotaro Koizumi to play Yuki Amami's rival in "Chef - Mitsuboshi no Kyuushoku"

Koizumi Kotaro will be playing the rival of Amami Yuki in the upcoming FujiTV Autumn 2016 drama "Chef ~ Mitsuboshi no Kyuushoku ~" which begins its run from October in the Thursdays 10pm timeslot. He plays the character named Shinoda Shogo who is the owner of a famous French restaurant in Ginza, has a MBA and is known for his shrewd business ways which prioritise profits over everything. Shinoda dislikes how his chef Hoshino Mitsuko (Amami) at his restaurant La Cuisine de La reine, ignores his orders and keeps making dishes without a care for the bottomline and fires her from his restaurant. Due to Shinoda's obstruction tactics, Hoshino finds it difficult to find her next job and is approached to take part in a variety programme by Yaguchi Saki (Tomochika) where she has to cook meals for primary school students. At first, she thought that school meals are a breeze to cook but upon suffering bad reviews from the children, she resolves to cook these meals well and suffers setbacks in the process.

Koizumi who used to play a lot of good guy roles in the past, took on the first baddie role in TBS Autumn 2015's "Shitamachi Rocket" for the first time in his then 14-year career as an actor. This time, he will play another cool business owner who sees the lead character as an enemy. Koizumi and Amami last worked together in the FujiTV April 2012 drama "Kaeru no Oujosama" but this is the first time that they are playing rivals. Koizumi hopes to be able to show the sparks between their characters and is preparing for his role by talking to friends who are both chefs and owners of their restaurants so as to see how he can portray Shinoda's struggles and hard work in keeping the business afloat.

Co-stars include Endo Kenichi who plays Araki Heisuke, the nutritionist at Mitsuba Primary School who is serious and stubborn thus he has a lot of clashes with Hoshino. This will be his third time working with Amami after the 2009 drama "Fumou Chitai" and drama SP "Watashi to iu na no hensoukyoku". Kawaguchi Haruna will play the role of Takayama Haruko who is the assistant cook at Mitsuba while Arakawa Yoshiyoshi plays Komatsu Minoru who regards Hoshino as a rival. Okudera Kenji, the sous chef who is able to replicate Hoshino's dishes, will be played by Toyohara Kosuke.

Sources: Yomiuri Hochi / Oricon