Vocalist Shun (26) is to drop out of popular dance/vocal group Exile. Currently at the peak of their success, the six-member group will continue under the leadership of Hiro (36) but their new album will be their last with the current lineup. "Asia" and a live DVD are due out on March 29, which will officially be Shun's last day with the group. He has already been pursuing his solo career, performing and showing his calligraphy art under his real name Kiyokiba Shunsuke. Exile was formed by Hiro as a five-member group in 1999. After one member quit in 2001, two more were added after an audition, including Shun. Exile have released 21 singles and five albums, with sales totaling over 9 million copies.
• Talento Takada Mariko (35) is pregnant with her second child. The Tokyo University graduate has been married to famous violinist Hakase Taro (38) since March 1999. They had a daughter in July of the same year. Takada announced the pregnancy during her regular morning TV slot on "Sunday Japon" on TBS yesterday.
Sexy singer Koda Kumi (23) is the new face of Diet Coke. The singer, whose look has popularized the phrase "ero-kakkoii" (sexy-cool), will play a dancing flight attendant and show plenty of cleavage as usual in the new TV commercial due to air from April 3. The corresponding ad for regular Coke will feature Yokoyama Ken, singer of the Crazy Ken Band, on location in Hawaii.
• Popular group KAT-TUN have pulled off a feat no artist has ever managed before, with their debut single (Real Face), album (Best of KAT-TUN) and DVD (Real Face Film) all entering the Oricon charts at No.1. It's only the second time that one artist has been top of all three charts (Hamasaki Ayumi did it in 2000). They recently announced and sold out a show at the 55,000-seat Tokyo Dome, also a first for an artist yet to release a song. While these feats are impressive, the Johnny's Jimusho unit are hardly newcomers. Formed in 2001, they have often played live, often performing with other Johnny's groups such as Tokio and V6. Members have appeared in popular TV dramas, such as NTV's 2005 hit "Gokusen". Kamenashi Kazuya teamed up with fellow Johnny's band NEWS member Yamashita Tomohisa last year as the duo Shuji to Akira, releasing three singles, one of which became the year's first million-seller. The name KAT-TUN is made up of the initial letters of its six members, all in their early 20s.
• Singer Mori Masako (47) is to release her first new song in 20 years. The first singer dicovered by "Sutaa Tajou" (A Star is Born) in 1971, she was one of that decade's three most popular idols, along with Yamaguchi Momoe and Sakurada Junko. The legendary Misora Hibari described her as the only one who could fill her shoes. But in 1986 she married enka singer Mori Shinichi (58), with whom she had three children, and retired from performing. She returned to the stage with her husband in 2001, appearing on the NHK "Kohaku Uta Gassen" song spectacular. They performed as a couple for several years, but ended up in divorce in March of last year.
The father of singer Mori Masako (47) lost his long battle with illness just hours after his daughter announced her comeback after 20 years. Morita Tsuneo died of liver failure last night at a Yokohama hospital. He was 75. Mori rushed to his bedside but arrived after he had passed away. She made her comeback announcement to the media on Monday, having waited for her youngest son to finish his junior high school entrance exams but always concerned about her father's failing health. (see yesterday's story for more)
• Popular group SMAP have announced their first new single of the year. "Dear Woman" will be released on April 19 and is an ode to all Japanese women. It will feature on the new TV commercial for Shiseido's "Tsubaki" hair products.
• The latest rankings of the the most popular TV anime, according to Video Research:
Sexy singer Koda Kumi (23) is the new face of Diet Coke. The singer, whose look has popularized the phrase "ero-kakkoii" (sexy-cool), will play a dancing flight attendant and show plenty of cleavage as usual in the new TV commercial due to air from April 3. The corresponding ad for regular Coke will feature Yokoyama Ken, singer of the Crazy Ken Band, on location in Hawaii.
...
Cool. Looks like her popularity is rising. _________________
2005 was a big year for Kumi, and so far 2006 has been astronomical for her....
like she's britney-madonna-christina aguerila, all in one, but only better..for the Japanese. ok, maybe those aren't good examples...but she has a huge sex appeal...and it sells very well...
like she's britney-madonna-christina aguerila, all in one, but only better..for the Japanese. ok, maybe those aren't good examples...but she has a huge sex appeal...and it sells very well...
What the, all those 3 in one.......they aren't trying to make Koda Kumi a bombshell, are they? . _________________
2005 was a big year for Kumi, and so far 2006 has been astronomical for her....
like she's britney-madonna-christina aguerila, all in one, but only better..for the Japanese. ok, maybe those aren't good examples...but she has a huge sex appeal...and it sells very well...
Well she'd better invest her money wisely, 'cause that kinda fame doesn't last very long...
Talent will take her a lot farther than cleavage in the long run.
The "Gorgeous Kano Sisters" offered the first look at their latest photo book yesterday. "Sweet Goddess", which goes on sale April 3, features younger sister Kano Mika (38) in full nude poses for the first time (rumored pre-fame porn video appearances notwithstanding). While the taboo about showing pubic hair was broken back in the early 90s, celebrities still try to squeeze as much publicity as they can from so-called "hair nude" photos. The sisters have probably more female than male fans and their books are marketed as works of art and beauty. The photography was done by elder sister Kyoko (42), and a DVD included with the book shows the sisters in various exotic foreign locations. Rarely-seen third "sister" Harue was also at the PR event.
• Mongolian sumo Yokozuna Asashoryu (25) may feature in an upcoming joint Japan-Mongolia movie production. The biopic about legendary leader Genghis Khan, starring Sorimachi Takashi, is due for release in the spring of 2007. It has a budget of about \3 billion and will use 5,000 Mongolian soldiers and 20,000 civilians as extras. Production director Kadokawa Haruki (64) says he aiming for the movie to be seen by 100 million people worldwide. While on a recent visit to Mongolia, he was presented with a traditional musical instrument by the sumo superstar, who expressed a wish to appear in the movie.
• Korean star Ahn Jae Wook (34), known as the "Asian Knight" was welcomed by 1,000 screaming fans at Narita Airport yesterday. He's in Japan to promote his latest album, "Sounds Like You", and to play his first concert here at NHK Hall in Shibuya, Tokyo on March 31.
Talento Asagi Kuniko (43) held a press conference yesterday to announce her divorce after 12 years of marriage to composer Matsumoto Akihiko (43). She registered their divorce at the local municipal office in person. Asagi said the main reason for the split was lack of communication, which is ironic as she and her ex are renowned for their conversational ability. She also cited their busy schedules that rarely allowed them to spend much time together as a family. Asagi has custody of their only daughter, born just months after their marriage in 1994, while Matsumoto has parental authority. The couple were childhood friends and married after they met again years later. Asagi first went into modeling after dropping out of Gakushuin University, and made her acting debut on NHK in 1987. Over the following decade, she built up her career and popularity as an emcee and variety show guest. Matsumoto is best known as the composer for the "Odoru Dasosasen" movie series.
• Also getting divorced yesterday was actor Hagiwara Kenichi (55), who separated from his second wife of nine years. Hagiwara has had a troubled few years, causing a traffic accident in 2004 and being questioned by authorities for attempted blackmail last year. He and former makeup artist Yuki agreed on a settlement at the Yokohama Family Court on March 30.
• Singer Gackt is to make his TV drama debut in next year's yearlong taiga series on NHK. In "Fuurinkazan" he will play legendary medieval warlord Uesugi Kenshin (1530-78). It will also star stage actor Uchino Masaaki (37) in the lead role of Yamamoto Kansuke and kabuki actor Ichikawa Kamejiro (30)as Uesugi's rival, Takeda Shingen. The title of the series is an expression that translates as "as fast as the wind, as quiet as the forest, as daring as fire, and immovable as the mountain". Despite having the ability to play a variety of musical instruments and speak several languages, the multi-talented Gackt has continued to maintain his quirky image and hide his age, though he has shown in many commercials that he's not afraid to poke fun at himself. He wrote and starred in the 2003 movie "Moon Child", but the former singer for visual rock band Malice Mizer has focused more in the last couple of years on his solo music than on acting. At the end of last year, he took on the image of a medieval knight on horseback for his first concert at Tokyo Dome. In the upcoming taiga series he says he hopes to revive Japan's lost "samurai spirit".
Fashion model Marie (18) is to make her official showbiz debut this month. She will present the new "Oxala!" show on the Space Shower TV channel. The daughter of a Canadian entrepreneur and Japanese mother, she is also the grand-daughter of a late French movie producer and judge at the Cannes Film Festival. Her family have five homes around the world and her father, whose company makes oil for racing cars, has his own private helicopter and cruiser. Her "celeb" status has led the media to dub her a "celedol", a combination of celebrity and idol. A regular in the fashion magazine ViVi, Marie is one of several models to make the shift to the small screen in the last few years.
• Former Yoshimoto comedian Matsumoto Ryusuke died from a brain haemorrhage on April 1 at an Osaka hospital. He was 49. He collapsed at his home on March 22 and had been in a coma since. The former partner of Shimada Shinsuke, who has become one of Japan's most successful TV personalities, Matsumoto's career had been on the skids for many years.
• Rock band SharanQ are to go on the road again after a break of more than five years. They will perform live on a spring special edition of "Hey! Hey! Hey!" on Fuji TV tonight and have announced plans for a national tour starting in Osaka in October. Vocalist Tsunku is the man behind the Hello! Project and its massive success with Morning Musume.
Singer Utada Hikaru (23) is to go on her first national tour in six years. Starting July 1 in Sendai, she will play 22 shows in 11 cities on the Utada United 2006 tour. The undoubtedly sold out venues will seat a total of about 190,000 fans. Hundreds of thousands of others will have to make do with her new album, "Ultra Blue", due out on June 14. Towards the end of her first national tour as a teenager in 2000, Utada suffered health problems and had to cancel one show. She has been busy on many fronts over the last few years - she went to the US to study at Columbia University, had minimal success in the US market using the artist name Utada two years ago, and debuted in Europe last year. She is now a married woman, getting hitched to photographer Kiritani Kazuaki in 2002, and will be bringing a lot of new experiences to the stage this summer.
• Tommy Lee Jones is the latest Hollywood star to take to the Japanese TV commercial market. He appears in the new CM for Suntory's Boss Rainbow Mountain Blend canned coffee. Jones plays an alien on a scouting mission to Earth who visits a gyudon (beef bowl) restaurant and very convincingly has trouble eating with chopsticks. He reports home on the stupidity of people and the beauty of the sunrise.
• Goofy comedian Udo Suzuki (36) of the duo Kyaeen finally has his first romance. The women's weekly magazine Josei Jishin reported that he is living with a sommelier in her 20s who is said to look like the singer BoA. Udo says he has met her parents and that they plan to marry within the year.
Saying that she wants to turn the whole world into one big dancefloor, Madonna (47) announced in New York on Monday that she plans to bring her Confessions Tour to Japan. No venues or dates have been announced, but would probably be Tokyo and Osaka and no earlier than mid-September. While she performed a few songs during a visit to Tokyo last December to promote the album "Confessions on a Dancefloor", she hasn't played an actual concert here for 13 years. The problem is that when announcing both of her previous two world tours, Madonna has mentioned Japan but the shows never actually happened. The reason is thought to be that she demands too much money. Tickets for the upcoming Los Angeles gig have sold out even though they were priced at over \40,000, a lot more than even top artists demand here. Tickets for the recently postponed U2 gig were priced at \10-15,000. Warner Music Japan has said that Monday's announcement, though mentioning Japan, does not make shows here "official".
• It was revealed yesterday that recently divorced talento Sonomama Higashi (48) and actress Kato Kazuko (48) will appear together on an upcoming edition of Fuji TV's "Quiz $Millionaire". They had already agreed to appear on the April 20 show, which was recorded on Monday, before their split in February. Reportedly Higashi - whose decision to return to his hometown and pursue a career in politics led to Kato's filing for divorce - tried to convince his ex that they should get back together but was rebuffed.
• NHK's latest morning drama serial has got off to a very bad start. According to Video Research, the ratings in the Kanto region for the first episode of "Junjou Kirari" only reached 17.7%, better only than last year's "Faito". In the Kansai region, the 14.6% rating is the worst ever for the slot. The pre-WWII story features popular young actress Miyazaki Aoi (20) as the heroine, and the series has a strong cast that includes Miura Tomokazu and Takeshita Keiko as her father and mother.
And with that, you are now caught up. Let's hope BMW feels better soon.
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... and I'm not talking about the one that got banned Korea(?) 
