Japanese Entertainment News & Info HERE! [part II]

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"Hana Kimi" manga returns for a one-shot
Wed, June 25, 2008 (12:43am EDT)



Fans of Hisaya Nakajo's manga "Hanazakari no Kimitachi e" are getting a special treat next month. Publisher Hakusensha has revealed that a special one-shot comic will appear in the July 5 issue of Hana to Yume. It will apparently focus on the meeting of Izumi Sano and Shuichi Nakatsu.

The manga series was originally serialized from 1996 to 2004, lasting for a total of 23 volumes. It was adapted as a popular drama series last summer, and Fuji TV will air a special episode later this year.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Actress Itaya gives birth
Wed, June 25, 2008 (12:55am EDT)



33-year-old actress Yuka Itaya became a mother on Sunday morning. Her agency informed the media on Tuesday that she gave birth to a son, though the child's name was not divulged.

Itaya has been married to stylist Hirohiko Furuta since February 2007. She is expected to return later this year to her post as a newscaster on NTV's "NEWS ZERO."

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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MISIA to launch Asia tour
Wed, June 25, 2008 (1:08am EDT)



Singer MISIA, who celebrated the 10th anniversary of her debut in February, has announced that she will embark on her first concert tour throughout Asia. The tour will start in Taipei on August 30 and end in Hong Kong in early October, stopping along the way in Singapore, Shanghai, and Seoul. It is estimated that a total of 70,000 fans will attend the five shows.

MISIA performed for the first time overseas when she held a concert in Taipei last September. She had become popular there due to the success of Fuji TV's drama series "Yamato Nadeshiko," which used her "Everything" as its theme song.

The singer's new CD+DVD package "DECIMO X ANIVERSARIO DE MISIA" has just gone on sale in Japan.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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"Dosei Mansion" manga being adapted to film
Thu, June 26, 2008 (12:21am EDT)



According to the newest issue of Shogakukan's Ikki magazine, the sci-fi manga series "Dosei Mansion" by Hisae Iwaoka is getting a live-action movie adaptation.

Also known as "Saturn Apartments," the story is set in a future where the Earth's former inhabitants now live in an orbital ring around the planet, and society has stratified into three classes. The protagonist is a young lower-class boy who takes over his father's job of washing the windows of the ring.

The manga has been serialized in Ikki since 2005. Three tankoubons have been released so far.

No details about the movie have been announced yet.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Misono gets new opportunity with U.S. film
Wed, June 25, 2008 (1:50am EDT)



Singer misono, also known for being the younger sister of Kumi Koda, will be appearing in the U.S.-Japan movie "The Harimaya Bridge." The film was first publicized in May as being Saki Takaoka's entry into international cinema, with Aaron Woolfolk directing and Danny Glover producing and acting in it.

For misono, the movie may give her career a new breath of life. After debuting with the group day after tomorrow in 2002, she was unable to establish herself as a successful solo artist, to the point that she was almost fired from her label. However, she has managed to rebuild herself as a TV personality over the past year.

Fortunately, misono was able to pass the audition for "The Harimaya Bridge" even though her only major acting experience before this was the 2006 movie "Obachan Chips," which starred Eiichiro Funakoshi. In "The Harimaya Bridge," she is said to be cast as a key character that helps open the heart of the protagonist, played by Bennet Guillory.

The movie is scheduled for release in 2009, and is expected to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.

misono is releasing her second solo album, titled "Say," on July 16.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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KAT-TUN's Ueda to hold solo concert
Thu, June 26, 2008 (12:05am EDT)



Following up on the recent news that Yuichi Nakamaru will be the first KAT-TUN member to do a solo stage show, it has now been announced that Tatsuya Ueda will be the first to hold a solo concert. The show will take place in September at the specially constructed Johnnys Theater in Aomi, Tokyo. That venue is also being used for the major Johnny's Jimusho show "SUMMARY" in August.

Ueda is currently scheduled to perform a total of 13 songs across various genres, such as rock, dance, ballad, and folk. He wrote and composed the songs himself. In addition, Ueda will be in charge of directing and producing the 90-minute show.

Ueda said that he will also demonstrate what he has gained from his hobby of boxing. For roughly the past three years, he has been going to the gym almost daily, developing a well-trained physique.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Home Made Kazoku raps for "Naruto"
Thu, June 26, 2008 (12:35am EDT)



Hip-hop group HOME MADE Kazoku is releasing a new single on July 23 titled "NO RAIN NO RAINBOW." The song has been chosen as the theme music for the upcoming anime film "Naruto Shippuden: Kizuna."

The second in the "Naruto Shippuden" series, the movie opens on 252 screens nationwide on August 2nd.

HOME MADE Kazoku's single will be released with two B-sides, "Frontier" and "I Wish." The first-edition DVD includes a "Naruto" trailer and live footage of "NO RAIN NO RAINBOW" and "Manatsu No Dance Call."

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Aqua Timez song to be used in Aragaki's next movie
Thu, June 26, 2008 (1:00am EDT)



Kensaku Watanabe's movie "Fure Fure Shojo" will have its theme song provided by the hit band Aqua Timez. The song is a ballad titled "Natsu no Kakera."



"Fure Fure Shojo" was announced back in March, with Yui Aragaki starring as a high schooler who takes on the burden of leading an ouendan to cheer on the boy she loves.

The single is set to go on sale on October 1 and the movie will open later that month, but a ringtone for the song is already available. Trailers for the film begin running in theaters this weekend.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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HALCALI planning world tour with new album?
Thu, June 26, 2008 (1:53am EDT)



A recent article on Barks covered HALCALI's recent performances in Paris on June 20-21, reporting that they played in front of two full houses, and that fans had lined up since about 5 o'clock in the morning to get seats. With about 600 people trying to get into the 300-person venue, video monitors were set up to accommodate more of the crowd. There was also a long line after the show as many of the fans purchased the duo's CDs.

According to the article, HALCALI is working on their next album, which is planned to go on sale by the end of the year in Japan, the U.S., and Europe. After the album's release, the group is said to be working on putting together an overseas tour.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Sky PerfecTV to run Oguri marathon
Thu, June 26, 2008 (11:20am EDT)



Popular actor Shun Oguri will get even more attention next month, when satellite channel Sky PerfecTV! runs a month-long "festival" featuring 25 of his works. The channel plans to broadcast not only movies, such as his recent "Crows ZERO," but also television dramas from as far back as 1999.

Oguri remarked that viewers will have a chance to see his progress over nearly a 10-year-span.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Chiharu Matsuyama suddenly hospitalized, rest of tour canceled
Thu, June 26, 2008 (11:14am EDT)



Singer Chiharu Matsuyama, 52, had to undergo emergency hospitalization on Wednesday morning. He was in the middle of a national tour that started last month, and the remaining 7 shows have now been canceled.

Matsuyama was scheduled to perform in the Mie prefecture on Friday. After attending an event on Tuesday in Fukuoka, he traveled to Mie late at night to prepare for the concert. Not long after he arrived, he collapsed in pain and was rushed to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with unstable angina. Doctors successfully performed an emergency angioplasty, but Matsuyama has to cut his tour short in order to properly recover.

The tour was scheduled to end on July 11 in Hokkaido.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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[J-ENT] Rehearsals begin for Morning Musume 揅inderella

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b]Oricon: ideal teacher from a classroom drama
Fri, June 27, 2008 (2:51am EDT)



Oricon recently conducted a couple of drama-related surveys. One of them asked a thousand men and women to name their ideal teacher from a school drama. Not too surprisingly, Yukie Nakama's character of Yankumi in "Gokusen" was the most popular.

Kinpachi Sakamoto of the long-running "3 Nen B Gumi Kinpachi Sensei" (played by Tetsuya Takeda) ranked 2nd. He was followed by Eikichi Onizuka of "GTO" (Takashi Sorimachi), Koichi Kawato of "ROOKIES" (Ryuta Sato), and Kenji Sakuragi in "Dragon Zakura" (Hiroshi Abe).

Yutaka Mizutani was #6 for his role as Kodai Kitano in the '70s series "Necchu Jidai." One of his namesakes, actor Yutaka Takenouchi, ranked right behind him as Masaya Yoshimori in "Yankee Bokou ni Kaeru."

Maya Akutsu, played by Yuki Amami in "The Queen's Classroom," was #8. Gansuke Hiraizumi from "Minikui Ahiru no Ko" (Goro Ki#ani) came in at #9, and Sentaro Sakuragi of "Gakko no Sensei" (Tsuyoshi Domoto) completed the list at #10.

Ideal teacher from a classroom drama:

1) Yankumi (Yukie Nakama) - Gokusen
2) Kinpachi Sakamoto (Tetsuya Takeda) - 3 Nen B Gumi Kinpachi Sensei
3) Eikichi Onizuka (Takashi Sorimachi) - GTO
4) Koichi Kawato (Ryuta Sato) - ROOKIES
5) Kenji Sakuragi (Hiroshi Abe) - Dragonzakura
6) Yutaka Mizutani (Kodai Kitano) - Necchu Jidai
7) Masaya Yoshimuri (Yutaka Takenouchi) - Yankee Bokou ni Kaeru
8) Maya Akutsu (Yuki Amami) - Queen's Classroom
9) Gansuke Hiraizumi (Goro Ki$hitani) - Minikui Ahiru no Ko
10) Sentaro Sakuragi (Tsuyoshi Dohmoto) - Gakkou no Sensei

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Ken Watanabe taking a turn at directing
Fri, June 27, 2008 (2:32am EDT)



Veteran actor Ken Watanabe is taking on the role of movie director. In an interview with Sports Nippon, he said he is currently working on the script, though the plot details and even the genre are still being kept secret. He commented that he has various acting gigs for the rest of this year, so he won't be able to devote himself to directing until 2009.

While working on the 2006 movie "Letters From Iwo Jima" (directed by Clint Eastwood), Watanabe had mentioned that he had become interested in directing. That year, he also gained experience behind the scenes as the executive producer for "Memories of Tomorrow," which he starred in.

While fans await more details of his directorial debut, some information has been released about his role in Mikael Hafstrom's next movie, "Shanghai." Watanabe just returned from shooting some scenes in London, though filming will continue in various locations at least until August, when the last scene is shot in Thailand.

The movie is set before the attack on Pearl Harbor and stars John Cusack as an American who returns to a Japanese-occupied Shanghai. He discovers that his friend has been killed, and in the course of investigating the death, he uncovers a government conspiracy. It has now been revealed that Watanabe's character is a mysterious spy for the Japanese navy, said to be a villain in the story.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Comedian Sanma to host Fuji's 27-hour variety TV program
Friday 27th June, 10:43 AM JST



TOKYO

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Leah Dizon hands out ice cream, new CD to fans
Friday 27th June, 05:45 AM JST



TOKYO

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Popular cartoon 'Cobra' to be revived as TV animated feature
Thursday 26th June, 05:17 AM JST



TOKYO

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Singers Miyuki Nakajima, Seiko Matsuda appear in TV ad
Thursday 26th June, 05:04 AM JST



TOKYO

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KDDI to offer handset featuring Southern All Stars
Wednesday 25th June, 04:22 AM JST



TOKYO

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Actress Kaori Yamaguchi reveals she's married
Fri, June 27, 2008 (10:59am EDT)



33-year-old television actress Kaori Yamaguchi publicly announced on her blog on Thursday that she is married. Although she did not reveal how long she has been married, she did mention that her husband is someone who works in TV show production.

Yamaguchi generally plays minor roles in dramas, often appearing as a guest or in a single episode only.

Source: www.tokyograph.com