Japanese Entertainment News & Info HERE! [part II]

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Hip hop unit Kick The Can Crew made their first appearance in four years at the weekend's Rock in Japan Festival. During the solo performance by member Kreva (32), he was joined on stage by Little (32) and MCU (35) and the trio performed a couple of their hits.

Source: www.japan-zone.com

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Yoshimoto Kogyo to open new comedy theater in Osaka
Monday 04th August, 05:01 AM JST

OSAKA

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Jero publishes photo essay book
Monday 04th August, 10:17 AM JST



TOKYO

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Former boxer Takeshi Yamato arrested for attempted murder
Mon, August 4, 2008 (1:20am EDT)



Takeshi Yamato, an actor and former boxing middleweight champion, has been arrested. Yamato, 42, is charged with attempted murder after assaulting a male restaurant owner with a knife.

Police say the incident occurred in the Meguro ward of Tokyo on Saturday night. Yamato was at a sushi restaurant with a woman, and the pair began arguing. When Yamato was reprimanded by the store owner, 41, he became angered and thrust at the man with one of the restaurant's knives. He proceeded to headbutt and punch the man, resulting in injuries that will take an estimated 10 days to heal.

The police rushed to the scene after being tipped off and arrested Yamato, who was apparently drunk at the time. The actor may face additional charges when the case is brought to court.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Director Haruhiko Mimura dies at 71
Mon, August 4, 2008 (1:21am EDT)

Movie director Haruhiko Mimura passed away on Saturday night in a Kanagawa hospital, apparently due to a closed artery. He was 71.

As a director, Mimura's best-known films were "Amagigoe" (1983) and "Setouchi Shonen Yakyudan: Seishunhen Saigo no Rakuen" (1987). He also was a screenwriter for film and television.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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"20th Century Boys" gets its Kanna
Mon, August 4, 2008 (1:16am EDT)



Director Yukihiko Tsutsumi's "20th Century Boys" movie trilogy has officially revealed its heroine. Toho announced on Sunday that the role of Kanna, the niece of the protagonist Kenji (Toshiaki Karasawa), will be played by 23-year-old actress Airi Taira, who was selected by audition from a pool of around 3,000 hopefuls.

Although Kanna's part in the first movie is minor, she plays a critical role in bridging the first two films and in the rest of the trilogy.

The first installment opens on August 30, and the second is lined up for January 31, 2009.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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[J-ENT] Upcoming Music Station Special dedicated to the Southern All Stars



Japan Times reported, 揕ast month, the Southern All Stars, one of the country抯 most successful and enduring pop-rock groups, announced that it would be going on indefinite hiatus at the end of this year, which happens to mark the band抯 30th anniversary in Japanese show business.

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Hello! Project artists finish concert tour
Tuesday 05th August, 05:39 AM JST



TOKYO

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Kemuri's Fumio Ito starts solo project
Tue, August 5, 2008 (1:20am EDT)



Vocalist Fumio Ito has announced that he is starting a solo project. Ito is better known as a former member of the ska-punk band Kemuri, which broke up at the end of last year.

Ito is currently working on an album, but it will feature more than just him. He has decided to take open applications from musicians who would like to participate on the album. According to Ito, anyone can apply, with the only requirement being that the artist has a "positive mental attitude." The submission deadline is September 30, though no date has been announced yet for the album's release.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Sex Machineguns member runs away
Tue, August 5, 2008 (1:38am EDT)



Metal band SEX MACHINEGUNS has just lost a guitarist. Iberico Moja Malmsteen, also called MOJAMARU, suddenly left the band last week.

According to the announcement posted Saturday on the group's official site, MOJAMARU left due to family reasons. After passing the audition to join the band last October, he came to Tokyo to pursue his dream of someday performing at the Nippon Budokan. But to do so, he had left his wife and child back in Okinawa, and the situation with his family has apparently become problematic, though no specific details were mentioned.

The remaining three members said they will still proceed with their scheduled performances.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Jyukai vocalist to release first solo single
Tue, August 5, 2008 (2:02am EDT)



Manami, the vocalist of pop band Jyukai, is officially starting solo activities under the name of Aimmy (derived from a variation on the reading of her name). She plans to release her first single, currently untitled, at the end of September.

The single will include the song "Kaze no Kioku ~to the end of the world~," which she sang as the ending theme to the "World Destruction" anime series that started last month.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Tetsuya Watari takes on first surgeon role in cancer drama
Tue, August 5, 2008 (2:25am EDT)



Veteran actor Tetsuya Watari has been cast as a doctor for the first time in his 43-year career. He will star in TV Asahi's "Kokuchi Sezu," a drama special expected to air sometime this year. Hideaki Takizawa and Atsuko Takahata will co-star.



Watari plays a surgeon who constantly deals with cancer patients. His personal philosophy is to openly inform those patients of their illness and to fight with them until the end, but he finds himself wavering when the patient is his own wife (Takahata). Takizawa plays the couple's son.

Watari himself is familiar with facing cancer. When he was diagnosed with rectal cancer in 1991, he publicly announced it, and fortunately he underwent a successful operation.

Director Kiyoshi Sasabe started filming for the drama last month, and it is expected to wrap up before September.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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Morisanchu's Murakami, Shuchishin's Nokubo to play newlyweds
Tue, August 5, 2008 (2:53am EDT)



Tomoko Murakami of the comedy trio Morisanchu and Naoki Nokubo of the "baka" trio Shuchishin will be starring in a drama together. They will play a newlywed couple in TBS's afternoon series "Panda ga Machi ni Yatte Kuru."

This is Murakami's second time in a lead drama role. She last appeared in Fuji TV's 2006 comedy "Busu no Hitomi ni Koi#eru," opposite SMAP's Goro Inagaki.

In "Panda," Murakami plays a former child star who winds up as a mediocre talento, appearing as a costumed character on a kids' show. She ties the knot with a younger patissier (Nokubo), but their marriage is soon full of constant troubles. Coincidentally, Murakami is a newlywed in real life as well, as she just got married this past March.

TBS will broadcast the drama on weekdays at 1:30pm, starting on November 3.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

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The Hollywood stars in Tokyo this week include Cameron Diaz (35) and Ashton Kutcher (30), in town to promote the romantic comedy "What Happens in Vegas." The pair were at the Imperial Hotel yesterday for the movie's Japan premiere press event. The story revolves around a drunken decision to get hitched in Las Vegas, and Diaz said she's only ever had one drink-induced blackout - it came when she was 16 and working as a model in Japan. She clearly still loves the place as she's been here the last six years running. Kutcher is here for the first time and is accompanied by his wife Demi Moore (45). The movie opens on August 16.



Also at the Imperial Hotel yesterday were Brendan Fraser (39), Michelle Yeoh (46) and Isabella Leong (20), here for the premiere of "The Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor." Fraser was in comical mood for the event, but remembering his leading man persona quipped, "I am the luckiest man in Japan to be sitting between the two most beautiful women in existence. Thank you!" On stage, Yeoh was delighted to receive a birthday cake one day early. Known in Japan as "Hamanaputra 3," the movie opens on August 16.

Source: www.japan-zone.com

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Last night Johnny's Jimusho idol group KAT-TUN finished their nationwide tour at the Tokyo Dome. They are first Japanese artists to ever play four consecutive nights at the 55,000-seat venue. Only Sting has played there four nights in a row, in his solo heyday back in 1988.

Source: www.japan-zone.com

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The daughter of rock legend Yazawa Eikichi (58) launches her own music career today. With Yoko (22) on vocals and the backing of heavyweight label Avex, new band The Generous will no doubt attract plenty of media attention. Their first release, "Himitsu no Basho" - a piano-based ballad and a long way from Ei-chan's brand of rock - is available from today as "chaku-uta" mobile phone download. A mini album is scheduled for release at the end of October, with a debut single likely in early 2009. Yoko is said to have first aspired to a singing career in her early teens, when she spent six years in Los Angeles. At that time she received voice training lessons from Seth Riggs, the vocal coach for such stars as Madonna and Ray Charles. She returned to Tokyo in 2004 to study at Sophia University but continued to perform and record demos. Quite a different start from that of her father, who arrived in Tokyo from Hiroshima in 1968 with a guitar and

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Actress Sendo Akiho (39) has had her first child. She announced yesterday on her official website that she gave birth to a baby girl on Monday. She and her husband (35), who is also the president of her management agency, have been married since 2000.

Source: www.japan-zone.com

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Animal Hamaguchi cheers on daughter Kyoko
Wednesday 06th August, 06:00 AM JST



TOKYO

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Model Jun Hasegawa introduces FILA sports brand
Wednesday 06th August, 05:17 PM JST



TOKYO

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Singer Eri Kawai passes away
Wed, August 6, 2008 (1:09am EDT)



Singer-songwriter Eri Kawai died on Monday morning as the result of illness. She was being treated for a medical condition since earlier this year. Her age was not publicly known.

Kawai's discography included the theme song for Fuji TV's "Wordsworth no Bouken" and music for anime series such as "ARIA The ANIMATION" and "Utawarerumono."

Source: www.tokyograph.com