Japanese Entertainment News & Info HERE! [part II]

whitedove · Post time 22-10-2008 05:42 PM

Actor and singer Kobayashi Akira (69) has been kicked off the Japanese pro golf tour following his recent partying with an organized crime boss. As reported here earlier this month, Kobayashi and four other top enka singers were revealed to have taken part in a golf event to celebrate the birthday of Goto Tadamasa, a top yakuza gang boss, and attended a party afterwards. The five have already been banned from appearing on public broadcast network NHK, and it seems the media are finally clamping down on the ties between celebrities and gangsters that have been known for decades but rarely mentioned. Kobayashi, a keen golfer for many years, was given an honorary PGA membership and officially became a pro on the senior tour last autumn. He took part in four events, but will not be allowed to do so anymore.

Source: www.japan-zone.com

whitedove · Post time 22-10-2008 05:43 PM

Actress Sakai Miki (30) looked radiant as she and her doctor husband (34) tied the knot at the Hotel New Otani in central Tokyo yesterday. She wore the traditional shinto wedding kimono and headgear before changing into a white wedding gown, set off by a diamond ring, necklace and tiara. About 260 guests, including actor Ishizaka Koji (67) and actress Daichi Mao (52), attended the wedding reception, which was presided over by freelance announcer Tokumitsu Kazuo (67). Sakai's new hubby is a doctor at a university hospital in Tokyo. His medical colleagues played a comical slide show during the reception describing how he had battled a disease that prevented him from developing an interest in the opposite sex. That is, until he was administered a new breakthrough drug in the form of Sakai. The two met four years ago, when Sakai was doing volunteer work helping organ transplant recipients. They started dating after they met again last summer and got engaged in January. Sakai said at a press conference after the reception that they had registered their marriage yesterday morning at a local municipal office. She added that she wants to have two or three children. Several years ago, Sakai was romantically linked to New York Yankees star Matsui Hideki.

Source: www.japan-zone.com

[ Last edited by whitedove at 22-10-2008 05:51 PM ]

whitedove · Post time 22-10-2008 05:59 PM

In a less celebratory mood was singer Wada Akiko (58), who had a dig at the recent shotgun wedding of singer Leah Dizon (22). On her TBS show "Akko ni Omakase" she said, "She's been studying hard in Japan, but so are lots of other youngsters. She needs to study a bit more about her lower body!" And on the comment by stylist Bun (29) about his new bride being very smart, Akko said, "If she's so smart, she should have been able to date him without getting knocked up!" She also took a swipe at Dizon's management, who refused to let reporters ask her any questions at the press conference where she announced the marriage. "If you're not going to let her talk, there's no point. Don't have a press conference. Newspaper and TV are about the readers and viewers." And she finished off with, "Asked what it was that her husband likes about her, she said 'My Big Peach.' What an idiot!" The comment was a lame pun on the Japanese word momo, which means "peach" and "bottom."

Source: www.japan-zone.com

whitedove · Post time 22-10-2008 06:00 PM

Every Little Thing to have Christmas concerts

October 20, 2008 by KNDY

Tickets for Every Little Thing抯 Christmas Concert 2008 go on sale on October 20th through the 27th.

揝ayonara Festival Hall Christmas Concert擺/b] will be held on December 7th and December 8th. Concert begins at 16:30.

揅hristmas Concert

whitedove · Post time 22-10-2008 06:09 PM

ANNA TSUCHIYA and Monkey Majik collaborate on Asahi Ginger Dry commercial tune

October 18, 2008 by KNDY

In a press conference on the 17th to announce the collaboration between music artist ANNA TSUCHIYA and band Monkey Majik for an upcoming commercial for Asahi Ginger Dry.

The collaboration between the band and music artist will feature a tune called 揋INGER擺/b].

Source: www.nt2099.com/J-ENT

whitedove · Post time 23-10-2008 04:24 PM

Musician Daigo an Y85 million man for a day
Monday 20th October, 05:18 AM JST

TOKYO

whitedove · Post time 23-10-2008 04:27 PM

Popular models promote newspaper advertising day
Monday 20th October, 02:09 PM JST

TOKYO

whitedove · Post time 23-10-2008 04:38 PM

Waka Inoue unveils new calendar
Tuesday 21st October, 04:13 AM JST

TOKYO

whitedove · Post time 23-10-2008 04:39 PM

TV commercial festival to be held in Tokyo
Tuesday 21st October, 05:14 AM JST

TOKYO

whitedove · Post time 23-10-2008 04:54 PM

Kuidaore Taro to debut as 'talent'
Tuesday 21st October, 10:38 AM JST

OSAKA

whitedove · Post time 23-10-2008 04:55 PM

Comedienne Oka getting married
Tue, October 21, 2008 (1:31am EDT)

30-year-old comedienne Tomomi Oka, part of the duo Aozora, is currently five months pregnant and will soon be getting married. Her partner is a slightly younger salaryman that she first met about ten years ago when they worked together. They met again this past January and began dating a month later.

The pair plan to register their marriage on November 8, though the wedding and reception are expected to take place after the child is born. Oka will take a break from work starting in January, leaving her comedy partner Rie Sudo as a soloist until her return.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove · Post time 23-10-2008 05:05 PM

Perfume DVD outsells Koda, Amuro
Tue, October 21, 2008 (2:00am EDT)

Electropop trio Perfume are keeping up their chart-topping streak with their new DVD, "Perfume First Tour: GAME." After achieving their first #1 album in April and their first #1 single in July, they have managed to also take #1 this week on the overall DVD charts.

The release sold about 65,000 copies, setting this year's record for first-week DVD sales among female artists. This surpasses both Kumi Koda and Namie Amuro, who each achieved 60,000 earlier this year.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove · Post time 23-10-2008 05:05 PM

Kyogen-shi Izumi Motoya (34) just seems to be a magnet for bad publicity. He recently had another brush with the law, as revealed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police today. Motoya was nabbed for ignoring a traffic signal in the center of the capital in the late afternoon of October 14 and received a ticket. He turned left while the signal was green only for through traffic, and when he was stopped by a motorcycle cop he explained that he was on his way to pick up his children. Motoya was previously arrested and fined in 2005 for failing to pay a parking ticket for more than two years. He's also been in trouble with the tax authorities and has had several run ins with the elders who administer his traditional form of theater. His relationship with his mother, Setsuko, and his shotgun marriage to actress Hano Aki has constantly been a favorite target of the gossip magazines.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove · Post time 23-10-2008 05:10 PM

Singer Takeuchi Mariya (53) is the first artist in their 50s or older to stay atop the Oricon album chart for three weeks. Her triple hits album "Expressions" was produced by her husband, singer Yama$hita Tatsuro (55), with whom she duets on the track "Let It Be Me." meanwhile Korean stars hold the top two spots on the singles chart. Five-member group Tohoshinki are at No.1 with "Jumon - Mirotic," while Lee Byung Hun (38) is in the second spot with his Japanese song "Itsuka."

Source: www.japan-zone.com

whitedove · Post time 23-10-2008 05:11 PM

Rockers Motley Crue gave a press conference in Tokyo yesterday ahead of their first Japan tour in three years. The band will play Zepp Fukuoka tonight, then head to Hiroshima (Oct. 22), Nagoya (Oct. 23), Osaka (Oct. 25), and finish off at Saitama Super Arena on Oct. 26.

Source: www.japan-zone.com

whitedove · Post time 23-10-2008 05:15 PM

Despite having had the major box office hit of the year, the decimated stock market has caused Toei studios to revise its expected increase in annual profits. Miyazaki Hayao's anime feature "Gake no Ue no Ponyo" has made around

whitedove · Post time 23-10-2008 05:16 PM

Folk singer Matsuyama Chiharu (52) last night returned to the stage, three months after illness forced him to cut short a concert tour. The singer was diagnosed with angina in June, and yesterday's show in his hometown of Ashorocho, Hokkaido was originally scheduled for July 8. In front of an audience of 1,500 he declared himself fully fit and performed a set of 14 songs.

Source: www.japan-zone.com

whitedove · Post time 23-10-2008 05:21 PM

Freelance announcer Yamamoto Mona (32) is making a subdued return to work. Kind of. She has been on forced leave since an extra marital affair with baseball star Nioka Tomoharu (32) caused a scandal in July, and hasn't been seen in public since. Yesterday the Bunka Housou radio network said that they plan to re-broadcast an award-winning show next month that features Yamamoto as narrator. The documentary about the WWII battleship Yamato was originally broadcast in January.

Source: www.japan-zone.com

whitedove · Post time 23-10-2008 05:22 PM

Comedienne Ohshima Miyuki (28) and her husband are to finally hold a traditional shinto wedding ceremony at the revered Ise Shrine in Mie Prefecture this weekend. Ohshima and TV writer Suzuki Osamu (36) got married in October 2002.

Source: www.japan-zone.com