Japanese Entertainment News & Info HERE! [part II]

whitedove · Post time 10-11-2008 06:02 PM

Tetsuya Chikushi dies of cancer
Sun, November 9, 2008 (2:43am EST)

Respected newscaster and journalist Tetsuya Chikushi, best known for hosting TBS's "NEWS23," died of lung cancer on Friday afternoon. He was 73.

Chikushi revealed on the show that he had cancer back in May 2007, and he had been undergoing treatment since then. In August, he went to a medical facility in Kagoshima for a three-month treatment, and he returned to Tokyo just about a week ago. However, his condition suddenly worsened and he was hospitalized.

Chikushi started out his career as a journalist for the Asahi Shimbun in 1959, but he got his big break as a news announcer in 1989 when "NEWS23" started, then known as "Chikushi Tetsuya NEWS23."

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove · Post time 10-11-2008 06:03 PM

X Japan postpones concerts again, changes plans
Sun, November 9, 2008 (5:04am EST)

Reunited rock band X Japan has once again changed its concert plans. The group was scheduled to perform a show in Paris on November 22, but it has now been postponed until next year. Two Christmas concerts at the Saitama Super Arena on December 24 and 25 have also been pushed into 2009.

X Japan had planned to kick off its world tour with the Paris show this month. The band has already partnered with Azoff Management and Filament Inc., and they are finalizing a deal with promotion company AEG. However, the management companies decided that it would be best to revise X Japan's global strategy, postponing the world tour until next year. The group is still scheduled to perform a countdown concert to kick off the new year, and the 2009 concerts in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Taiwan, and Korea will reportedly go on as scheduled.

X Japan's new strategy will have the back-to-back Saitama concerts replaced with a full nationwide tour in Japan next spring. The band will also expand their efforts in Europe - a new Paris concert will be scheduled, along with additional shows in Northern Europe, starting with Sweden.

More specific details will be announced in the future as the band's plans are finalized.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove · Post time 10-11-2008 06:05 PM

Kosuke Atari performs in Shanghai

November 9, 2008 by J!-ENT

CRIEnglish.com reported:

Japanese pop singer Kosuke Atari held his first concert on the Chinese mainland at the Shanghai Oriental Art Center last Sunday.

In addition to his distinctive singing, his acting debut in the film 揅ape No. 7? was also impressive. The story is about a band in a rural town. He plays himself, as a famous singer who visits the town for a concert. His major debut single 揝orezore Ni

whitedove · Post time 10-11-2008 06:05 PM

Beni Arashiro drops last name for new single
Sun, November 9, 2008 (5:06am EST)

Singer Beni Arashiro is reinventing herself under a new name: BENI. She will once again be focusing on her music career, after months of silence, starting with a new single next month.

Arashiro left her previous management agency, Oscar Promotion, at the end of August, and her contract with Avex expired at the end of September. She has now signed with Universal Music, and her first single as BENI will be released on December 10.

Titled "Mou Nidoto...," the ballad is a follow-up to DOHZI-T's "Mou Ichido... feat. BENI" that was released in June. While Arashiro was a guest artist on that song, she hasn't released a single of her own since February 2007.

"Mou Nidoto" will start selling as a chaku-uta on November 12.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove · Post time 11-11-2008 05:24 PM

Ebi-chan goes on Roman Holiday
Sunday 09th November, 05:20 AM JST

Ebi-chan as Audrey Hepburn?! After six years as an exclusive model for fashion magazine CanCam, Yuri Ebihara, 29, made her debut last month for AneCan, an affiliated magazine which targets women in their late 20s.
Her first gig took her to Rome and Milan. Saying she hopes to be 揷ute in an adult way,

whitedove · Post time 11-11-2008 05:25 PM

Kurara Chibana promotes warmth with Uniqlo
Monday 10th November, 05:56 AM JST

TOKYO

whitedove · Post time 11-11-2008 05:33 PM

Marie looking for boyfriend by Christmas
Monday 10th November, 11:27 AM JST

TOKYO

whitedove · Post time 11-11-2008 05:34 PM

Actress Rio Matsumoto becomes fire chief for a day
Monday 10th November, 01:29 PM JST

TOKYO

whitedove · Post time 11-11-2008 05:41 PM

Kanjani8's Murakami, Going Independent My-Style

It was revealed on the 7th that Murakami Shingo (26) of the popular group Kanjani8 will be performing a solo stageplay next year in spring. It will start on January 10th at the Globe Theater, and it's title is "If or..." The theme for this stageplay is "If I were the one to...," in which Murakami expresses in his own way, the wonderfulnes of relationships between people. "Please check out how I think of things in my head visually!" he says.

Murakami has shown a new sensitivitiy in the stagepley "Mitei" he performed together with Shibutani Subaru this spring, this time he will be challenging a solo stageplay.

"If or..." is a stageplay that expresses thoughts that everyone has gone through at least once, "If I had done this-this when...," "If I had l led a totally different life..." It will be an omnibus stageplay in which Murakami acts out "If I were in another group of the same jimusho," "If I had become a gravure idol rather than the kind of idol I am now."

Murakami says he came up with this play because "I think I'm here right now because of the many choices I've made up till now. So I want to treasure the present. The present is the best time, I think."

"When I was a child, my dream was to become a bus driver," says Murakami, he and a friend applied to the Johnny's jimusho and he was active as a Jr. Through periods of worry at times, when he was 17 years old, with new determination he decided that "In whatever form in may be, I'm going to keep working in this line of work." After many decisions, he showed a bit of his mature side and commented "Murakami Shingo exists because Eito does. I feel the preciousness of relationships."

"Everyone's different, but I think people will take this positively. That they're 'glad to be themselves,' and that they 'should compliment themselves.' I hope that I'll be able to provide a hint for those people having problems right now."

From January 10th till 25th next year at the Tokyo Globe Theater, and from January 28th till February 3rd, at the Osaka Theater Dramacity.

Source: http://www.daily.co.jp
Translated by enshinge@LJ

whitedove · Post time 11-11-2008 05:41 PM

HALCALI samples Chara for musicthon theme
Mon, November 10, 2008 (12:02am EST)

Female duo HALCALI has been chosen to provide the image song for this year's Radio Charity Musicthon, an annual event organized by the Nippon Broadcasting System. The song, called "Re: Yasashii Kimochi," uses samples from the 1997 Chara hit "Yasashii Kimochi." Although the song's chorus will include Chara's vocals, the rest of the song is getting new lyrics written by HALCALI.

The Radio Charity Musicthon starts at noon on December 24 and runs for 24 hours. However, listeners will have to wait until February before they will be able to purchase the "Re: Yasashii Kimochi" single.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove · Post time 11-11-2008 05:49 PM

Ai Kago aiming for high school?
Mon, November 10, 2008 (12:05am EST)

Former Morning Musume member Ai Kago appeared on a television show on Sunday, and she mentioned on the air that she has set her sights on the high school exams.

Kago, who is now 20, was too busy with Morning Musume during her junior high years, so she never went on to high school. She said she is currently studying to take the tests. She also mentioned that she is attending English conversation classes and would like to go on to university.

Kago was twice caught in an underage smoking scandal and eventually dismissed by Up-Front Agency, though she was able to start her comeback earlier this year with a different management firm.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove · Post time 11-11-2008 05:50 PM

Oricon: who do you want to host Kohaku?
Mon, November 10, 2008 (2:19am EST)

With Kohaku Uta Gassen only weeks away, NHK is expected to soon announce this year's celebrity hosts. Research firm Oricon took a look at who the public are hoping for, surveying 1,200 men and women over the internet.

In the male category, SMAP's Masahiro Nakai was the most popular choice. Nakai has been a Kohaku host four times already, including the last two years. He was also the top answer in last year's survey.

The other popular answers were Tamori, Sanma Akashiya, Tsurube Shofukutei (who hosted last year), Shinsuke Shimada, Masaharu Fukuyama, Takuya Kimura, Minomonta, Shosuke Tanihara, and SMAP as a group.

For female celebrities, young actress Aoi Miyazaki was voted #1, showing a boost in popularity after she starred in the taiga drama "Atsuhime." She bumped the previous survey favorite Yukie Nakama, who hosted Kohaku in 2005 and 2006, to second place.

The rest of the list for females were Akiko Wada, Masami Hisamoto, Becky, Norika Fujiwara, Junko Kubo, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, Harumi Edo, and Aya Ueto.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove · Post time 11-11-2008 05:56 PM

Eguchi, Inagaki, Hirosue star in "Triangle"
Mon, November 10, 2008 (12:03am EST)

Fuji TV is producing a drama series called "Triangle," scheduled to air next season. Actor Yosuke Eguchi will be the star of the show, supported by SMAP's Goro Inagaki and actress Ryoko Hirosue.

The series is described as a mystery/suspense story, starting with the murder of a 10-year-old girl in 1984. 15 years later, after the case goes unsolved and passes the statute of limitations, a doctor named Ryoji Goda (Eguchi) suddenly quits from his hospital and eventually becomes a detective. In 2008, he meets a traveling artist (Hirosue) in Paris, and shortly after Goda's return to Japan, he becomes involved in the expired murder case when another detective (Inagaki) receives an anonymous phone call.

Aside from Paris, where filming is currently taking place, the show's settings also include Tokyo, Osaka, and Shanghai. The rest of the cast is said to include other top actors, young and old, including Kinya Kitaoji.

"Triangle" will premiere on January 6, airing every Tuesday at 10:00pm.

Source: www.tokyograph.com

whitedove · Post time 11-11-2008 05:57 PM

Japan lost a couple of stars from a bygone age in the last few days. Dave Hirao, vocalist of the group The Golden Cups, died yesterday of esophageal cancer. He was 63. The Golden Cups were one of the biggest acts of the "group sounds" scene of the late 1960s. They are best known for such hits as "Nagai Kami no Shojo" and "Aisuru Kimi Ni." They were heavily influenced by western music and most band members took on western names, though only guitarist Kenneth Ito had any foreign blood. Keyboard player Mickey Yoshino went on to form the hugely successful Godiego. The band reformed for an NHK special and some concerts in 2004.

Meanwhile, comedian Maeda Takechiyo of the comedy group Chambara Trio died on Sunday night of stomach cancer. He was 55. Real name Miyakawa Sadanori, he was a company employee before taking to the stage as one half of a comedy duo in 1980. He joined Chambara Trio, which has been going since the early 1960s, in 1994. As the name suggests, the group's comedy is based on chambara, the sword-fighting samurai style of action movies.

Source: www.japan-zone.com

whitedove · Post time 11-11-2008 05:59 PM

The daughter of one of Japan's top comedians is making her debut as an actress in an upcoming joint U.S.-Japanese movie. "The Harimaya Bridge" stars Bennet Guillory, Danny Glover (who's also executive producer) and Takaoka Saki. It's the story of an African American man who travels to rural Kochi prefecture to claim some family items after the sudden death of his estranged son. Honoka (19), the daughter of Ishibashi Takaaki (47) of the comedy duo Tunnels, plays a key supporting role. Directed and written by Aaron Woolfolk, it's due for release next summer.

Source: www.japan-zone.com

whitedove · Post time 11-11-2008 06:02 PM

Talento Saka$hita Chiriko (32) announced to the media by fax yesterday that she had her first baby in her hometown of Kyoto earlier this month. She and her TV cameraman husband (29) married in January. She says she plans to resume her career in the spring.

Source: www.japan-zone.com