Japanese Entertainment News & Info HERE!

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1) Death Note - The Last Name - Tatsuya Fujiwara, Kenichi Matsuyama, Asaka Seto, Yu Kashii, Erika Toda, Takeshi Kaga

2) Kisarazu Cat's Eye World Series - Junichi Okada (V6), Sho Sakurai (ARASHI), Ryuta Sato

3) Flag of Our Fathers

4) Tegami - Takayuki Yamada, Erika Sawajiri

5) Tada, Kimi wo Ai#eru - Hiroshi Tamaki, Misa Uehara

6) World Trade Centre

7) Nada Sousou - Satoshi Tsumabuki, Masami Nagasawa

8) Shichigatsu Nijuuyokka Doori no Christmas

9) Metro ni Notte

10) Black Dahlia

Note: In BLUE are Japanese movies.

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Matsuda Ryuhei (23) is to take over a drama role originally meant for troubled kabuki actor Nakamura Shido (34). Nakamura stood down from the NHK drama "Hagetaka" following recent scandals and rumors of a divorce from actress Takeuchi Yuko (26). Matsuda is the son of the late screen legend Matsuda Yusaku and has worked mostly in movies. This will be his first major role in a TV drama series.

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1) Morning Musume - Aruiteru
2) FLOW - Colors
3) TohoShinKi - Miss You/"O" -Sei~Han~Go
4) RADWIMPS - Setsuna Rensa
5) Bennie K - Joy Trip
6) BoA - Winter Love
7) 1000 ~SPARKING!
8) Kisarazu Cat's Eye - Seaside ByeBye
9) m-Flo loves Bonnie Pink - Love Song
10) Kumi Koda - Yume no Uta/Futari de...

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1) ELLEGARDEN - Eleven Fire Crackers
2) Ayaka - First Message
3) Kobukuro - All Singles Best
4) Jamiroquai - High Times ~Singles 1992-2006
5) Zard - Golden Best ~15th Anniversary~
6) Sarah Brightman - Kagayakeru Diva ~Best of Sarah Brightman~
7) Various Artistes - DJ Kaori's InMixii
8) J.J. Cale & Eric Clapton - The Road to Escondido
9) SID - Play
10) Remioromen - Flash and Gleam

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1) Death Note the Last Name - Tatsuya Fujiwara, Kenichi Matsuyama, Yu Kashii, Erika Toda, Asaka Seto, Takeshi Kaga

2) Kisarazu Cat's Eye World Series - Junichi Okada (V6), Sho Sakurai (ARASHI), Ryuta Sato

3) Tegami - Takayuki Yamada, Erika Sawajiri

4) Flag of our Fathers

5) Tada, Kimi wo Ai#eru - Hiroshi Tamaki, Misa Uehara

6) Sad Movie

7) Shichigatsu Nijuuyokka Doori no Christmas

8) World Trade Centre

9) Nada Sousou - Satoshi Tsumabuki, Masami Nagasawa

10) Metro ni Notte

Note: In BLUE are Japanese movies.

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SMAP leader Nakai Masahiro (34) and actress Nakama Yukie (27) are to be the emcees of this year's Kohaku Uta Gassen (Red & White New Year's Eve Battle). An invitation to appear, and particularly as a presenter, on NHK's annual song spectacle remains one of the biggest honors in Japanese showbiz, despite the fact that the show's once dominant audience ratings have dropped in recent years. One reason for the decline is thought to be the decision in 2001 to have NHK announcers present the show. Ratings got a boost last year when Nakama, recently chosen as Japan's most popular female celebrity, co-presented with "Mr. Showbiz" Mino Monta. The ever-popular Nakai will take on the job for the first time since 1998. There were rumors that recently retired baseball star Shinjo Tsuyoshi (34) might get the call, but NHK clearly decided to play it safe. With his huge fan base, he is still likely to get an invite to appear in some capacity. The coming weeks will see official announcements of the show's lineup.

Source: www.japan-zone.com

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Actress Mimura marries orchestra conductor Seikyo Kim



Actress Mimura and orchestra conductor Seikyo Kim have married, Mimura's entertainment agency has announced.

Mimura, 22, and Kim, 36, registered their marriage Wednesday with the government of the Tokyo ward where they live.

They got acquainted with each other when they appeared in a film, "Kono Mune Ippai no Ai wo," which was released in autumn last year.

Mimura has starred in films including "Chakushin Ari 2" and a TBS drama, "Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu." Kim is the former head conductor of Osaka Century Symphony Orchestra. (Mainichi)

Source: http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/en ... a00m0et008000c.html

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1) Mr. Children - Shirushi
2) UVERWorld - Kimi no Suki na Uta
3) Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi - Taiyo no Fune
4) Nana Mizuki - Justice to Believe
5) Dir en Grey - Agitated Screams of Maggots
6) Chatmonchy - Shangrila
7) AAA - Chewinggum
8) BoA - Winter Love
9) FLOW - Colors
10) Kumi Koda - Yume no Uta/Futari de...

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1) Oasis - Stop the Clock
2) Ayaka - First Message
3) Tackey&Tsubasa - Two You For You
4) DJ OZMA - I Love Party People
5) ELLEGARDEN - Eleven Fire Crackers
6) Kobukuro - All Singles Best
7) Nodame Orchestra etc. - [Nodame Orchestra] Live!
8) Jamiroquai - High Times ~Singles 1992-2006
9) Zard - Golden Best ~15th Anniversary~
10) Mihimaru GT - Mihimania ~Collection Album~

whitedove

1) Death Note the Last Name - Tatsuya Fujiwara, Kenichi Matsuyama, Yu Kashii, Erika Toda, Asaka Seto, Takeshi Kaga

2) The Devil Who Wears Prada

3) Tomorrow World

4) Flag of Our Fathers

5) Soul 3

6) Kisarazu Cat's Eye World Series - Junichi Okada (V6), Sho Sakurai (ARASHI), Ryuta Sato

7) Tegami - Takayuki Yamada, Erika Sawajiri

8) Tsubakiyama Kacchou no Nanokakan

9) Tada, Kimi wo Ai#eru - Hiroshi Tamaki, Misa Uehara

10) Shichigatsu Nijuuyokka Doori no Christmas

Note: In BLUE are Japanese movies.

adikkeluangman_

[BoA ~ Upcoming 5th Japanese Album]



BoA is still working hard and singing more beautiful songs as she is planning to release her 5th Japanese album on January 17th, 2007. The release of this album celebrates BoA's 20th birthday and also, her 5th year into the music business. The album will be released in two different version as usual, a CD and a CD+DVD version. It will include some of her hit songs of "Nanairo no A#a ~brand new beat~", "Your Color", "KEY OF HEART, "Dotch", "Winter Love", "Candle Lights", and a new song "Renai Bukatsu". In total, there is said to be 14 tracks. Limited edition releases of the CD version will include bonus DVD with "BoA the LIVE" scenes, a post card, and a bonus track. The CD+DVD limited edition version will include the DVD with more "B0A the LIVE" scenes and a post card. So, what are you waiting for? Pre-order BoA's new Japanese album now!

Credits ~ BoAjjang.com + Avexnet.or.jp + Kpopper.com + noV@Kpop Kingdom

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Another U.S.-Japan tie up is between hip hop star Kanye West (29) and the 5-man unit Teriyaki Boyz, led by fashion leader Nigo (35). West is due to visit Japan later this month to take part in an event organized by fashion brand Fendi and produced by Nigo. West will be performing and will feature the new song "I Still Love H.E.R.", though the single isn't due for release till January 24. He first met Nigo three years ago on his maiden visit to Japan and was originally supposed to take part in last year's Boyz debut album, "Beef or Chicken". That plan fell through due mainly to West's rapid success.

Source: www.japan-zone.com

whitedove

The latest single from Mr. Children is their 25th straight

chart-topping hit. "Shirushi" entered the Oricon singles chart at No.1,

putting the band in second place to rock unit B'z, who have done it an

amazing 38 straight times. In the album charts, "Stop the Clock", the

first greatest hits collection from Oasis, is at No.1. Surprisingly,

it's only the third time ever that a western artist has had two

consecutive chart-topping albums, and the first time in more than 11

years. And the soundtrack for Fuji TV's drama "Nodame Cantabile" has

reached No.7, the highest ranking for an album of classical music. The

series is based on a best-selling manga.

Source: www.japan-zone.com

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TELEVIEWS / Familiar names top TV earnings list
Wm. Penn / Special to The Daily Yomiuri

And the year-end countdown begins...in the TV world too, it's time to reflect, tie up the year's loose ends and think about the holiday shopping.

If there's a TV fan on your shopping list, how about a directory packed with photos and data on thousands of TV-world denizens from child actors to ageing comedians, complete with hiragana readings for their mystifying kanji names? The 2007 editions of the annual directories--TV Star Meikan and Shin All-Star Meikan--are now on sale. The latter even includes a 16-page section on voice actors so you can see the folks who enliven animation characters, commercials and all those Korean dramas.

The December issue of Nikkei Entertainment magazine features a special report on current entertainment-industry remuneration rates. In deference to the privacy of the rich and famous, the government no longer issues an annual list of top taxpayers. So if you want to figure out just how well your favorite stars are doing, grab a copy of the magazine and your calculator.



Commercials are about the most lucrative work around considering the small investment of time, the wide exposure and the paycheck, but it is still a male bastion at the top. Nikkei Entertainment estimates 11 celebrities can charge 100 million yen or more for a commercial. Sayuri Yoshinaga is the only female on that list. The only other women in the top 25 are actress Nanako Matsushima and golfer Ai Miyazato, both in the 80 million yen category.



SMAP sits at the very top of the list, charging 250 million yen-300 million yen per CM. Takuya Kimura, who will make his first guest appearance on Dec. 1 on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's legendary and revealing afternoon talk show Tetsuko no Heya (Mondays-Fridays, 1:20 p.m., TV Asahi network), individually holds eight contracts estimated to be worth 90 million yen each. Fellow SMAPsters Shingo Katori and Tsuyoshi Kusanagi each hold seven CM contracts in the 70 million yen range. SMAP will be able to open their own bank soon.

According to the magazine, the only others who can demand over 100 million yen are Ichiro and Hideki Matsui, at 170 million yen, soccer hero Hidetoshi Nakata, 150 million yen, and veteran rocker Eikichi Yazawa and actor Ken Watanabe, at 130 million yen.

In late November, NHK gets ready to announce the hosts and singers for that annual New Year's Eve institution, the Kohaku Uta Gassen (Red and White Song Contest). The weekly magazines are again wondering how much longer the show can survive and suggesting NHK is having trouble finding singers who want the honor. The concept of sitting cozily around the TV with NHK on New Year's Eve has gone the way of pink telephones. Not even Monta Mino could sufficiently revitalize the ageing extravaganza last year, but NHK is not likely to surrender the show.

If NHK really wants to capture the nation's hearts again, its only sure choice for co-hosts is Tsuyoshi Shinjo and Shizuka Arakawa. The pair that made Japan feel good about itself in 2006 would be the best bets to help end the year on an upbeat note, but late word has it NHK has opted for Yukie Nakama and SMAP's Masahiro Nakai.

CNN could start 2007 off right by cutting back on the pundits and talking heads. Before the U.S. mid-term elections, NHK's Close up Gendai ran an informative, refreshing 30-minute special that talked to regular Americans and gave a better overview of their concerns than a week of smugly spinning pundits. Not only would a pundit purge save money, it would provide more time for real news and investigative reporting that would let viewers see what comes out in the wash. They are more than capable of putting the results through their own preferred spin cycle.

Source: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/

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Japan lines up for homegrown pix
First time local biz has beaten foreign films since '85
By MARK SCHILLING

TOKYO -- Japanese pics are on track to grab a majority share of the 2006 box office, the first time domestic product has beaten foreign films since 1985, according to numbers compiled by the Nikkei newspaper.

In the first 10 months of 2006, B.O. for Japanese pics accounted for 47% of the total. Tipping the scales for Hollywood was "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," which grossed Y10.8 billion ($92 million) following its November 2005 release.

From January to October, however, local pics occupied half of the top 10 B.O. spots, led by the Studio Ghibli toon "Tales From Earthsea (Gedo no Seki)" ($65 million) and sea actioner "Umizaru 2 -- Test of Trust/Limit of Love" ($60 million).

The Japanese biz has a stronger lineup than Hollywood going into the holiday season, including Yoji Yamada's period drama "Love and Honor (Bushi no Ichibun)," headlined by local megastar Takuya Kimura ("2046"); "Nana 2," Kentaro Otani's sequel to his 2005 femme buddy pic that earned $34.4 million; and "Oh-oku," the film version of the hit Fuji TV drama about the women of the Shogun's court.

Source: http://www.variety.com/

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Crystal Kay (20) is to team up with Beethoven for her next single. She has been chosen to sing the theme tune to next January's anime version of Fuji TV's drama series "Nodame Cantabile". The single has yet to be titled but with feature segments of the first movement from Beethoven's 7th Symphony. The series is an adaptation of a popular manga that sold over 18 million copies. The live-action version currently airing stars Ueno Juri (20) and Tamaki Hiroshi (26) and has had respectable audience ratings. The soundtrack has reached No.7 on the Oricon chart, the highest ever ranking by an album of classical music. Full name Crystal Kay Williams, the half-Korean half-African American, Yokohama-born singer is known to fans as 'Kurikei' or just 'Kuri'. She made her debut at the tender age of four, singing a TV commercial theme, and appeared in her first commercial with her singer mother when she was just six. She released her first single at 13.

Source: www.japan-zone.com

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The latest celebrity to make a wedding announcement is actress Igawa Haruka (30). She held a press conference at a Tokyo hotel yesterday to formally announce her marriage to fashion designer Matsumoto Atou (44). Igawa wore a black dress chosen by her new husband, who established the Ato menswear brand in 1993. Asked if the age difference bothered her, Igawa said Matsumoto works out every day and looks much younger than his age and at 180cm, he is relatively tall. The couple first met in the autumn of 2005 at a dinner party but didn't even talk. It took another couple of encounters before they started dating in April, but marriage was in their minds from the start. They have been living together at Matsumoto's Tokyo home since the summer and registered their mariage on November 22. In Japanese, the date 11/22 can be read "ii fufu" or "good husband and wife". Every year, a showbiz couple is chosen as the ideal "fufu", but this year's choice - kabuki actor Nakamura Shido (34) and actress Takeuchi Yuko (26) - are already on the verge of divorce. So it can only be hoped that Igawa and Matsumoto will fare better. Igawa said she is not pregnant but is hoping to have three or four children.

Source: www.japan-zone.com

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1) Bump of Chicken - Namida no Furusato
2) EXILE & Kumi Koda - Won' Be Long
3) Mr. Children - Shirushi
4) Hikaru Utada - Boku wa Kuma
5) Aqua Timez - Senno Yoru wo Koete
6) Sukima Switch - Akatsuki no Uta
7) UVERworld - Kimi no Suki na Uta
8) RIZE - Pink Spider
9) Aya Hirano, Minori Chihara, Yuko Goto - Saikyo Pareparade
10) REDBALLOON - Yuki no Tsubasa

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1) CHEMISTRY - All the Best
2) Porno Graffitti - M-Cabi
3) The Beatles - Love
4) The Gospellers - Be As One
5) Ayaka - First Message
6) Nodame Orchestra etc. - [Nodame Orchestra] Live!
7) DJ OZMA - I Love Party People
8) Oasis - Stop the Clock
9) U2 - The Best of U2 18 Singles
10) Miyuki Nakajima - Lullaby Singer

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Women's fashion magazine Vogue yesterday announced its "Woman of the Year" award winners. Among the women chosen as having had the best 2006 were young actresses Sawajiri Erika (20) and Nagasawa Masami (19), who between them have been sweeping the newcomer awards for the last couple of years. Sawajiri, the daughter of a Japanese father and French-Algerian mother, received a host of awards for her role in last year's "Pacchigi!". She played the lead role in this year's TBS drama series "Taiyo no Uta", releasing a chart-topping album under her character's name of Kaoru Amane. Nagasawa made her screen debut as early as 2000, but had her breakthrough with 2004's hit romance "Sekai no Chushin de, Ai wo Sakebu". At 29, Hoshino Aki represents hope for "older" women who are hanging on to their dream of becoming a pin-up girl. She has become a regular face on variety shows and TV commercials. Other winners included actresses Nakatani Miki (30) and Momoi Kaori (54) as well as Miss Universe runner-up Chibana Kurara (24).

Source: www.japan-zone.com