Joined: 13 Oct 2004 Posts: 8550 Location: California Country:
Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 3:22 am Post subject:
bmwracer wrote:
I think you guys misread that: he congratulated the reporters on Shizuka's gold medal...
That's the bewildering part of it. Unless he assumed that the reporters would forward the glad tidings to her....cause that's part of their job description as Japanese media: Call her whenever American celebrities want to congratulate her accomplishments but cannot be present.
Actress/talento You (41) has divorced her younger husband to shack up with an even younger dancer. It was revealed in this week's issue of the magazine Friday that You and her second husband, actor and former model Matsuoka Shunsuke (34), have divorced and that she is now involved with Atsushi (28), a dancer with popular rock/hip hop band Dragon Ash. You, who starred in the recent acclaimed movie "Dare Mo Shiranai" (Nobody Knows), started out as the vocalist of rock band Fairchild. With her quick wit and acid tongue, she made a name for herself on the variety show circuit. She married Tezuka Atsushi (40), guitarist of the band Privates, in 1991, and they divorced in 1997. She maried Matsuoka the same year and they had one child.
• Sexy singer Koda Kumi (23) has taken the Artist of the Year at the 20th Japan Gold Disk Awards. The award is based on sales, of which Koda racked up a whopping 3.55 million copies in the last year. She can put the award alongside several others, including last year's Song of the Year. And with this week's release of her second hits album, "BEST - Second Session", she looks set to achieve another million seller.
• Semi-retired singer/actress Nishida Hikaru (33) revealed yesterday that she is four months pregnant. She made the happy announcement on the pre-recorded Akashiya Sanma-hosted variety show that airs March 14. Nishida married 36-year old E-san, who works for a trading company, in May 2002. At first they lived in California but now spend most of their time in Japan.
Singer Hamasaki Ayumi (27) has become Japan's most successful female pop artist. With her 39th single, "Startin'/Born to Be..." making No.1 in the Oricon charts, she now has 26 chart toppers, one more than '80s diva Matsuda Seiko. It's also her 14th No.1 single in a row, dating back to "Free & Easy" in 2002. She's also tops in overall single sales with almost 20 million, and in Top 10 singles with 37. Ayu is currently in the middle of a nationwide arena tour that includes 30 shows in 14 cities.
• Meanwhile, one of Ayu's main rivals these days is doing well with her latest album. Chart topper "Best - Second Session" is Koda Kumi's second hits collection and includes all twelve singles that she released over the last few months. With sales of over 930,000, it is guaranteed to become a million seller.
• Okinawan singer Chinen Rina (25) has given birth to a baby boy. It's the first child for her and model Nakamura Kentaro (22), who she married last August. Another new mother with a baby boy is Katsu Keiko (39), former weather announcer on TV Asahi's "News Station." She married the editor of a major weekly magazine in 2004.
Actor Takahashi Katsunori (photo, 41) bade a tearful farewell to his late father yesterday. Over 800 people attended the wake in Yokohama for musician Takahashi Katsushi, who passed away on Monday at the age of 77. Katsunori married model Hanna (25) in 2004 and said his biggest regret was that his father hadn't had a chance to see a grandchild.
• Former top bar host Shirosaki Jin (28) is to make his recording debut. The one-time Kabukicho "charisma" host will record the 1977 Four Leaves hit "Bulldog" and the song will be produced by veteran Sakai Masatoshi (67), who in the past has worked with modern legends Yamaguchi Momoe and Go Hiromi. Shirosaki, who in his heyday as a host is said to have made \100 million a year, says he is aiming for an invitation to the year-end Kohaku Uta Gassen song spectacular on NHK.
• Actress Adachi Yumi (24) is still a month away from the expected date of her first baby but has already announced her return to work. She will appear in the latest series of NHK's Friday night samurai drama "Keijirou Engawa Nikki 3", starring Takahashi Hideki (62) and airing from October. Filming will start in June and Adachi will be back on the set from July. The baby-faced actress played the role of a mother for the first time in the second series and her child will be five years old in the latest. Off the set, she will be the mother of a 3-month old baby with comedian Itoda Jun (33), who she married last September.
Kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjuro (59) gave a press conference yesterday to announce his return to the stage after battling with leukemia for the second time. He was hospitalized in September of last year and finally released on February 22. He will appear at the Kabukiza theater in Tokyo on May 1. The exact nature of his disease was a recurrence of acute promyelocytic leukemia. Head shaven but looking well, he described his time in hospital as a struggle with himself as much as the disease and said that he had been to hell and back.
• Comedy duo Bakusho Mondai this week became the first stars of the TV variety show circuit to be recognized by the government for their cultural merit. They were among the names announced for this year's commendations from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Among the 18 winners in the arts were singer/songwriter Najkajima Miyuki (54) and rakugo storyteller Katsura Sanshi (62). With shows like "Sunday Japon" and "Sta-Men" the duo of Ota Hikari (40) and Tanaka Yuji (41) have made popular a new kind of intelligent variety show that discusses current issues. Ota in particular has shown he has a remarkable level of insight and intelligence. Remarkable at least in comparison with the majority of comedy stars who seem to have taken over most of the networks.
• Hugely popular model Ebihara Yuri (26) unveiled her latest TV commercial yesterday. Shot at a private pool in Beverley Hills, the ad for Shiseido's Anessa sun block features "Ebi-chan" from behind slipping off her bikini top and is sure to be a talking point.
Joined: 13 Oct 2004 Posts: 8550 Location: California Country:
Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 5:37 am Post subject:
bmwracer wrote:
• Hugely popular model Ebihara Yuri (26) unveiled her latest TV commercial yesterday. Shot at a private pool in Beverley Hills, the ad for Shiseido's Anessa sun block features "Ebi-chan" from behind slipping off her bikini top and is sure to be a talking point.
I don't know...I think I need to see this before I agree.
Sakai Masaaki (59) and Inoue Jun (59) are going on the road again after a gap of 36 years. The former lead vocalists of hugely popular 60s band The Spiders had a famous rivalry, but are said to have met for a drink last year and put the past behind them. Starting from the end of this month, they will spend the next two years touring the country with their joint show. The Spiders were among the pioneers of the Group Sounds era in the 60s, and broke up in 1969. Both Sakai and Inoue have remained TV regulars over the decades. Sakai is best known outside Japan for his lead role in the 70s TV series "Saiyuki" (Monkey). He and other Spiders members Mousieur Kamayatsu (67) and Inoue Takayuki (64) formed a trio in 1999, appearing on the Kohaku New Year's Eve show on NHK and doing a national tour in 2001.
• The Stones rolled into town yesterday for their fifth Japan tour. Coming straight from a show in New York, they've brought their A Bigger Bang tour for five dates - March 22 & 24 at Tokyo Dome, 29 at Sapporo Dome, April 2 at Saitama Super Arena and finishing up on April 5 down the road from Japan Zone's new home at Nagoya Dome. Mick Jagger (62) said this visit, their fifth, may be their last to Japan. 200 fans turned out to welcome the band at Narita Airport, though they were outnumbered by over-enthusiastic reporters who had to be told to "take it easy" by Keith Richards (62). Also among the crowd was comedienne Takeuchi Miyako (42) of the duo Pink Denwa, a die-hard Stones fan.
The all-female Takarazuka theater company has reached another major milestone. The 1,630th performance of "Berusaiyu no Bara" (Rose of Versaille) yesterday saw the total audience reach 4 million. The lucky audience member, a 15-year old girl from Yokohama, got a bouquet of flowers and had her photo taken on stage with the stars of the show. The lavish production has been running since 1974 at the Takarazuka theater in the city of the same name in Hyogo Prefecture.
• Yesterday's issue of weekly magazine Friday published more photos "proving" the romance between actor Tsumabuki Satoshi (25) and actress Shibasaki Kou (24). The photos, taken at the beginning of this month, showed the couple in Tsumabuki's car after a dinner date in Tokyo. The two have been rumored to be dating for several years, since they co-starred in the drama series "Orange Days" in 2004. Shibasaki was spotted leaving Tsumabuki's Tokyo home last September and the two recently spent a month in New Zealand filming the movie "Dororo". Tsumabuki has previously been linked with talento Yuka (25), while Shibasaki has been said to be involved with Da Pump vocalist Issa (27).
• The winners of this year's music video awards from cable channel Space Shower TV were announced yesterday. Winning in the pop category was Hirai Ken (34) with his appropriately titled hit "Pop Star". The video featured him dressed up as various characters, including a racoon. Koda Kumi (23) continued her award winning streak, taking the Music Video of the Year for her collaboration with Soulhead.
A monument was unveiled yesterday to rock star Nagabuchi Tsuyoshi (49). In August 2004, the singer/songwriter drew more than 75,000 fans to an all-night rock concert in his home town of Sakurajima in Kagoshima Prefecture. The town showed their appreciation for the economic benefits they gleaned from that event by commissioning a 50-ton stone statue of their favorite son at a cost of \35 million. 15,000 people turned out for the unveiling and Nagbuchi gave them a six-song performance in the 130,000 sq.m. space where the concert was held.
• Pin-up girl Yasu Megumi (24) has denied rumors that she is dating writer Lili Frankie (42), despite photos of the two published in a weekly magazine. She was appearing at the launch event for her latest photo book, shot on location in Hawaii.
• Also releasing a new photo book soon is Kano Mika (38), the younger of the "Gorgeous Kano Sisters". It reveals officially for the first time the 1989 Miss Japan's wholesome proportions, given as: bust-95cm, waist-57cm, waist-90cm. The book will feature "hair nudes", meaning photos that show pubic hair. Not a rarity these days but a first for the Kano-shimai, who have been fading a little from the limelight lately. The book is being publicized as one product to mark the sisters' tenth year as celebrities.
Joined: 13 Oct 2004 Posts: 8550 Location: California Country:
Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 2:16 pm Post subject:
bmwracer wrote:
Pin-up girl Yasu Megumi (24)
bmwracer wrote:
• Also releasing a new photo book soon is Kano Mika (38), the younger of the "Gorgeous Kano Sisters". It reveals officially for the first time the 1989 Miss Japan's wholesome proportions, given as: bust-95cm, waist-57cm, waist-90cm.
Today is Shunbun no Hi (Vernal Equinox), a national holiday.
• Japan is officially No.1 in the baseball world. The Japanese baseball team beat Cuba 10-6 in the final of the inaugural World Baseball Classic this afternoon (Japan time) to become the first World Champions of baseball. With contributions from MLB stars like Ichiro and home-based players such as slugger Matsunaka Nobuhiko and catcher Satozaki Tomoya, the Japanese team overcame some nervy middle innings with a 4-run spurt in the top of the ninth. Former San Diego Padres pitcher Ohtsuka Akinori took to his old mound for the last four outs to put the final nail in Cuba's coffin. Managed by baseball legend Oh Sadaharu, the Japan team's exploits have been followed by a huge TV audience here at home - the audience rating for the semi-final against South Korea was a whopping 50.3% - and are sure to return home to a real heroes' welcome. Ichiro was singled out by TV reporters for their first "hero interview" and he was clearly overcome by the achievement. "Amazing! I'm so happy. What a great team!" he said, grinning from ear to ear. He, Satozaki and starting pitcher Matsuzaka Daisuke were named to the WBC Best Nine, while Matsuzaka was named tournament MVP
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