The singer/celebrity DAIGO will appear in his first film titled '君が踊る、夏 / Kimi ga Odoru, Natsu [lit. 'You danced in the summer']'. The movie revolves around the 'Yosakoi Festival' [held in Kochi Prefecture] and DAIGO will become one of the several main young characters. On October 26th DAIGO talked about it in his blog. "Surprise! I'm going to make my film debut!!" DAIGO's character is called 'Ishiguro Tomoya', who is working hard to become a pro photographer. He's a few years older than the main character played by actor Mizobata Junpei. The filming is underway, and DAIGO again in his blog wrote how excited he was. "It's been a while since I performed as an actor, so I'm a bit nervous. But I'm going to do my best."
The movie was written by playwright Iwashita Yuko and director Katsuki Hideyuki, and is partly based on a true story. There are many variants of the 'Yosakoi Festival' being held nationwide, but Kochi is where the first Yosakoi was held. The deeply moving film focuses on several young people who are given strength to live by becoming related to the Kochi 'Yosakoi Festival'. Along with the lead actor Mizobata, Kinami Haruka will play the heroine 'Kaori'. Omori Ayane will become Kaori's sister 'Sakura', who is battling a grave illness. Shinpei's best friend 'Tsukasa' will be played Igarashi Shunji. The young actors will be supported by such veterans as Takashima Reiko and Miyazaki Yoshiko. The film is set to premiere in autumn 2010.
music japan plus
The singer/actor Kato Kazuki will make his debut as a voice actor in the popular anime series '家庭教師ヒットマンREBORN！ / Reborn!'. His 6th single 'EASY GO' was used as the opening theme song for the same anime. Now Kato will become a popular character called 'Kikyo'. Kikyo is part of a powerful enemy group called 'Real Roku-cho-ka' that recently appeared in the new series. He energetically talked about participating in his first dubbing session. "I've always been a big fan of the original manga, so I'm really happy just to have this opportunity to become part of 'Reborn!' This is my first job as a voice actor, but I'll work hard to meet the expectations of the fans and portray a cool Kikyo! Please look forward to my upcoming experience!!"
music japan plus
1. AKB48 - River = 178579
2. AAA - Hide-Away = 43659
3. Ken Hirai - Boku wa Kimi ni Koi wo Suru = 30034
4. B'z - My Lonely Town = 25002
5. Sheryl Nome starring May'n - "Macross Frontier The Movie 1st: The False Songstress" Insert Song: Pink Monsoon = 23563
6. Kana Nishino - Motto... = 17956
7. Hilcrhyme - Shunkashuto = 14690
8. Ui Hirasawa (CV: Madoka Yonezawa) - K-On! Image Song = 13202
9. Nodoka Manabe (CV: Chika Fujito) - K-On! Image Song = 12144
10. Kitagami Mimi with MM Gakuen Gasshoubu - Daisuki ni Nare! / Kokoro Kimi ni Todoke = 11410
oricon
The awards ceremony for the 22nd Japan Best Dressed Eyes Awards was held at Tokyo's Big Sight on 27th October. Actress Inoue Mao, actor Karasawa Toshiaki and Suzanne were among the 6 who were up on stage to receive the award.
Inoue who won in the Showbiz Field wore a black one-piece dress she chose together with the stylist to match her glasses. During her childhood, she used glasses regularly for about 10 years. "Putting on glasses feels like going back to my former self. Showing myself with glasses on in front of so many people is embarrassing."
The reporters asked if she liked men in glasses. "When someone who does not usually wear glasses puts them on, it makes my heart flutter," she replied. "When I go on a date, I choose fashionable glasses," she said, revealing the existence of her 'Game On' glasses. "Lately, I haven't had the chance to use those glasses though,"she added, a little disappointment in the romance department perhaps. Inoue, who has a starring role in a recently-opened movie, is looking increasingly radiant these days. It seems that rather than love, she will continue in work mode for a while.
On the other hand, Karasawa Toshiaki who won in the Sunglasses Field said of his unexpected win,"I don't see myself having the image of having sunglasses on but I think it's because I had them on all the time in the movie '20th Century Boys'."
Every year, well-known people from various fields who look good in glasses are chosen and given awards in different categories. The other prize-winners this year are Nagatsuma Akira in the Political Field, Yanai Tadashi in the Economic Field, Ishizaka Koji in the Cultural Field and Suzanne for the Special Prize.
unleashthegeek
Yaotome Hikaru sent a message about recent developments. He talked about 'someone' that he has become infatuated with.
Yaotome "From a while ago I've become interested in a certain 'person'. But I'm not going to talk about love (laugh). Sorry, but I'm already in love with bass guitar-chan. And the people who come see us at concerts. The smiles we exchange serve as proof of our love! The 'person' I'm talking about is...actually not a person but a vending machine. Although they might look as if they're just standing alongside the streets, there's more than meets the eye. First, they're so cool they don't care about wind and rain! They absolutely rule. Also, I like how they are always ready to give drinks. They're super duper cool!"
Yaotome also wrote that he is interested in how they are able to keep the beverages dry in the rain. He sounds like he's seriously mesmerized by the 'coolness' of vending machines! Maybe his definition of 'cool' is different from normal people.
source
The trial of actress Noriko Sakai (38) dominated the media on Monday, as a large portion of the country tuned in to follow the trial's coverage. As expected, Sakai admitted to the charges of drug use and possession, and she is now awaiting a verdict.
During the trial, Sakai demonstrated her remorse with tears while stating that she is prepared to divorce her husband, Yuichi Takaso (41), in order to rehabilitate herself. She even hinted at the possibility of her retirement from show business, though she did not explicitly discuss it.
The prosecution is asking for a sentence of 18 months. The verdict is scheduled to be given on November 9.
Before the trial started, thousands lined up in the rain for a chance to get one of the 20 seats in the courtroom's public gallery. A total of 6,615 people were there, with some having waited overnight. With 1-in-330.75 odds of getting a seat, the trial set a new record, surpassing the 1996 trial of the Aum Shinrikyo cult leader Shoko Asahara. 12,292 people lined up for that trial, but with 48 available seats, their odds were slightly better at about 1-in-256.
In terms of the number of people trying to get a seat, Sakai's trial is 2nd behind Asahara's. Among celebrity trials, hers is #1. The previous record had just been set by Manabu Oshio (31), with 2,232 people lined up for his trial on October 23. Takaso's trial, which was held on October 21, drew a crowd of 1,557 people.
According to data from Video Research Ltd., ratings for TV programs related to the trial were high across the five major networks, totaling a 35.4% viewership. In comparison, total ratings were 43.3% for the live broadcast of her apologetic press conference on September 17 after she was released on bail.
Tokyograph
The Japan Formal Wear Association presented its 10th annual Best Formalist awards on Tuesday. This year's winners were actor Naohito Fujiki (37) and actress Ryoko Hirosue (29).
Fujiki attended the event in a black tuxedo with bow tie, while Hirosue showed up wearing an indigo blue dress.
The awards have been given every year since 2000. Last year's winners were Yo Oizumi (36) and Yumiko Shaku (31).
tokyograph
The Japanese publisher Shogakukan has announced on Monday that it will end the school learning magazines Shōgaku Gonensei and Shōgaku Rokunensei, as well as the shōjo manga magazine ChuChu . Shōgaku Gonensei and Shōgaku Rokunensei (literally, "Elementary Fifth-Grader" and "Elementary Sixth-Grader") will end during the current school year on February 3 and December 28, respectively, and will be replaced by a new learning manga magazine, tentatively titled Gakumanplus, next spring. ChuChu, a magazine aimed at older elementary school girls and middle school girls, will end with its February issue on December 28. Shogakukan cited the great changes in the needs of readers for its decision to reformat all its Shōjo Comic magazines for their long-term prospects.
Among the manga that Shōgaku Gonensei and Shōgaku Rokunensei serialized were Doraemon, Pokémon, Yu Yabuuchi's Naisho no Tsubomi "sex education" manga, and Shigeru Mizuki's "War and Japan" ("Sensō to Nippon") short story. Chuchu published Satoru Takamiya's Heaven's Will, Yabuuchi's Hitohira no Koi ga Furu and Hatsukoi Shinan (Instructions for First Love), Miyuki Ōbayashi's Junai Sensation, Miwako Sugiyama's Ai no Kotoba, Satoru Takamiya's Kusuriyubi Hime, and Kiyoko Arai's Yomogi Mochi Yake Ta? manga. Viz Media publishes the Pokémon and Heaven's Will manga in North America.
Shogakukan launched its Shōgaku magazines in 1922, the same year that the company itself was founded. (Shogakukan literally means "elementary school building.") At their peak in April (the start of the school year) of 1973, Shōgaku Gonensei printed 635,000 copies, and Shōgaku Rokunensei printed 460,000 copies. In recent years, the circulations of both magazines have fallen into the range of 50,000 to 60,000 copies. Shogakukan's four magazines aimed at younger elementary school students—Shōgaku Ichinensei (Elementary First-Grader) through Shōgaku Yonnensei (Elementary Fourth-Grader)—will continue to be published.
ChuChu launched as a spinoff from Ciao and Shōjo Comic magazine's editorial departments in August of 2008. ChuChu was revamped into a monthly magazine in its January 2006 issue in December of 2005. It had a print run of 180,000 at its launch, but it has been hovering around 50,000 copies recently.
ANN
Rock band Aqua Timez have announced the release of their first ever live DVD, called Aqua Timez still connected tour '09, for December 23rd.
Aqua Timez are currently celebrating the fifth anniversary of their major debut. On the 14th of this month, they released their first best-of album The BEST of Aqua Timez, including three discs of songs and music videos. The compilation reached the first spot on the Oricon charts as of October 21st and its limited edition was already out of print on the first day of sales.
Aqua Timez still connected tour '09 will feature full footage from the group's performance at NHK Hall in Tokyo on May 28th, part of their most recent nationwide tour, as well as extra scenes. This 29 date tour started in March this year, attracting approximately 60,000 people.
jame-world
Popular R&B group EXILE are working on the release of their newest full-length album, titled Aisubeki mirai e and due to be released on December 2nd.
This will be EXILE's first original album since EXILE LOVE, which came out back in December 2007. Although it has not been decided which songs will be on the album yet, it is expected to feature all of their previous singles, including their respective main songs, Ti Amo, Someday and Yasashii hikari, making this a monster album.
Aisubeki mirai e will go on sale in three different versions: a limited first press edition, featuring the main disc, two DVDs and a special Christmas CD, a regular CD+2DVD version and a standard CD-only edition.
jame-world
Here's something that came out in Shunkan Bunshun last month.
SMAP's popularity is on the decline. For many years they were called national idols and anything they appeared in would get massive ratings, but all that is beginning to collapse. Their drama ratings have fallen and their show SMAPxSMAP, which at one point was pulling in over 30%, is now closer to 10%. TV stations are now focusing more on Arashi. Furthermore, all of this will have an impact on who will be succeeding the throne to Johnny's Jimusho.
Having realized SMAP just aren't what they used to be, TV stations have started putting their feelers out to find another talent to replace them. However, their reliance on Johnny's hasn't changed. A showbiz insider said,"Their interest has shifted from SMAP to Arashi. Back in August after Arashi's Kokuritsu concert, they had a big party at a hotel where Fuji and NTV executives greeted them - something unthinkable back in SMAP's heyday."
Apparently the whole SMAP situation is having an effect on who will be successor to Johnny's Jimusho, something TV stations are keeping their eyes on. "Right now it's beetween Iijima Michi, who has been managing SMAP, and Fujishima Julie Keiko, daughter of Vice President Mary Kitagawa.
Due to her association with SMAP people are turning their backs on Iijima as well. "Recently Johnny drunkenly said to a TV show staffer, 'Are you with Iijima? Or Julie? All the stations should drop Iijima and go with Julie.'"
source
KENCHI (30) and NAOTO (26), both members of the popular group EXILE, are making their drama debut in a mobile phone series on BeeTV.
The two will co-star in "Genryo Boxer," a comedy about a pro boxer (KENCHI), whose unstoppable appetite has kept him out of the ring as he never passes the weigh-in, and a younger boxer (NAOTO) who lays "traps" of food for him.
The series will start on BeeTV on November 1.
tokyograph
Pop-rock band Aqua Timez released their first best album, "The BEST of Aqua Timez," last week. The collection ranked #1 on the weekly sales chart at more than 83,000 copies.
The album is the band's first to top the charts since they signed with a major label. However, they already achieved it once during their indie days, with the album "Sora Ippai ni Kanaderu Inori." It was released in August 2005, but it didn't reach #1 until February 2006, just a couple months before their major label debut.
the pillows and Kome Kome Club also made the top ten this week with new albums, ranking #7 and #8, respectively.
On the singles chart, rock duo B'z took #1 with "MY LONELY TOWN," which sold close to 181,000 copies. This is their 43rd consecutive chart-topper, extending their record. They are also now tied again with SMAP and Ayumi Hamasaki for the record of 44 top ten singles.
Sukima Switch's new song landed at #2, followed by the new male idol group Shinsengumi Lien. Also near the top were The Gospellers (#5), Shoko Nakagawa (#6), The Birthday (#9), and a "Macross" single (#10).
tokyograph
Actress Takako Tokiwa, 37, and popular actor-playwright Keishi Nagatsuka, 34, tied the knot on Tuesday. They announced their marriage at 7 a.m. on Tokiwa’s homepage, posting a letter pledging to “bind our souls together and slowly, yet deliberately, walk together through life.”
Tokiwa, who denied rumors that she is pregnant, said she would continue with her career as an actress.
The two met on the set of the 2003 movie “Get Up!” and have continued their relationship from that time. Nagatsuka is the son of actor Kyozo Nagatsuka, 64.
source : Japan Today
The 3rd International Drama Festival, part of the currently running CoFesta (Japan International Contents Festival), kicked off on Monday. To help start things off, the winners of the 2nd Tokyo Drama Awards were announced.
The Grand Prize went to NTV's "Aishiteru ~Kaiyou~," which starred Izumi Inamori in a moving story about the relationship between a mother and her 10-year-old son, who kills a 7-year-old boy.
"Best Drama" awards were given to "ROOKIES," "Kaze no Garden," "Arifureta Kiseki," and "Soratobu Tire," as well as the tanpatsu dramas "Okaimono" and "Keiji Ichidai: Hiratsuka Hachibe no Showa Jikenshi." For local production dramas, "Okome no Namida" and "Momoyama Onigiriten" both received prizes.
The awards also honored individuals in the Personal Prize category. Kiichi Nakai received Best Performance by an Actor for his role in "Kaze no Garden," while Yuki Amami won Best Performance by an Actress for "BOSS." Similar awards for supporting roles were given to Kenichi Endo and Erika Toda. Two newcomer prizes went to Junpei Mizobata and Umika Kawashima.
"Kaze no Garden" also picked up awards for Best Screenplay (Sou Kuramoto) and Best Director (Rieko Miyamoto). Hisashi Tsugiya was named Best Producer for his work on "Aishiteru."
Special awards were given to the late actor Ken Ogata (whose last work was "Kaze no Garden"), the art staff of "Kurobe no Taiyou," and the production staff of TV Tokyo's "Shinshun Wide Jidaigeki."
tokyograph
Acting Culture and Tourism Minister Mohammad Nuh has issued a directive to deny entry to Japanese adult video star Maria “Miyabi” Ozawa to Indonesia.
Nuh, who is also the communications and information minister, said in a press release made available to Antara on Tuesday the directive was shown to the producer and director of a comedy film currently in production titled Menculik Miyabi (Kidnapping Miyabi) during a meeting at his office earlier in the day.
Nuh asked Odi Mulya Hidayat from Maxima Pictures, as the sponsor of Miyabi's planned visit here, to heed the directive and cancel the starlet’s visit, which has triggered an outcry from the religious right.
At the meeting, Maxima Pictures agreed to keep to the directive in order to avoid the controversy from drawing out, the release said.
Odi said he had to cancel Miyabi's visit and postpone the making of the film due to strong public opposition to the plan.
Dozens of students of the State Islamic Institute in Kudus, Central Java, took to the streets to protest Miyabi's planned visit to Indonesia. They torched women's underwear during their protest.
Women activists, however, had welcomed Miyabi’s visit.
The immigration office has not issued a ban against her.
http://www.allvoices.com/
H.U.G. Incorporated made multiple announcements this week regarding the U.S. portion of Miyavi's ongoing world tour. The company revealed a fifth and final concert date, plus two "limited mini-acoustic lives" in California.
Miyavi's U.S. concerts start with a show in Seattle on October 25. After that, he is scheduled to play in New York (Oct 28), Atlanta (Oct 30), and Dallas (Nov 2). H.U.G. stated on Wednesday that the final full concert will be in Irvine, CA, on November 4.
In addition to those five dates, Miyavi will perform at two limited mini-acoustic lives. The first will be on October 22 at the NEW PEOPLE center in San Francisco, and the second will be at the Pacific Media Expo in Los Angeles over the November 6-8 weekend. Both events will include an autograph session.
Tokyograph
Rock band NICO Touches the Walls' new single "Kakera - Subete no Omoi Tachi e -," which is set for a November 4th release, will feature popular actor Mukai Osamu on both the CD jacket and in the PV.
"Kakera" will be the theme song for the NTV drama Bocho Mania 09, which begins airing October 22nd. As Mukai is in the lead role, it was decided he'd work with the band. Although Mukai, who usually listens to Western-style and techno music, didn't have any experience working with a band, he said, "I listened to the song about 30 times and practiced so I could sing it at the shoot."
On top of being featured in the PV, Mukai is also on the single's cover in two versions, black and white, to go with the drama's theme of trials/judgement. The black version will only be used as the first press limited edition, so fans will want to get their hands on it before it sells out.
sources: natalie | sports hochi
Nikkan Sports has revealed the results of its summer season Drama Grand Prix, which was almost completely swept by the Fuji TV series "Buzzer Beat." It lost only in the Best Supporting Actor category.
A total of 12,693 votes were counted in the poll. Except for Best Supporting Actor, "Buzzer Beat" received around 5,000 votes in each of the categories.
Best Drama:
1. Buzzer Beat - 4755
2. Orthros no Inu - 2731
3. Ninkyo Helper - 2436
4. Kyumei Byoto 24 Ji - 769
5. Tenchijin - 346
Best Actor:
1. Tomohisa Yamashita (Buzzer Beat) - 4991
2. Tsuyoshi Kusanagi (Ninkyo Helper) - 2530
3. Hideaki Takizawa (Orthros no Inu) - 2170
4. Yosuke Eguchi (Kyumei Byoto 24 Ji) - 734
5. Satoshi Tsumabuki (Tenchijin) - 468
Best Actress:
1. Keiko Kitagawa (Buzzer Beat) - 5028
2. Nanako Matsushima (Kyumei Byoto 24 Ji) - 3186
3. Mikako Tabe (Tsubasa) - 885
4. Yasuko Sawaguchi (Kasouken no Onna) - 787
5. Kyoko Fukada (Karei Naru Spy) - 691
Best Supporting Actor:
1. Ryo Nishikido (Orthros no Inu) - 2940
2. Junpei Mizobata (Buzzer Beat) - 2105
3. Seishiro Kato (Ninkyo Helper) - 1564
4. Hideaki Ito (Buzzer Beat) - 995
5. Yusuke Santamaria (Kyumei Byoto 24 Ji) - 516
Best Supporting Actress:
1. Shihori Kanjiya (Buzzer Beat) - 2501
2. Saki Aibu (Buzzer Beat) - 2174
3. Meisa Kuroki (Ninkyo Helper) - 1920
4. Asami Mizukawa (Orthros no Inu) - 1474
5. Yui Natsukawa (Ninkyo Helper) - 608
tokyograph
With the second season of the "LIAR GAME" drama series starting next month, Fuji TV has announced a spin-off of the show that will be available through the network's online video service Fuji TV On Demand.
Titled "LIAR GAME: Episode 0," the spin-off will reportedly run for 12 episodes, each lasting under two minutes. The story takes place seven years before all of the show's characters met in the first season. The protagonist Nao (Erika Toda) will instead be played by Mayuko Fukuda, while Akiyama (Shota Matsuda) will be played by Yuta Furukawa.
The pricing has been set at 105 yen per episode, though a complete package will be available for 735 yen. The spin-off will begin on October 27.
tokyograph
The big names that are going to appear in Oguri Shun’s (26) directorial debut "Someday" are getting leaked left and right. The movie itself is supposed to open next spring and it already got leaked that Koide Keisuke (25) is going to get the starring role while Inoue Mao (22) and Ueto Aya (24) have also been mentioned to be part of the cast among many other big stars.
Oguri didn’t have much problems with finding his starring actor. He asked Koide and he immediately gave his agreement. Of course it won’t be a movie just with Koide. Inoue Mao and Abe Tsuyoshi (27) are going to co-star in this movie as well. Oguri’s junior Tanaka Kei (25) will have a role too, as well as his stage mate Katsudzi Ryo (23), Muro Tsuyoshi (33), Yoshida Koutarou (50) and a couple more.
Other interesting additions are the young rising actor Miura Haruma (19), the always amazing actress Konishi Manami (30) and not to forget Tenchijin’s big star and popular commercial actor Tsumabuki Satoshi (28). The latter is actually a very close friend of Oguri and so it was no surprise for him wanting to support is friend’s directorial debut. Movie insiders also claim that it’s his intention to have a suitable role for the always popular Ueto Aya who already starred in many movies and doramas up to now.
There is also some supposed leaked footage related to the content of his movie. It seems like that the story is basically going to be about a sculptured group of 5 male childhood friend. They raised some trouble and one of them got arrested. Now that he’s being discharged from prison, the 5 of them get together again for another plot, after which they are going to separate again. It’s a story about personal growth, friendship and unity. The highlight is said to be a quarrel scene between all the guys.
Such kind of story is no surprise when you look at who provided Oguri with the script. No other than Crows Zero writer Mutou Shougo is helping him to create yet another nice world that’s primarily focused on men. It’s a dream come true for Oguri to direct his first movie, however, in a radio interview he also said that "I’m almost getting crushed by all this pressure. I always had moments where I thought to myself, Why on earth did you wan to do something like that?". He is going to be the youngest actor to make a debut as director in history. Everyone is wondering what the final movie is going to look like…
And remember, there haven’t been any official announcements regarding the cast as of yet.
kawaii-joyuu
This year marks the twentieth year of the passing of legendary actor Matsuda Yusaku. In memory him, a new movie titled 'Soul Red: Matsuda Yusaku' will be released on November 6th. Highlights from the film include commentaries from his sons, actors Matsuda Ryuhei and Matsuda Shota, who will be sharing memories and impressions of their late father. This will also mark the first time they will all be appearing together on the silver screen.
Aside from the brothers, the film's director also interviewed many American and Japanese actors who have either collaborated or have been greatly influenced by Matsuda Yusaku. These include Japanese actors Kagawa Teruyuki, Asano Tadanobu, screenwriter-director Kudo Kankuro, legendary producer Kurosawa Mitsuru, and director Morita Yoshimitsu. Hollywood actor Andy Garcia adds his name to the list of high profile stars that will appear in the film.
Source: Mingpao
Translated by: sparkles_n15 @ asianfanatics.net
