Japanese News

[aphrodite]

Exile Grab 1000th Top Spot
The 1000th single to top the Oricon weekly chart is "Michi" by pop group Exile, which entered at No.1. The ballad was up against some strong competition to grab the landmark top spot. Popular duo WaT teamed up with TV kids' character Gatchapin Mukku to record the No.2 hit, "Kimi ni Okuru Uta". Tenor Akikawa Masafumi (39) has managed to stay in the Top 3. Not only was his "Sen no Kaze ni Natte" the first classical recording to top the chart, it's also the first by a male solo artist to stay in the Top 3 for six weeks running since Fukuyama Masaharu's "Niji" in 2003. The 32nd single from Morning Musume, "Egao Yes Nude", has entered the chart at No.4. They have now made the Top 10 for ten years running, a record for a girl group. Kuraki Mai (24) has seen every one of her 26 singles enter the Top 10, extending her record for a solo female artist. Her latest, "Season of Love", entered at No.6. One spot below is the Japanese debut single from American model Leah Dizon (20). She's been busy on a recent trip to Japan, making appearances in record stores and on TV. The half French-American, half Chinese-Philippina model's self-promotional savvy has worked particularly well in Japan, and she had one of the best-selling photo books of last year

[aphrodite]

i will post more each day

[annelie82]

Originally Posted by aphrodite

Exile Grab 1000th Top Spot
The 1000th single to top the Oricon weekly chart is "Michi" by pop group Exile, which entered at No.1. The ballad was up against some strong competition to grab the landmark top spot. Popular duo WaT teamed up with TV kids' character Gatchapin Mukku to record the No.2 hit, "Kimi ni Okuru Uta". Tenor Akikawa Masafumi (39) has managed to stay in the Top 3. Not only was his "Sen no Kaze ni Natte" the first classical recording to top the chart, it's also the first by a male solo artist to stay in the Top 3 for six weeks running since Fukuyama Masaharu's "Niji" in 2003. The 32nd single from Morning Musume, "Egao Yes Nude", has entered the chart at No.4. They have now made the Top 10 for ten years running, a record for a girl group. Kuraki Mai (24) has seen every one of her 26 singles enter the Top 10, extending her record for a solo female artist. Her latest, "Season of Love", entered at No.6. One spot below is the Japanese debut single from American model Leah Dizon (20). She's been busy on a recent trip to Japan, making appearances in record stores and on TV. The half French-American, half Chinese-Philippina model's self-promotional savvy has worked particularly well in Japan, and she had one of the best-selling photo books of last year

I've heard of this Exile band before. Supposedly they're pretty good. Do you know if I can download their songs from anywhere, preferably legally? Heck, even illegally is fine - I am rather skint at the moment.

~annelie

[aphrodite]

Originally Posted by annelie82

I've heard of this Exile band before. Supposedly they're pretty good. Do you know if I can download their songs from anywhere, preferably legally? Heck, even illegally is fine - I am rather skint at the moment.

~annelie

sorry but i dont

[aphrodite]

Japan Misses Out on Oscars
Ah well, maybe next year. Japan failed to produce its first acting Oscar in 49 years last night as Kikuchi Rinko (26) lost out to Jennifer Hudson (25) for the best supporting actress award. The relatively unknown Kikuchi has had a dream ride with her new found fame and success in the movie "Babel" and remained pretty upbeat. "The awards are over now, so I've completely 'graduated' from Babel. The Oscars were really fun and a great experience. Through this movie I've learned so much and the world has opened up for me." She's already working on her next Hollywood project, co-starring with Rachel Weisz and Adrien Brody in "The Brothers Bloom".

Meanwhile, Clint Eastwood's gritty WWII film "Letters From Iwo Jima" was pipped for the best picture award by Martin Scorsese's "The Departed", the remake of Korean flick "Infernal Affair", which also won Scorsese the best director Oscar on his sixth nomination. Forest Whitaker and Helen Mirren won the best actor and actress awards, with Alan Arkin recognized as the best supporting actor.


Filmed entirely in Japanese with a Japanese cast, "Letters..." failed to become the first totally foreign-language movie to win best picture and of its four nominations it took only the award for best sound editing. But the movie's star, and 2004 best supporting actor nominee, Watanabe Ken (47, shown with wife Minami Kaho) got his moment in the spotlight. Together with veteran French actress Catherine Deneuve, he presented a feature on the 50-year history of foreign films at the Oscars. He spoke in confident English that no doubt made him the envy of many a Nova student! Another Japanese who missed out this year was makeup artist Tsuji Kazuhiro (37), who was nominated for his work on the Adam Sandler movie "Click".


• Guitarist Ohmura Tasshin (31) has quit the rock trio Kururi. The band will continue as a duo with Kishida Shigeru (30) on vocals and bassist Sato Masashi (30), who is also president of their record label "Noise McCartney Records". Another former member of the band is drummer Christopher Mcguire (31), who was later briefly with Kid Dakota in the U.S.

• Actress Itaya Yuka (31) has married stylist Furuta Hirohiko (40). The two first met about 12 years ago, but started dating in 2005. February 27, 2007

End of an Era
Veteran rakugoka Sanyuutei Enraku (74) left his audience in tears yet again in Tokyo yesterday. But while they are usually tears of laughter, yesterday his fans were filled with mixed emotions. The former host of popular NHK show "Shoten" was hospitalized with a brain hemorrhage in October 2005 and made his comeback to the stage a year later. He said that he would use yesterday's performance to decide his future. It was standing room only at the National Engei Hall and some members of the audience could be seen wiping tears from their eyes during his 45-minute act. But Enraku announced after the show that he was bringing his 53-year career to an end, saying "It's no good, no good at all. I'm going to retire as a storyteller." He added that he would be embarrassed to ask people to pay money to see him when he can no longer perform at his best. He will most likely continue to make occasional appearances as a guest performer, and plans to continue as leader of the Enraku Ichimonkai school of rakugo. All but one of his apprentices are in their 50s and 60s and have become stars, and he has said he would like to continue until Ouraku (29) also reaches the top level. Enraku has been undergoing dialysis treatment for nine years and his poor health forced him to retire after 23 years as the host of Shoten last year. He had been a performer on the show since its start in 1966.

• Johnny's Jimusho idol Takizawa Hideaki (24) fell on a staircase and fractured his nose last Friday. But the show must go on, so he and partner Imai Tsubasa (25) performed two scheduled concerts as Tackey & Tsubasa in Nagoya over the weekend. Takizawa missed Friday's recording of the TBS show "Zubari Iuwayo!" and had to wear a face mask for the concerts. His injury is expected to take a month to heal. February 26, 2007

Mori Saga Continues
Enka singer Mori Shinichi (59) has been trying to make up with composer Kawauchi Kouhan (86) but with no success. Kawauchi is furious with Mori for singing an altered version of his 1971 hit "O-fukuro-san" and has refused to let him perform any of his songs or to even meet with him. Mori and his staff tried to meet with Kawauchi without an appointment at his Tokyo hotel yesterday but were turned away. Mori left a letter and said he would return every day until Kawauchi agreed to meet him. Kawauchi checked out of the hotel last night. (See earlier stories for more details)

• The online music business continues to show solid growth in Japan. Last year's revenues from music downloads totalled ¥53.4 billion, an increase of 56% over 2005. Of the total, about 90% was downloaded to mobile phones. This was the first time the total exceeded that of CD single sales, which were at ¥50.8 billion, and it is fast catching up on revenues from DVDs and other music video recordings, which were ¥56.8 billion. Excluding download sales, the total revenue from music-related software was &408.4 billion, continuing an 8-year slide from 1999's high of ¥607.4 billion. February 24, 2007

[aphrodite]

Together Again After All These Years

Can one studio really hold these two egos? For the 1,000th edition of his "Sanma No Manma" talk show, comedian Akashiya Sanma (51) has chosen fellow comedy veteran Kitano "Beat" Takeshi (60) as his special guest. The show was recorded in Tokyo yesterday, with the pair sharing a bottle of ¥1.9-million Romanee Conti wine and reminiscing about old times. They both achieved huge fame and notoriety on the "Ore-tachi Hyokinzoku" show in the early 1980s, building on that success to become two of the biggest names in Japanese showbiz. While Takeshi has fitted work as an actor and movie director in between his frequent talk and variety show appearances, Sanma has stuck almost entirely to the variety circuit and remains Japan's most high-voltage talk show host. One of his several regular shows, "Sanma No Manma" has been on the air for 22 years. For some reason the special will air in Tokyo on Fuji TV at the late hour of 2:05am on April 6, though in the Kansai area it will be on March 23 at 7pm.

[aphrodite]

Kano Sisters to Go to Court
The "Gorgeous Kano Sisters" drama has escalated. Though her elder sister Kyoko (44, photo center) earlier this month reported to police that she stole jewelery worth ¥400 million, a lawyer for Oyama Harue (photo left) stated yesterday that she took only what belonged to her when she moved out of her Tokyo home in January. She has also insisted that the items she took are worth far less than her elder sister claimed. On hearing that her sister had decided to file a criminal complaint and sue her for the return of the items, she replied that she would answer the case in court. It was widely speculated that the whole affair was simply a stunt by the never publicity-shy sisters to promote a new book by Kyoko, but it now looks like the matter will go to the courts. Such a court case would probably reveal to the public for the first time much of the financial dealings of the Kano Sisters, the funding of whose extravagant lifestyle has always been something of a mystery. Another mystery is the man in Harue's life, described as a Belgian whose family is connected with the jewelery business, and whom she met in France two years ago. He is said to have been living off her in her Tokyo home, but she was hoping to marry him.

• Actor Takamatsu Hideo died of a heart attack at his home on Monday morning. He was 77. A popular character actor in many TV dramas such as "Judo Icchokusen", which ran on TBS from 1969 to 1971, he was working right up until his death. He started working last Thursday on location in Ibaraki Prefecture for a new TV Tokyo drama. Complaining that he was feeling unwell, he returned to his Kanagawa prefecture home by express bus on Sunday night. His wife, former fashion model Yoko (71), awoke on Monday morning to find his body cold and lifeless. A TV Tokyo spokesman said the network has yet to decide whether to re-shoot or even continue making the drama. February 28, 2007

[aphrodite]

Hosoka Naoki Becomes a Monk

Actor Hosoka Naoki (39) has entered the priesthood. Yesterday, he underwent the initiation ceremony to become a monk with the major Shingon sect of Buddhism. Wearing a pure white kimono, he took part in a series of rituals over the course of several hours at the Rokusuiin temple in Kumamoto Prefecture. He took on the new name Shouyou, given to him by the temple's head priestess Shimo Yoshiko, whom he first met on a variety show a year ago. Hosaka said yesterday he wants to re-start his life. However, unlike many new monks, he didn't shave his head and received only the slightest of haircuts. He plans to continue his showbiz career and hopes to be someone that other celebrities can come to with their troubles. The twice-divorced Hosaka has led the kind of romantically adventurous life typical of many handsome actors. In 1990, along with Hagiwara Masato (35) and Fukuyama Masaharu (38), he was referred to as one of the "pretty boy trio of the Heisei Era". Soon caught up in an affair with married Ginza hostess and former talento Kashimoto Tomoko, the two were briefly married. Hosoka then had a widely publicized relationship with actress Matsuyuki Yasuko (34) before marrying again in 1996 to actress Takaoka Saki (34). They were often portrayed in the media as an ideal couple, but extra-marital affairs led to divorce in 2004. After the split they revealed that they had only stayed together as long as they did for the sake of their two children. Hosaka said he wanted to spare his children the kind of childhood trauma he suffered as a result of his own parents' suicide. He didn't say whether it was a coincidence that yesterday was the 33rd anniversary of their death.

[aphrodite]

VIP Treatment for Norika, Jinnai
Actress Fujiwara Norika (35) and Yoshimoto comedian Jinnai Tomonori (33) got the VIP treatment when they went to register their marriage yesterday. The couple held a very high-profile traditional wedding ceremony at the Ikuta Jinja shrine in Kobe on February 17. There were no ceremonial kimonos to be seen at the Kakogawa City municipal office yesterday but Jinnai's hometown officials put aside a separate room for the couple and kept out the inevitable media entourage. According to their management, the date had no particular significance and was one of the few days when both had some free time from their busy showbiz schedules. April 11, 2007

Ebizo the Ladies Man
Talk about romantic musical chairs! The latest romantic interest for kabuki actor Ichikawa Ebizo (29) seems to be actress Takaoka Saki (34), according to the latest issue of weekly women's magazine "Josei Jishin". The pair were spotted last week taking a romantic evening walk hand in hand under the blooming cherry blossoms along the Meguro River in Tokyo. Ebizo had just returned the day before from a kabuki performance in Paris, which was attended by ex-girlfriend Yonekura Ryoko (31). Arriving back in Japan separately, both denied that there was any rekindling of the flame between them. Ebizo broke up just recently split with his girlfriend of three months, actress Sato Eriko (25), a breakup that she clearly took badly. He also has a history with actress Miyazawa Rie (34) and in 2003 fathered a child with a former pop singer. Takaoka is no romantic slouch either. One reason for her 2004 divorce from actor Hosaka Naoki (39) was said to be her extra-marital affairs. And the split was followed by a fling with married kabuki actor Nakamura Shido (34), which led to his divorce from actress Takeuchi Yuko (27).

• 200 fans turned out to greet American R&B singer Beyonce (28) at Narita Airport yesterday. She's in town to kick off her first solo world tour with a show at the Tokyo Dome tonight. That's followed by two nights at the Osaka Dome (April 11-12) and a final show at the Aichi Prefecture Gymnasium in Nagoya on April 14.

• U.S. movie fans will want to watch for the name NorA (yes, that's how it's spelled). The 22-year-old actress makes her debut this week in "LoveDeath", directed by Kitamura Ryuhei and due to open here in Japan on April 12. But she already has her first Hollywood movie lined up. "Midnight Meat Train", which is also Kitamura's first U.S. project, starts filming in a week and is scheduled for U.S. release in the autumn. April 10, 2007

[aphrodite]

im doing request you may ask about a certain month between now and 2003