V6's Inohara Yoshihiko & Seto Asaka expecting their second child

V6 member Inohara Yoshihiko and actress Seto Asaka are expecting their second child, as reported on 12 July. Seto is currently 5 months' pregnant and is due to give birth within the year. According to her agency, Seto will continue her work depending on her condition. Currently, she is mainly seen in magazines and CMs while her new movie "Joukyou Monogatari" is due to be shown in cinemas from 24 July. As to when she will begin her maternity break, it is still undecided at the moment.

Seto and Inohara got married in 2007 and their first son was born in March 2010. She returned to work in the drama SP "Akujotachi no Mesu" in December 2011 and was last seen in her  first drama series since becoming a mother i.e. TOKYO Airport ~ Tokyo Kuukou Kansei Hoanbu" in autumn 2012.

Source: Cinema Today

The 16th Nikkansports Drama Grand Prix (Autumn 2012)

Note that the number in brackets indicate the number of votes received:

Best Drama
1) PRICELESS (457)
2) Doctor X (212)
3) Aibou season 11 (120)
4) Taira no Kiyomori (75)
5) TOKYO Airport (71)

Best Leading Actor
1) Kimura Takuya - PRICELESS (548)
2) Mizutani Yutaka - Aibou 11 (235)
3) Sakai Masato - Ooku Tanjou (146)
4) Ikuta Toma - Osozaki no Himawari (130)
5) Matsuyama Kenichi - Taira no Kiyomori (107)

Best Leading Actress
1) Yonekura Ryoko - Doctor X (419)
2) Fukada Kyoko - TOKYO Airport (206)
3) Kanno Miho - Kekkon Shinai (176)
4) Kitagawa Keiko - Akumu-chan (152)
5) Natsuna - Jun to Ai (NHK)

Best Supporting Actor
1) Nakai Kiichi - PRICELESS (345)
2) Ishiguro Ken - Sousa Chizu no Onna (104)
3) Narimiya Hiroki - Aibou 11 (99)
4) Kishibe Ittoku - Doctor X (97)
5) Matsuda Shota - Taira no Kiyomori (70)

Best Supporting Actress
1) Karina - PRICELESS (434)
2) Uchida Yuki - Doctor X (129)
3) Fukada Kyoko - Taira no Kiyomori (79)
4) Tabe Mikako - Ooku Tanjou (77)
5) Maki Youko - Osozaki no Himawari (72)

Source: Nikkansports

Nonami Maho & Mikami Kensei get married; Nonami's role in "Dinner" to go to Seki Megumi

Actress Nonami Maho and actor Mikami Kensei announced their marriage through their agencies on 12 December 2012. According to insiders, the couple filed a marriage application on 9 December which happened to be the day when both of them were not working. Nonami is currently 3 months' pregnant and is due to give birth in June or July. There are no plans yet for the wedding and they are still searching for a new house.

The couple got to know each other through a friend 2 years ago and was reported to be dating when an article appeared in a tabloid in October this year. Nonami who appears in this season's "TOKYO Airport" as a air traffic controller, was originally scheduled to act in the upcoming winter 2013 drama "dinner" but had to give up her role due to her condition. As a result, Seki Megumi will be taking over Nonami's role in the new drama.

Source: Sanspo

Top 10 favourite dramas of the Autumn 2012 season (Ori Star)

Note that the sample size of this survey is relatively small (only 1,000) and that the pool of respondents are all ladies so preferences may be skewed towards certain genres and results may differ from what the ratings ranking reflects. Number in brackets indicate number of people who voted for the drama:

1) Kekkon Shinai (91)
2) Ooku - Tanjou (84)
3) PRICELESS (67)
4) Yuusha Yoshihiko to Akurei no Kagi (60)
5) Aibou (57)
6) Koukou Nyuushi (52)
7) MONSTERS (47)
8) Osozaki no Himawari ~ Boku no Jinsei, Renewal (46)
9) Akumu-chan (36)
10) TOKYO Airport (34)

Source: Ori Star

Production press conference of "TOKYO Airport ~ Tokyo Kuukou Kansei Hoanbu"

The production press conference of FujiTV autumn drama "TOKYO Airport ~ Tokyo Hoan Kansei Hoanbu" was held on 9 October at Haneda Airport and was attended by cast members Fukada Kyoko, Sasaki Nozomi and Seto Kouji. Before the press conference started, the cast distributed badges to passengers at the airport in a bid to promote the drama. Fukada plays a newbie air traffic controller thus she mentioned during the event that she had a hard time trying to memorise English terms used in this field of work when communicating with the pilots which was a view echoed by her co-stars who also play air traffic controllers. Filming of this drama is done primarily at Haneda Airport and a studio set at FujiTV featuring the interior of the air traffic control tower.

Source: Sanspo

Koike Eiko starring in CS FujiTV drama "TOKUNOSHIMA Airport"

Koike Eiko will be starring in the CS FujiTV drama "TOKUNOSHIMA Airport" which consists of four 15-minute episodes that will begin its run from 14 October. This drama is a spin-off of Fukada Kyoko's FujiTV autumn drama "TOKYO Airport ~ Tokyo Kuukou Kansei Hoanbu" and is a stark contrast from the setting in the latter where there are 500 flights per day at Haneda Airport. In this spin-off drama, Koike plays an air traffic controller at a small airport in Tokunoshima, an island near Kagoshima Prefecture where there are only 4 flights per day. As such, the drama focuses on how the air traffic controllers there battle with boredom rather than the busy lives led by their Tokyo counterparts.

Source: Sanspo

Preview of Tokyo Airport - Autumn 2012

Title: Tokyo Airport - Tokyo Kuukou Kansei Hoanbu (Tokyo Airport: Air Traffic Controller)
Official site: here
O.A. Start Date: unannounced yet
Timeslot: Sundays 9pm
Broadcast by: FujiTV
Scriptwriter: Uda Manabu
Cast: Fukada Kyoko, Sasaki Nozomi, Kaname Jun, Seto Koji, Sato Eriko, Yamaguchi Sayaka, Nonami Maho, Asaka Koudai, Hiraoka Yuuta, Seto Asaka, Bessho Tetsuya, Kajihara Zen and Tokito Saburo

Fukada Kyoko to star in FujiTV autumn 2012 drama "Tokyo Airport ~ Tokyo Kuukou Kansei Hoanbu"

Fukada Kyoko will star in the FujiTV autumn 2012 drama " TOKYO Airport ~ Tokyo Kuukou Kansei Hoanbu" (Tokyo Airport Control Security Department) which will begin its run in October in the Sundays 9pm timeslot. Fukada plays Shinoda Kaori who had been a ground staff at the airport but suddenly decided to take the national exam to be a air traffic controller. She passed the exam and went through a tough internship at the air traffic security university and is now a newbie air traffic controller who's about to reach 30. In the first episode, a major accident almost happens due to Shinoda's careless mistake and the bad weather causes a state of emergency at the airport. The drama will be filmed primarily at Haneda Airport from mid September and Fukada is set to undergo training under the guidance of the professionals at the air traffic control tower. This drama will also be the first time Fukada has starred in a FujiTV drama since 2001's Fighting Girl. Co-stars include Sasaki Nozomi, Kaname Jun, Seto Yasufumi, Seto Asaka and Tokito Saburo.


Source: Sanspo