Preview of "35-sai no Koukousei" - Spring 2013

Title: 35-sai no Koukousei
Official website: here
Broadcast by: NTV
Timeslot: Saturdays 9pm
O.A. Start Date: 13 April 2013
Theme song: Flower Song by EXILE
Cast: Yonekura Ryoko, Mizobata Junpei, Katase Nana, Masu Takeshi, Aiba Hiroki, Tonesaku Toshihide, Kumabe Youhei, Yokoyama Megumi, Enoki Takaaki, Hirose Alice, Mizuno Erina, Miyazaki Karen, Watari Tetsuya

"Kyuumei Byoutou 24 Ji" to be back with 5th installment this summer

The 5th installment under the hit "Kyuumei Byoutou 24 Ji" series will be shown from July onwards in the Tuesdays 9pm timeslot on FujiTV where Matsushima Nanako will be the sole lead and play her role of emergency doctor Kojima Kaede again. Besides showing the issues facing doctors, the drama will also feature Kojima's problems as a 39-year-old woman.

In the latest installment, Kojima sets up a new team under her after she becomes the director of the Minato National University's affiliated hospital's emergency room department. Her team will come face-to-face with new types of problems such as juvenile crime, organ transplant and crimes in the city which are common in the society of today. Joining her will be Tokito Saburo who plays the role of Natsume Mamoru who is an expert in organ transplants and Sasaki Kuranosuke who plays Honjou Masaharu, a ER doctor who keeps clashing with Kojima on everything.

The theme song will be sung by DREAMS COME TRUE just like the previous four seasons and is written specially for the new drama.

Source: Sanspo

Promotional event of movie "Toshokan Sensou"

Okada Junichi and Eikura Nana attended a promotional event for their new movie "Toshokan Sensou" held at Tokyo on 16 April where they met university students for a seminar talking about love. The movie which is based on Arikawa Hiro's bestselling novel, will be shown in cinemas from 27 April and features Okada and Eikura as members of a books defense force to uphold the freedom of reading books without the fear of excessive censorship. When one of the male university students asked the actors if they prefer dating someone who's aggressive or passive about love, Okada said that he prefers someone passive while Eikura chose the opposite. However, when asked if they are the type to confess their feelings to someone they like, Okada commented that he's the type to take the initiative so he sees himself as the aggressive type while Eikura also said that she can say it when the need arises.

Source: Sanspo

Galileo gets off to a good start with 22.6%

"Galileo" got off to a good start with its first episode shown on 15 April achieving a high rating of 22.6% in the Kanto region. With that, the drama grabbed the No.1 single episode rating title for 2013 based on dramas aired so far. It had been 5 years since the first series was shown in 2007 and the latest sequel features Fukuyama Masaharu pairing up with new partner Yoshitaka Yuriko. In addition, the first episode got a lot of attention due to guest star Osawa Takao and the highest rating within the episode was at 25.3% which was when Fukuyama's character Yukawa was explaining the tricks used by Osawa's character. With response to the news about the ratings, Fukuyama commented that he was glad that many viewers watched the drama and it was well worth the wait to play this role again. He hoped that this piece of good news would bring some positive energy to the filming set and that they will work hard to ensure that the good news continue.

Source: Sanspo

Production press conference of movie "Chiisai Ouchi"

The production press conference of director Yamada Youji's new movie "Chiisai Ouchi" (Small House) was held on 15 April which was attended by its double leads Matsu Takako and Baisho Chieko along with co-stars including Tsumabuki Satoshi, Yoshioka Hidetaka, Kuroki Haru and Kataoka Takataro. The movie which is scheduled to be shown next January, is based on a novel by Nakajima Kyoko which won the Naoki Award and features a love story during the Showa era happening at a house located in the suburbs of Tokyo and the truth behind this story which is revealed in the Heisei era. Matsu last worked with Yoshioka 9 years ago in another Yamada movie and this time round, she plays lovers with him. As this is Yamada's first romance movie, he said that he felt excited when the scene of Matsu's character visiting Yoshioka at his house was being filmed just like how the characters would feel in the movie.

Source: Sanspo

Promotional event of spring 2013 drama "Sennyuu Tantei Tokage"

Matsuda Shota, Matsuoka Masahiro and Renbutsu Misako attended the promotional event for their new TBS spring 2013 drama "Sennyuu Tantei Tokage" held on 15 April where they rode a promotional car and toured five spots in Tokyo over three hours. As  this was Matsuda's first PR event on a promotional car, he said that it was a weird feeling to have so many people pay attention to them as they waved to pedestrians at the Shibuya traffic junction. Matsuda joked that even though his character in the drama is a former police detective with a great photographic memory and sporting abilities who goes undercover for investigations, it was ironic for him to be out in the open where so many people could see him. As for Matsuoka, he commented that it was great being able to come out to see the reactions of the public.

Source: Sanspo

Preview of "Detarame Hero" - Spring 2013

Title: Detarame Hero
Official website: here
Broadcast by: NTV
Timeslot: Thursdays 11.58pm
O.A. Start Date: 4 April 2013
Theme song: HEROES by GReeeeN
Cast: Sato Ryuta, Tsukamoto Takashi, Motokariya Yuika, Akimoto Rei, Hara Mikie, Ono Mayumi, Kohinata Fumio

Production press conference of "Aiba Manabu"

The production press conference of Arashi's Aiba Masaki's first solo variety show "Aiba Manabu" was held on 14 April in Tokyo. The programme is scheduled to begin its run from 21 April via TV Asahi at 6pm on Sundays and aims to showcase little-known facts about Japan which people should be proud of and may not know about. Aiba will ditch his Aiba-chan image and put up black-rimmed glasses while hosting this show in order to show a more mature side of him. During the press conference, Aiba admitted that he was happy to use his surname for the show and would try his best to do a good job. As part of the first episode's focus on food which have its origins in Japan, there was a Wanko soba contest where Aiba picked Sponichi's report Aiba Sei (same pronunciation for the surname but Kanji is totally different) to be his opponent. Although Aiba had aimed to finish 70 bowls of the Wanko soba (the average eaten by Japanese men), he managed 56 only which resulted in a draw with Reporter Aiba.

Source: Sponichi

FUNKY MONKEY BABYS' Funky Kato gets married to former manager

FUNKY MONKEY BABYS' leader-cum-vocalist Funky Kato announced through his blog on 15 April about his marriage to a former manager of his on the same day. According to the statement, the couple chose to get married on this day as it is his wife's birthday and that it has been 10 years since he embarked on this journey to sing as a career where his wife had been a huge source of support along with his fans. Kato's wife is said to be more than 1.65m tall with a gentle and considerate character. Plans for the wedding have not been made and Kato's wife is currently not pregnant.

Source: Sanspo

Gouriki Ayame performs debut single at Zepp Tokyo

Gouriki Ayame who will make her singing debut with her first single under Sony Music titled "Tomodachi yori Daiji na hito" (A person more important than friends) on 10 July, performed the song live in Zepp Tokyo on 14 April where 1,000 fans had gathered. Gouriki commented that she was very nervous before going on stage to perform the song but things progressed smoothly as she performed with 8 backup dancers. In order to prepare for her CD debut, Gouriki started voice training lessons from October last year. She even participated in eight rehearsals before the Zepp Tokyo event which was far more than the norm of 2 sessions only. In addition, her record company also commented that Gouriki was the fastest artiste they've seen who picked up the dance steps in just two weeks. After the event, Gouriki cried when she recalled the time she spent on practices and was glad that she could finally show the finished product in public so she gave herself 120 points for the performance.

Source: Sanspo

Preview of "Sennyuu Tantei Tokage" - Spring 2013

Title: Sennyuu Tantei Tokage
Official website: here
Broadcast by: TBS
Timeslot: Thursdays 9pm
O.A. Start Date: 18 April 2013
Theme song: Niji by SPYAIR
Cast: Matsuda Shota, Matsuoka Masahiro, Renbutsu Misako, Mimura, Yamamoto Ryosuke, Kimijima Asaya, Kimino Yuuma, Mitsuishi Ken, Fukikoshi Mitsuru, Endo Kenichi, Ito Shiro

Sato Koichi's father Mikuni Rentarou passes away

Sato Koichi's actor-father Mikuni Rentarou passed away on 14 April at the age of 90 years old. When Sato appeared at the production press conference of his new drama "Kaibutsu" which is also the 55th anniversary production for Yomiuri TV on 15 April, he was asked about his father's demise where he revealed the details. According to Sato, Mikuni died due to acute respiratory failure at 9.18am on the previous day and had told his son that he didn't want a posthumous Buddhist name nor use his real name Sato Masao on his tomb nor wanted his son to inform anyone of his passing even after scattering his ashes. With regard to this, Sato commented that his father liked his identity as actor Mikuni Rentarou so much that he wanted to leave this world using this name.

Sato mentioned that he had only planned to make the news known after his father's body is cremated but the news came out earlier than expected. As such, he was prepared to talk about the facts surrounding his father's death during the press conference today. Actually, his father had been well up till evening on the day before yesterday but started vomiting after dinner. The following day (14 April), he had his breakfast but still threw up which led to his blood pressure shooting up and him dying two hours after that. As Sato was at home when Mikuni passed away, he did not get to see his father for the last time but he was more or less prepared for this day since Mikuni was already 90 and in poor health. The last time when he met his father was in early April before he headed to New York for the filming of his new movie where he dropped by at the hospital where Mikuni was staying at. The two of them chatted casually during that last meeting. Sato said that he was consoled by the fact  that Mikuni died with a dignified look on his face which was something not seen during the last couple of years so he didn't cry when he saw his father. When asked about his thoughts about Mikuni, Sato simply commented that he wasn't a typical father.

Source: Mantan Web / Eiga.com

 According to Wikipedia, Sato is Mikuni's son from his third marriage (he was married to four women and was romantically linked to a number of actresses). Things between Sato and Mikuni were not so good initially especially during Sato's younger days. They first appeared in the 1986 movie "Ningen no Yakusoku" but had no scenes together. In 1996, they worked together in the movie "Oishinbo" and had argued openly during the press conference while addressing each other very politely as "Mikuni-san" and "Sato-kun" in public. They later appeared in a ANA CM in 2008 looking as if things were fine between them and Sato commented during a 2009 episode of "Tetsuko no Heya" that he thought that his father was a hardworking person. Maybe because of the turbulent relationship he shared with his father which seemed to have improved later on, that's why Sato commented that Mikuni wasn't considered a typical father to him. Of course, the fact that Mikuni was a well-known veteran actor could also be why he wasn't typical.

Preview of Kakusho ~ Keishicho Sousa Sanka - Spring 2013

Title: Kakusho ~ Keishicho Sousa Sanka
Official site: here
Broadcast by: TBS
Timeslot: Mondays 8pm
O.A. Start Date: 15 April 2013
Original novel by: Konno Bin
Theme song: Message by Ieiri Leo
Cast: Takahashi Katsumi, Eikura Nana, Shitara Osamu, Yamamoto Ryuji, Yanagishita Tomo, Kurokawa Tomoka, Nishio Mari, Washio Machiko, Matsuda Satoshi, Nakamura Yasuhi, Izumiya Shigeru, Nakajima Tomoko and Kadono Takuzo

Kuroki Meisa to act as a thief in TBS spring 2013 drama "TAKE FIVE ~ Oretachi wa Ai wo Nusumeruka ~ "

Kuroki Meisa will be appearing in her first private network drama since she gave birth to her first daughter in September last year. She will play a thief in the TBS spring 2013 drama "TAKE FIVE ~ Oretachi wa Ai wo Nusumeruka ~" where she will take up the challenge of hardcore action scenes while dressed in black leather suits. Kuroki commented jokingly that if she had to be a thief while dressed in such suits, it should be quite attention-grabbing but given that the setting of her character is someone who returns to Japan from the United States, she can understand why she had to be dressed in such a manner. Kuroki's character is the leader of a rival theft group who competes against Karasawa Toshiaki's group and she will appear from the 5th episode onwards (17 May). As for why Kuroki was chosen for the role, the producer Iyoda Hidenori said that he had last worked with Kuroki in 2010's "Shinzanmono" and they had talked then about how he would put her in a role which require action scenes.

Source: Sanspo

Filming of the Aizu Battle for NHK Taiga "Yae no Sakura"

The cast of NHK Taiga drama "Yae no Sakura" including Ayase Haruka, Tamayama Tetsuji, Katsuji Ryo and Nakamura Shido participated in the filming of the Aizu Battle at Ibaraki Prefecture on 13 April. As Ayase had to carry a Spencer rifle weighing 4kg during the filming, she prepared for it by doing 120 push-ups daily from two weeks earlier. The filming of the scenes for this key event in the first part of the drama will last till 16 April and will be shown in the 22nd episode on 2 June.

Source: Sanspo

Preview of "Sora tobu Kouhoushitsu" - Spring 2013

Title: Sora tobu Kouhoushitsu
Official site: here
Broadcast by: TBS
Timeslot: Sundays 9pm
O.A. Start Date: 14 April 2013
Original novel by: Arikawa Hiro
Theme song: Contrail by Amuro Namie
Cast: Aragaki Yui, Ayano Go, Mizuno Miki, Kaname Jun, Takahashi Tsutomu, Muro Tsuyoshi, Kiriyama Ren, Shibukawa Kiyohiko, Mikura Mana, Maeno Tomoya, Ookawa Ai, Kiritani Kenta, Abe Joji, Ikeuchi Hiroyuki, Namase Katsuhisa, Shibata Kyouhei

GLAY's concert in South Korea cancelled

GLAY who are supposed to hold a concert in Seoul, South Korea, on 1 June, announced through their official website on 12 April that the concert will be cancelled. As for the reason, there were no details given except that the decision was made after extensive discussion and adjustments still could not resolve the problems. GLAY apologised to fans who had been eagerly anticipating the concert and asked for their understanding.

The Seoul performance was supposed to be part of GLAY's first Asian tour which included 4 performances in 4 cities i.e. Hong Kong on 25 May, Bangkok on 15 June, Taipei on 6 July and Seoul.

Source: Sponichi

'Legal High" to be back as full-length drama in autumn 2013

"Legal High" starring  Sakai Masato and Aragaki Yui which just showed its latest SP on 13 April via FujiTV, will be back as a full-length drama in the autumn 2013 season from October onward. "Legal High" had won various accolades such as the 50th Galaxy Award and the Tokyo Drama Award's excellence award and best leading actor award. The new drama's script will be written by Kosawa Ryota who is well-known for his works such as "ALWAYS 3-chome no Yuuhi" and "Gonzou". There will be different guests in each episode just like the first series as confirmed by the producer.

Source: Sanspo

First-day-screening of movie "Fune wo Amu"

The first-day-screening of movie "Fune wo Amu" was held on 13 April at Marunouchi Picadilly which was attended by cast members Matsuda Ryuhei, Miyazaki Aoi, Odagiri Jo, Kuroki Haru, Kobayashi Kaoru and Isayama Hiroko. The movie is based on the same titled novel by Miura Shion which won the 2012 Honya Taisho. When asked about their favourite words, Matsuda commented that he likes the word "tanoshimi" (meaning enjoyment) since he hopes to do everything happily. As for Miyazaki, she revealed that she likes the word "omotenashi" (hospitality) which reminds people that they should think of others when  doing anything and yet they should not go overboard with the politeness because it would create pressure for the other party so this is a difficult thing to achieve.

Source: Sanspo

First-day-screening of movie "Sakuranamiki no Mankai no Shita ni"

The first-day-screening of movie "Sakuranamiki no Mankai no Shita Ni" was held on 1 April at Theatre Shinjuku which was attended by the cast members Usuda Asami, Takahashi Yo, Matsumoto Marika and the director Funabashi Jun. Miura was absent during the event as he was performing in a stage play on the same day. The movie is set in Hitachi City in Ibaraki Prefecture where Usuda plays a widow who lost her husband (Takahashi) due to an accident but later falls for the person who had caused the accident (Miura). Usuda revealed that the director had told Miura to keep a distance from Usuda during the early part of the filming so as to bring out the feel of their characters being not so close to each other. However, since this is the second time Usuda had worked with Miura, they were able to discuss how to play their roles and bring out the best in each other through these discussions.

Source: Sanspo

yui caught on a date in latest issue of FRIDAY

yui who will make her debut as the vocalist of a 4-member band FLOWER FLOWER in May, was caught holding hands while on a date with Hatano Hirofumi, the vocalist-cum-guitarist of 3-member band People In The Box, as reported in the 12 April issue of FRIDAY. The magazine reported that the couple had only been dating for a month and met during live performances after yui suspended her singing activities and started performing at live houses using her new name. As yui had broken up with her ex-boyfriend in the middle of last month, she started to get closer to Hatano who also comes from Fukuoka and the two then became an item. According to FRIDAY, the couple have been going to each other's apartments and were seen holding hands while walking together in public.

Source: Sanspo

Screening event of movie "Toshokan Sensou"

The screening event of movie "Toshokan Sensou" was held on 12 April at Osaka's TOHO Cinemas Umeda which was attended by V6 member Okada Junichi, Eikura Nana and the director Sato Shinsuke. In the movie, Okada plays Eikura's superior-later-turned-boyfriend who trains her with an iron fist after she joins the books defense forces.

Source: Yomiuri Hochi

Production press conference of "Vampire Heaven"

The production press conference of TV Tokyo spring 2013 drama "Vampire Heaven" was held on 11 April which was attended by cast members Oomasa Aya, Hiraoka Yuuta, Honda Tsubasa, Shiritsu Ebisu Chuugaku members Mizuki, Mayama Rika and Hoshina Mirei. The drama features Oomasa as a vampire who falls for a guitarist played by Hiraoka Yuuta.

Source: Sanspo

GReeeeN to hold nationwide tour without showing their faces

GReeeeN will hold its first nationwide concert tour titled "Orera Revolution" from August which consists of 7 performances at 6 places over 11 days including Fukushima involving 12,000 people. However, GReeeeN which consists of four dentists from Fukushima Prefecture, will be the first artiste who would stick to its no-showing-of faces policy and hold a concert tour without actually showing themselvs to the audience. Actually, the group had held a similar fan event in June last year where images of the members' movements and voices were played to the full house of 3,200 fans. The members are currently working as dentists in various parts of Japan including HIDE and navi who's in Hokkaido, 92 in Okinawa and SOH being the only one remaining in Fukushima. They will gather in Tokyo for the concert recording on their off days and will hire a host to take charge of the situation on the actual day.

Source: Yomiuri Hochi

Aibu Saki & Miyagawa Daisuke appear at Yoshinoya event

Aibu Saki and Miyagawa Daisuke appeared at the product strategy announcement event held by Yoshinoya on 10 April as they are the CM ambassadors for the company. Aibu revealed that she will be heading to California alone in the middle of April and is expected to return to Japan in August. She also mentioned her hope that she will be able to speak English fluently by the time she returns and said that making a debut in Hollywood was something that would only happen sometime in future (since she's not good at English now).

Source: Sanspo

Rihwa to sing insert song for FujiTV spring 2013 drama "Last Cinderella"

Singer-songwriter Rihwa's new single "Last Love" which is due to be released on 5 June, will be used as the insert song for FujiTV spring 2013 drama "Last Cinderella". The drama is shown at 10pm on Thursdays.

Rihwa used to study in Canada during high school which had helped her in writing English lyrics for the whole song. As the production crew took a liking to the song, they contacted Rihwa to make arrangements to use the song. Since this is Rihwa's first insert song in a drama, she hopes that everyone will like the song which talks about love that lasts till the end.

Source: Sanspo

Production press conference of spring 2013 drama "Iryu Sousa"

The production press conference of TV Asahi's spring 2013 drama "Iryu Sousa" was held on 10 April at Asahi Shrine in Roppongi which was attended by the leads Kamikawa Takaya and Saito Yuki. The drama features Kamikawa as the police detective Itomura Satoshi who solves cases through the clues found from items left behind at crime scenes while moving around in his favourite bicycle. When asked about what mode of transport he would like to take in the drama, Kamikawa joked that they should use a boat next.

The drama's theme song "Yasashii Kaze ga fuitara" will be sung by Oda Kazumasa. With response to this, Kamikawa commented that he would love to act with Oda in the drama and openly called for the latter to consider this suggestion.

Source: Sanspo

Ninomiya Kazunari appears in new Salonpas CM

Arashi's Ninomiya Kazunari attended the new CM announcement event held in Tokyo recently as its new CM personality. He commented that he has stiff shoulders especially after his concerts or TV programmes thus as a "present" for him, he was treated to a foot massage. However, Ninomiya screamed in pain when he was going through the massage and remarked that his fellow member Aiba Masaki should be the one to appear in this CM since the latter doesn't feel pain at all. As Ninomiya cannot withstand the pain of the massage, he remarked jokingly that he should stick to his Salonpas patches instead of going for massages.

Source: Sanspo

Kiritani Kenta in his first leading role in the drama "Y.O.U Yamabiko Ongaku Doukoukai"

Kiritani Kenta will be taking on his first leading role in the Kansai TV 55th anniversary commemorative drama "Y.O.U Yamabiko Ongaku Doukoukai" which is set to be shown in late November this yar. The filming began from 5 April in Miyazu City, Kyoto Prefecture when Kiritani shot the scene of him heading to the high school his character teaches in. The rest of the filming will be done in August. As Kiritani comes from Tenroku which is near Ogi-machi where Kansai TV's HQ is located, he feels that it is a big coincidence that his first leading role is in a Kansai TV drama. Kiritani plays a high school teacher who used to be an unsuccessful rock singer and gets assigned to teach at a high school. While guiding the school's band to take part in a music contest, he starts to understand and help his students with their problems. Co-stars of this drama are still being selected.

Source: Sanspo

Production press conference of spring 2013 drama "Kazoku Game"

The production press conference of FujiTV spring 2013 drama "Kazoku Game" was held on 9 April which was attended by cast members Arashi's Sakurai Sho, Suzuki Honami, Kamiki Ryuunosuke, Kutsuna Shiori, Itao Itsuji, Uragami Seiju and AKB48's Kitahara Rie. The drama will begin its run from 17 April at 10pm on Wednesdays. Sakurai plays a weird home tutor hired by Suzuki Honami's character who speaks harsh words peppered with sarcasm and also solves problems facing the family members including bullying, shoplifting, extramarital affairs. Sakurai commented that this is the first time he is playing such a controversial character so he hopes that this drama will set off a lot of discussion and attention in families and schools.

The drama is based on a novel by Honma Yohei and had been made into a movie starring the late Matsuda Yusaku. The theme song "Endless Game" will be sung by Arashi but the release date is yet to be decided.

Source: Sanspo / Sanspo

SOPHIA announces its suspension of music activities from August

Rock band SOPHIA announced through their official website on 9 April that it will be suspending its music activities from August this year. The band which is about to celebrate its 20th anniversary since formation, commented that the members wish to pursue their personal interests in music thus decided to take time off their group career and will perform their last concert on 12 August at Nippon Budoukan which is part of their nationwide tour. SOPHIA which made their debut in 1995, had suspended their music activities once in April 2010 where their keyboardist Miyako Keiichi suffered from follicle-related malignant lymphoma. When asked about the reason for this time's suspension, SOPHIA's agency said that this had nothing to do with Miyako's illness and was something which the members decided in their best interests.

Source: Sanspo

An appears in "Kasukana Kanojo" costume at first pitch ceremony

An attended the first pitch ceremony held before the baseball match between Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants at Koshien on 9 April while wearing her white "ghost" costume featured in the FujiTV drama "Kasukana Kanojo". An admitted that she's a Giants fan but since her zodiac sign is tiger and her father Watanabe Ken is a Hanshin fan, she also pays attention to the Hanshin matches.

Source: Sanspo

SMAP's first overnight trip featured on SMAPxSMAP SP

The 8 Mar broadcast of FujiTV variety show "SMAPxSMAP SMAP Hajimete no 5nin Tabi SP" scored an average rating of 20% in the Kanto region, according to Video Research. The rating for the Kansai region was 24.8%. The trip was SMAP's first 2-day-1-night holiday together without their managers in tow where they gathered Osaka's Itami Airport first and drove a rental car on their own to go to Universal Studios Japan and Arima Onsen in Hyogo Prefecture. The USJ portion of their trip will be featured in next week's episode. During the 8 Mar broadcast, the highest rating recorded was 24.3% where the 5 members gathered for dinner. After that, they proceeded to do various things including singing a non-stop medley of SMAP songs which led Nakai to burst out crying when they got to the song "BEST FRIEND".

Source: Sanspo

Just wondering though, would anyone be interested in a recap of this trip?

Matsuda Ryuhei & Miyazaki Aoi at Tokyo cruiser event for "Fune wo Amu"

Matsuda Ryuhei and Miyazaki Aoi attended the cruiser event held at Sumidagawa on 9 April in a bid to pray for the success of their new movie "Fune wo Amu". The two of them boarded the Tokyo Sumidagawa cruiser from Asakusa and saw sights such as the Tokyo Skytree during the journey. In the movie, Matsuda plays a newbie editor in a publishing company who is assigned to work on the production of a dictionary with his colleagues. When asked to define "love", Matsuda wrote that love is when your heart is taken away by someone and you feel as if your heart is being hung up in the air all the time. As for Miyazaki, she wrote that love is a necessary stage for everyone to go through as part of growing up.

Source: Sanspo

Utada Hikaru records first episode of new radio show entirely at home

Utada Hikaru who is going to host the radio programme "KUMA POWER HOUR with Utada Hikaru" once a month from 16 April, revealed via her Twitter account on 10 April that she had just delivered her recording of the first episode to InterFM in time for the debut broadcast but it wasn't smooth-sailing since she had problems with the uploading process. When one of her followers asked if Utada had done the recording at home alone, she revealed that she created the opening theme music, selected the songs to be played in the episode, recorded the talk section and edited the programme on her own at home so she said that this is a true-blue "home-production".

Utada's programme will be aired every third Tuesday of the month from 16 April via InterFM.

Source: Cinema Today

Nakamura Toru at talk event for new drama "Another Face Keiji Soumuka Ootomo Tetsu 2"

Nakamura Toru attended the talk event for his new TV Asahi drama SP "Another Face Keiji Soumuka Ootomo Tetsu 2" which will be shown at 9pm on 10 and 20 April. Doba Shunichi, the author of the original novel which the drama was based on, also attended the eventThe drama features him as a police detective who solves cases while raising his son played by Suzuki Fuku. When asked about his own parenting experience, Nakamura who has two daughters aged 14 and 9 with his actress wife Washio Isako, said that he enjoys being a father but can be nagging at times because he keeps telling his daughters to clean up. However, he hopes to be someone they can rely on and count on if they need help.

Source: Sanspo / Nikkansports

Kubozuka Yosuke caught kissing new girlfriend at Narita Airport before Las Vegas trip

Kubozuka Yosuke was caught kissing his new girlfriend PINKY at the check-in counter on 8 April as they were preparing to board a flight to Las Vegas from Narita Airport. PINKY, who is a dancer, revealed on her blog entry dated 7 April that she was heading to Las Vegas for a business trip to see a fashion exhibition.

The couple were first romantically linked after Kubozuka announced his divorce in June last year and have been said to be close to getting married. However, Kubozuka denied having said that they are making marriage plans and even asked the reporters who saw them at the airport to use nicer photos of him and PINKY before he boarded the plane.

Source: Nikkansports

Fukuyama Masaharu & Shibasaki Kou team up again for Galileo theme song; Gu Hara & A-Lin to sing versions of the same song

Fukuyama Masaharu and Shibasaki Kou have teamed up again for their music collaboration project KOH+ for the first time in 5 years. This time, Fukuyama wrote the song "Koi no Maryoku" (The Magic of Love" which will be sung by Shibasaki and is the theme song of Fukuyama's new spring drama "Galileo". In addition, there will be two additional version i.e. the Korean version to be sung by KARA's Gu Hara and the Chinese version to be sung by Taiwanese singer A-Lin.

Recording of the original Japanese version was done in mid February and the duo still showed great chemistry despite not having worked together on a song for the past 5 years. Shibasaki praised Fukuyama for being a good producer while Fukuyama also commented that Shibasaki had become more expressive in her singing so she managed to finish the recording in almost one complete take.

As for the Korean version, Gu Hara will form the duo HARA+ with Fukuyama while the Chinese version will see him working with A-Lin under the A-Lin+ name. This is the first time that Fukuyama is working with a non-Japanese singer so he's surprised at how his songs sound in a different language.

Source: Sanspo

"Galileo" to be shown in 70 countries/regions; latest movie to be screened in June

The FujiTV spring 2013 drama "Galileo" starring Fukuyama Masaharu which will begin its run from 15 April, will also be shown in 70 countries/regions in Asia, North America and Europe. Taiwan will be the first to show the drama 2 days after the Japanese broadcast ie. 20 April followed by North America from 2 May, South Korea on 6 May and United Kingdom, Germany and France on 26 June. Hong Kong will follow suit from mid July. The overseas broadcast will come with subtitles.

In addition, "Manatsu no Houteishiki", the latest movie under the Galileo series will be shown on the same day as the Japanese release in Hong Kong i.e. 29 June while it will be screened from 5 July in Taiwan. Fukuyama has also set up an international fanclub "BROS.+" since January this year which is set to help in spreading awareness of the Galileo series.

Source: Sanspo

Preview of "TAKE FIVE" - Spring 2013

Title: Take Five
Official site: here
O.A. Start Date: 19 April 2013
Broadcast by: TBS
Timeslot: 10pm on Fridays
Theme song: Give Me Love by 2PM
Background song: Take Five by JUJU
Cast:
Homura Masayoshi (Karasawa Toshiaki)
Sasahara Rui (Matsuyuki Yasuko)
Niimi Haruto (Matsuzaka Tori)
Minami Shinichi (Rokkaku Seiji)
Hioka Tamotsu (Irie Jingi)
Yano Shoutarou (Chiba Yudai)
Kakizawa Nana (Fukuda Ayano)
Sasahara Sae (Eda Yuka)
Kagawa Ryuichi (Abe Shinnosuke)
Bartender (Suruga Taro)
Masuda Kouzou (Denden)
Sayuri (JUJU)
Homeless woman (Baisho Mitsuko)
Iwatsuki Kai (Inagaki Goro)

Production press conference of "Kasukana Kanojo"

The production press conference of FujiTV spring 2013 drama "Kasukana Kanojo" was held on 7 April which was attended by cast members including Katori Shingo, An, Maeda Atsuko and Maya Miki. The drama is scheduled to begin its run from 9 April at 10pm on Tuesdays (first episode from 10.10pm) and features Katori as a a junior high school teacher who loses his passion towards his work and unexpectedly works with a female ghost (An) who used to be an enthusiastic teacher to solve the problems in school.

When asked about what kind of extraordinary things have happened to him to date, Katori revealed that he had been in New York's Times Square just hours ago for the filming of his movie and almost had to arrive in Nagoya instead of Tokyo due to the poor weather conditions. After a delayed arrival, he headed straight to the venue of the press conference so he commented that it was tough but something he was used to as a SMAP member. As for An, she said that she wears white colours in the drama so she found it a bit odd to wear something so nice at the press conference. Maeda Atsuko who left AKB48 last August, said that playing a teacher for the first time and not wearing a school uniform anymore in a drama was something she didn't expect to happen so soon and hoped to be able to wear a school uniform again.

Source: Sanspo

SPEED's HITOE announces her marriage through her blog

SPEED member HITOE a.k.a. Arakaki Hitoe announced through her official blog that she got married on 8 April to a company worker two years her senior. This makes HITOE the third SPEED member to get married following Imai Eriko's marriage to SHOGO of 175R in May 2004 (divorced in September 2007) and Uehara Takako's marriage to TENN of ET-KING in August last year. According to HITOE's statement, she met her husband in New York and they dated for 13 years before getting married. Although she still doesn't feel any difference even though she's married, HITOE expressed her appreciation and gratitude to her husband who has always been supportive of her and accepts her for who she is. HITOE will continue to work as usual even after marriage and hopes to balance work with her family life in future.

Source: Sponichi Annex

Eita hosts first-day-screening of movie "Mahoro Ekimae Bangaichi" alone

Eita hosted the first-day-screening event of his new movie "Mahoro Ekimae Bangaichi" on his own on 6 April at Shibuya Eurospace. As it is unusual for such an event to be without a host, Eita remarked that it was difficult to talk alone to an audience for 20 minutes and smiled bitterly as he revealed what led to this. Eita said that he had attended a production press conference of a FujiTV drama previously when he was told by the host of that event (a TV announcer) that Eita was the worst actor that the announcer had dealt with to date (not an insult to his acting skills but rather Eita's personality being too shy and not so responsive to the host's questions thus causing the announcer to be on the verge of tears). As a result of that remark, Eita then asked the movie company to let him handle the first-day-screening talk section on his own and do away with a host (in case he causes the same problem to the host). At the beginning of the event, Eita seemed quite at ease with talking to the audience but as time went by, he seemed to be flustered and was running out of things to say. The audience then responded with cheers to support Eita who started asking the audience if they had any questions for him and that helped to use up the rest of the time for the talk event.

From 6 April onwards, there will be special screenings held at Shibuya Eurospace until 13 April where cast and staff members will take turns to greet the audience.

Source: Oricon

Iura Arata as cultural ambassador of Kyoto National Museum

Iura Arata was named as the cultural ambassador of Kyoto National Museum on 7 April during a certificate presentation ceremony held at the museum. Iura who is known for his talent and expertise in Japanese traditional art and craft, commented that he hopes to help everyone enjoy the beauty of Japanese art through his appointment and remarked that he used to travel to various spots in Japan with his father to look at heritage sites and traditional art and craft. Iura said that he's still learning about art and culture now so he hopes to use his knowledge in this role. After the ceremony, Iura attended the tea ceremony and took a tour of the special exhibition at the museum.

Source: Sanspo

Takahashi Katsunori at overnight event of movie "Watashi no Ojisan"

Takahashi Katsunori appeared at the DVD release event of his movie "Watashi no Ojisan" held at 10pm on 6 April at Shin Bungeiza which lasted till dawn on 7 April. Despite the heavy downpour, the cinema was filled to the max capacity of 250 people thus Takahashi thanked the fans for showing up despite the bad weather and asked them to enjoy the movie which is about the forbidden love between an uncle and his niece. Besides the screening of three movies from the director Hosono Tatsuoki, there was a talk show involving Takahashi and director Hosono.

Source: Sanspo

Ayano Go's photobook release event at Fukuya

Ayano Go held an event at Fukuya Bookstore's Shinjuku Subnade branch on 7 April to commemorate the launch of his first photobook titled "Taikyou" (Sounds from a womb) published by Wani Books. The event was attended by 2,200 fans who shook hands with him. Ayano commented that this should be his first and last photobook because he feels embarrassed and weird about the idea of him being an actor and yet releasing a photobook. He also found it odd and difficult to express himself in two-dimensional photos but still hoped that the book can give everyone a new feeling about him.

Source: Sanspo

Production press conference of spring 2013 drama "Monsieur!"

The production press conference of TBS spring 2013 drama "Monsieur!" was held on 7 April at a cafe-restaurant named "rapport" in Sangenjaya, Tokyo, which is created specially for this drama and will operate from 8 April to 31 August. Cast members KEIJI, Machida Keita, Anan Kenji, Sakata Rikako, Harukawa Kyousuke and Isomura Yousuke attended the press conference where KEIJI commented that he hopes to see lots of customers come to this restaurant in order to get a better understanding of the drama and the dishes featured.

The drama features a pair of siblings Baba Masaya (Machida) and Baba Mineko (Sakata) who are striving hard to save their restaurant "rapport" after the former chef passed away. Suddenly, Date (KEIJI), a chef who came back to Japan from Paris, appears at "rapport" to work there but there is something suspicious about him and his motive in coming to the restaurant. At the same time, a loanshark Kanezono (Anan) comes to the restaurant to demand for immediate repayment of the outstanding debts which leads Date to do something...

As this is the first drama leading role for KEIJI, he admitted that he was surprised when he got the role. Machida revealed that KEIJI is usually very cool and collected but the character Date is very easily excited and very passionate about cooking so it was a challenge for KEIJI who has to be 10 times more hyper and excited than he usually is. In addition, as KEIJI is a qualified cook, he will be able to show off his cooking skills for real in this drama.

The drama will begin its run on TBS from 22 April at 2.42am on Mondays.

Opening hours and details of "rapport"
Operating from 8th April 2013 to 31 August 2013
Opening hours: 11.30am to 10.30pm
Address: 1F Oasis Sangenjaya Building, 1-37-13, Sangenjaya, Setagaya Ward, Tokyo

Source: TV Dogatch

First-day-screening of "Sakura, Futatabi no Kanako"

The first-day-screening event of movie "Sakura, Futatabi no Kanako" was held at Shinjuku Picadilly on 6 April 2013 which was attended by cast members Hirosue Ryoko, Inagaki Goro, Fukuda Mayuko and Takada Sho. The movie describes the story of a married couple (Hirosue and Inagaki) who have to pick up the pieces in their lives after their daughter dies due to a traffic accident. Hirosue commented that her impression of Inagaki had changed through this movie because he had always seemed like the cool prince charming. However, as the director asked Inagaki to act like an ordinary father who can be seen anywhere in the countryside, he decided to change his acting approach and appearance by cutting his hair, speaking louder than usual and wearing clothes which were not so fitting compared to what he usually wears. With response to this, Inagaki said that he must have given the impression that he was poor at building a rapport with children so that's why Hirosue had that impression of him in the past.

Source: Nikkansports

Production press conference of "35-sai no Koukousei"

The production press conference of NTV's spring 2013 drama "35-sai no Koukousei" was held on 7 April at its Shiodome HQ which was attended by cast members such as Yonekura Ryoko, Mizobata Junpei, Katase Nana, Miyazaki Karen, Mizuno Erina and Hirose Alice. The drama will begin its run from 13 April at 9pm on Saturdays but the first episode will air at 9.20pm. Yonekura plays the role of a 35-year-old woman named Baba Ayako who starts to attend a public high school and solves the problems facing the school and its students and teachers e.g. bullying and refusal to attend school. Yonekura commented that there were lots of issues which she did not know had existed before she took on this drama and these are issues which matter a lot to those who are affected by them. She also stressed that this drama is not just for students but for everyone to understand these issues.

In the first episode which features bullying from an elite group of students, Yonekura recounted how these students were described in the script and just imagining being subjected to such treatment would have easily caused anyone to break down. As such, she praised the acting skills of Hirose who plays the role of the bullied student for conveying the hopelessness and fear her character feels.

On the other hand, Mizobata who plays Yonekura's form teacher commented that it is a weird feeling to be her teacher. In addition, he was worried if he would look like a teacher since his real age is not that far from those who play his students in this drama.

Source: Sponichi

Traffic safety event attended by cast members of "Doubles ~ Futari no Keiji"

Cast members of spring 2013 drama "Doubles ~ Futari no Keiji" i.e. Ito Hideaki, Sakaguchi Kenji, Uchida Yuki and Natsuna appeared at the traffic safety campaign event held at the west exit of Shinjuku station on 6 April. As Ito and Sakaguchi play police detectives from the Shinjuku Chuo Police Station, they were the invited to join the event which is the first drama-related one to be held at Shinjuku station's west exit. 1,000 people came to attend the event which was heavily guarded by 70 police officers.

Ito also received a certificate of appreciation from Shinjuku Police Station for their participation. This makes it the third certificate Ito had received since he also got it from the Japan Coast Guard when he acted in the Umizaru series and another one from the Tokyo Fire Department when he appeared in the movie "252 Seizonsha Ari". When asked about the selling point of their drama, Natsuna commented that Ito and Sakaguchi's shower scenes are worth checking out especially since they have such great figures which led to the two guys smiling in embarrassment.

Source: Sanspo