Asano Tadanobu wins best leading actor award two years in a row at the 11th Asia Film Awards in Hong Kong

Asano Tadanobu was crowned best leading actor at the 11th Asia Film Awards' prize giving ceremony on 21 March at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre for his performance in the movie "Fuchi ni tatsu". This is the first time in the awards' history that an actor had won the same category for two years in a row. Asano got the award last year for his role in the movie "Kishibe no Tabi".

The Asia Film Awards started in 2007 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return  to Chinese rule and the prize giving ceremony is held there every March. This year, 28 countries and regions participated in the awards which were shown live via TV and Internet. Japanese films nominated in this year's competition included "Fuchi ni tatsu", "Shin Godzilla", "Ikari" and "Mohigan Kokyo ni kaeru" while Momoi Kaori and X JAPAN's YOSHIKI were invited to be the award presenters.

Asano who returned to Japan on the same night of the prize giving ceremony, said in his acceptance speech that he was honoured to be back to attend the award ceremony. As he had spent close to a year working on this movie, he was especially moved to be able to win the award with his acting in this movie which began its run on the world circuit at the Cannes Film Festival last May. To be able to come to the awards with the director Fukada Koji, he felt that this was the end of a a long journey for them and he was glad to be able to win as the director did not get it despite being nominated for best director. When told that he was the first to win the award in two consecutive news, Asano revealed his joy about being able to get the honour despite being surrounded by many veteran actors from Asia and it was worthwhile for him to make time to come to Hong Kong despite having to go back to Japan immediately after the ceremony and not being able to sample any Chinese cuisine. Asano also hopes that his award will create new hype for the movie which is still being shown in Japan and will be shown in other countries soon.

Sources: Eiga.com 1 / Eiga.com 2

Amami Yuki to be the guest star in the final episode of TV Tokyo Winter 2017 drama "Byplayers"

Amami Yuki will appear as the guest star in the final episode of TV Tokyo Winter 2017 drama "Byplayers" which will be shown on 31 March at 12.12am. This will be her first appearance in a TV Tokyo programme. The drama which stars six famous supporting actors i.e. Endo Kenichi, Oosugi Ren, Taguchi Tomorowo, Terajima Susumu, Matsushige Yutaka and Mitsuishi Ken, will reveal the secret behind the blockbuster drama which they are supposed to film and the story behind the movie "Byplayers" which they shot 10 years ago. To date, many actors have appeared as guest stars in every episode of this drama including Yakusho Koji, Oomori Nao, Ikematsu Sousuke and Okada Masaki thus sparking concerns if the TV station would have enough budget to get a guest star for the drama's finale.

According  to the producer Hamatani Koichi, he was suddenly told by Endo on the day when they did the costume fitting that Amami was interested to appear in this drama. For a while, Hamatani didn't realise that Endo was referring to Amami and even thought that it was a prank on them until the day of the filming. As Amami had never appeared on TV Tokyo before and that theirs was a late-night drama, he thought that it was a miracle that she actually took the initiative to appear in their drama. Apparently, Amami and Endo had become good friends after appearing in the FujiTV Autumn 2016 drama "Chef ~ Mitsuboshi no Kyuushoku" so she made her intention to participate known to Endo who passed on the message to contact Amami's agency.

Amami commented that she had been enjoying the drama since it aired and was very happy to be able to take part and act with the six actors who are her seniors in this industry. Seeing the six of them together was a sight to behold for her as she had worked with all except Taguchi before.

Sources: Oricon / Sponichi

Preview of "Onna no Kunshou" (Drama SP)

Title: Onna no Kunshou 女の勲章 (A woman's badge)
Official website: here
O.A. Dates: 15th & 16th April at 9pm
Broadcast by: FujiTV
Original novel by: Yamazaki Toyoko
Scriptwriter: Asano Taeko
Cast: Matsushima Nanako, Tamaki Hiroshi, Mimura, Aibu Saki, Kinami Haruka, Suruga Taro, Enami Kyoko, Ozawa Yukiyoshi, Asano Yuuko & Nagatsuka Kyozo

Completion screening event of new movie "Neko Atsume no Ie"

The completion screening event of new movie "Neko Atsume no Ie" was held at Cinemart Shinjuku on 9 March which was attended by the director Kurakata Masatoshi and cast members Ito Atsushi, Kutsuna Shiori and Kimura Tae. The movie which will be shown in cinemas from 8 April, features Ito as the lead character Sakumoto Masaru who is a novelist facing a slump in his work and decides to move to a tranquil place on a whim. While there, he encounters many cats and through his interaction with them, his life slowly changes as well.

During the event, Ito admitted that when he first heard about the mobile game being made into a movie, he could not imagine what kind of film it would become. However, during the filming at Chiba in August last year, Ito and Kutsuna had a lot of fun relaxing with the cats during the breaks which he called as a rare experience since he hardly got to do that with his female co-stars.

As for working with Ito who she had collaborated in the NHK morning drama "Toto Nee-chan", Kimura said that he played her son-in-law in the drama so it was interesting to be acting in this movie straight after that ended. Although they were supposed to film together for two days, the filming went so smoothly that they ended their collaboration in one day although they would have wanted to spend more time together.

With regard to acting with many famous star cats in the movie, Ito and Kutsuna said that the cats were so fantastic to be able to do as per what the script had instructed even though they expected otherwise. As compared to these animals, Ito felt that acting with babies and young children is actually tougher. During the event, 9 of the cats appeared on stage along with the director and cast.

Sources: Nikkansports / Oricon / Eiga.com

Hatsune Eriko & Koura Kengo to star in new movie "Tsuki to Kaminari"

Hatsune Eriko and Koura Kengo will be starring in the new movie "Tsuki to Kaminari" (The moon and lightning) which is based on the same-titled novel by Kakuta Mitsuyo and will be shown in cinemas from October this year. The movie directed by Ando Hiroshi, features Hatsune as the lead character Yasuko who had lived with her father's lover Naoko and her son Satoshi when she was a child. Years later when Yasuko and Satoshi have become adults, they reunite which changes her ordinary and peaceful life drastically. This will be the first time that the actors are acting together even though they had worked in a CM before.

Through the filming, Hatsune and Koura try to understand their characters in different ways. Hatsune commented that she imagined leading a peaceful life which gets changed suddenly by Koura's character while Koura tried to respond accordingly on the set and praised his co-star for being very hyped up about her acting.

Sources: Yomiuri Hochi / Eiga.com

Supporting cast lineup of new NTV Spring 2017 drama "Kakuu OL Nikki" announced

The supporting cast lineup of new Yomiuri TV / NTV Spring 2017 drama "Kakuu OL Nikki" written by and starring Baka Rhythm has been announced. Following the broadcast on Yomiuri TV, Hulu will be showing the drama and include scenes which are not included in the TV version. Yomiuri TV will be showing the drama from 13 April at 1.29am while NTV will begin its run from 15 April.

The drama is based on a blog written by Baka Rhythm between 2006 and 2009 where he posed as a OL nicknamed Kakuu Masuno (meaning fictitious + Baka's real surname) who supposedly worked in a bank and wrote stories about the daily feelings of a OL from her perspective and the people around "her" such as Maki-chan who has such well-defined abs thanks to her training at the gym that she got mistaken as a staff there, naive junior Sae-chan, meticulous senior Noriko-senpai and her manly senior Komine as they gossiped and complained about various topics. As the stories had such a strong realistic touch and were so compelling, the readers didn't feel like it was something which a man was capable of writing. The entries were later compiled and published into a book.

Kaho will be playing Maki-chan who is a gym freak and boasts of washboard abs while Usuda Asami will be playing Komine who behaves like a man. Yamada Maho will be playing Noriko-senpai and Sato Ryo will be playing Sae-chan.

Source: Oricon

Supporting cast lineup of NTV Spring 2017 drama "Frankenstein no Koi" announced

The supporting cast lineup of NTV Spring 2017 drama "Frankenstein no Koi" has been announced. The drama which begins its run from April in the Sundays 10.30pm timeslot, is based on an original script by Oomori Sumio and features Ayano as a monster created by the famous Dr. Frankenstein 100 years ago who has an appearance similar to human beings, eternal life and a gentle heart. He falls in love with a young woman Tsugaru-san (Nikaidou Fumi) but things between them are fraught with difficulties as he has an unspeakable secret as he cannot be touched by human beings. Much as he desires to come into contact with human beings, he is scared of being hurt. Although he wants to love, he is scared of being disliked.

Arai Hirofumi will be playing a reporter who appears on a radio show which the monster loves to listen to and advises the latter on his romance problems. Mitsushi Ken will be playing Inaba Keijiro, the father of the monster's friend Inaba Seiya (Yagira Yuuya) who is also the monster's rival in love while Emoto Akira will play Professor Tsurumaru Toshifumi who teaches Tsugaru and Inaba at the university and is interested in using the monster's cells to prolong the lives of human beings and create a world where nobody dies.

Source: Oricon

Kagawa Teruyuki to appear in new TBS Spring 2017 drama "Chiisana Kyojin"

Kagawa Teruyuki will be appearing in the upcoming TBS Spring 2017 drama "Chiisana Kyojin" starring Hasegawa Hiroki which will begin its run from April in the Sundays 9pm timeslot. The drama features Hasegawa as the lead character Kosaka Shinichiro who is a capable detective in Metropolitan Police Department's (MPD) 1st section. Despite not passing the advanced level civil servant examination, Kosaka is still viewed to be a strong contender for the position of section chief. However, his career prospects suffer a huge setback when he makes a mistake during an interrogation and gets transferred to a local police station. While investigating relatively smaller cases, Kosaka meets a group of colleagues who still persist in upholding justice through their own ways even if the cases they handle may seem insignificant.

Kagawa plays the role of Onoda Yoshinobu who is the chief of the first investigation section and managed to get to his current position despite only being a senior high school graduate. He is at odds with the previous section chief Mikasa (Shunputei Shota) but decides to take Mikasa's trusted subordinate Kosaka under his wings because he sees Kosaka as an useful tool to further his career prospects. However, when he makes a damning statement against Kosaka, this leads to the latter being transferred thus creating a rift in their relationship.

Source: Oricon

Mimura & Chiba Yuudai to star in new NHK drama "Sauce-san no Koi"

Mimura and Chiba Yuudai will be starring in the new NHK drama "Sauce-san no Koi" (The love of Sauce-san" which will begin its run from 1 June in the Thursdays 11pm timeslot. The drama which consists of 8 episodes, features Mimura as a mysterious woman named Mika who has an unspeakable traumatic experience and would always show up at the convenience store at 8pm every night to buy a bottle of sauce. One night, she gets chased by a pervert thus the convenience store's employee Uno Masanao (Chiba) who works there part-time while attending an arts university, sends her home that night. Since then, Uno would look forward to Mika's apearance every night and gives her the nickname of Sauce-san (Miss Sauce). Gradually, he develops feelings for her and the two of them start dating soon after despite an age gap of 10 years. Just when they think that things between them would proceed smoothly, Mika suddenly recalls her painful past and the two of them are tormented by the harsh truth which causes cracks in their relationship.

With regard to playing Mika who is in love with a younger guy, Mimura commented that she had to think of an approach different from usual when acting and hopes to be able to match up to expectations by the production crew and deliver a good performance with her co-star Chiba.

Co-stars include Iwasaki Hiromi, Tochihara Rakuto, Abe Shinnosuke, Hagiwara Minori, Takeuchi Toshi, Tahara Kanako, Sugi-chan and Matsuda Satoshi.

Source: Oricon

Preview of "Kitakaze to taiyo no houtei" (Drama SP)

Title: Kitakaze to taiyo no houtei 北風と太陽の法廷 (The court of the northern wind and sun)
Official website: here
O.A. Date: 17 March 2017, 9pm
Broadcast: NTV
Cast: Haru, Okada Masaki, Otani Ryohei, Yamamoto Yusuke, Kawashima Umika, Nakahara Takeo, Takahashi Hitomi, Nukumizu Yoichi, Uchida Rio, Yashima Norito, Kimura Midoriko, Ichimura Masachika

New installment of "Amami Yuki / Ishida Yuriko no Snack Akebonobashi" back in April 2017

Following rave reviews for the first broadcast in September 2016, "Amami Yuki / Ishida Yuriko no Snack Akebonobashi" hosted by the two actresses will be back for a second round on 12 April at 10pm. The guest lineup for the second installment includes Oguri Shun, Nishijima Hidetoshi, Tanaka Tetsushi, Urai Kenji, Suzuki Kosuke, Takito Kenichi, Hirayama Hiroyuki, Iio Kazuki, Tomochika and JUJU.

The programme features Amami and Ishida as the mamasans of this snack bar where they interview actors on various topics including their private lives. As they felt that they did not do a good job hosting the first installment, Amami and Ishida are happy to be able to "redeem" themselves in this new episode. Ishida revealed that she thought that she was especially bad thus was worried if the programme could be shown. The producer Watanabe Shunsuke said that they had a hard time trying to console the actresses who were quite disappointed with how they hosted the programme which he saw it as their high expectations of themselves. After reviewing the problem points, they were able to perform much better this time which was a relief to the both of them. Amami commented that she was grateful that the recording went well while Ishida expressed thanks to Amami who helped her out again and wished for another installment soon.

During the programme, Ishida who is nicknamed Chii-Mama, will be making drinks and food for the guests. Topics discussed include asking Oguri Nishijima and Tanaka whether the actors like women who can hold their liquor or those who can't, what type of girls they liked when they were students, what kind of plans they would make for a date. Suzuki and Takito were bomboarded with questions about their dating process, how they proposed and their marriage lives.

Sources: Sanspo / Yomiuri Hochi / Oricon

Yamamoto Yusuke's contract terminated by his agency for repeated violations

Entertainment agency Ever Green Entertainment announced on 21 March that it has terminated its management contract with actor Yamamoto Yusuke with immediate effect. According to the statement, the agency revealed that it had been involved in many discussions with Yamamoto to date about the issues they had. After serious consideration and much reluctance, they decided to terminate his contract as he did not meet their expectations and had violated his contractual obligations repeatedly. Although the agency had supported Yamamoto in his career for the past 11 years since he made his debut, they expressed regret at this outcome and were sorry for their lack of leadership ability to guide him. Last but not least, the agency thanked everyone for their support of Yamamoto and apologised for being unable to stick with him any longer but hoped that they would still look upon Yamamoto favourably in future.

Yamamoto entered showbiz by winning the second prize in the 2005 Junon Super Boy Contest and the photogenic award as voted by the magazine's readers. He then made his debut as an actor in the 2006 TV Asahi drama "Kamen Rider Kabuto". His signature works include 2007 FujiTV drama "Hanazakari no Kimitachi e ~ Ikemen Paradise" and 2011 TBS drama "Ouran Koukou Host Bu" which he co-starred with Kawaguchi Haruna.

Sources: Sponichi / Sanspo / Oricon

Top 10 female celebrities who you would want as your colleague as chosen by women (Oricon)

Oricon conducted a survey on 400 women from their teens to 30s about which female celebrity they would want as their colleague:

1) Kitagawa Keiko

2) Ishihara Satomi

3) Aragaki Yui

4) Ayase Haruka

5) Arimura Kasumi

6) Amami Yuki

7) Watanabe Naomi

8) Buruzon Chiemi

9) Miura Asami

10) Yoshitaka Yuriko

Source: Oricon

Winners of the Winter 2017 Nikkansports Dorama Grand Prix

In case you are wondering why Nikkansports has announced the winners even though the season has not ended, the polling was done via Nikkansports.com, Entame Premium, Nikkan Geinou and Nikkan Point Club between 6 and 13 March. They will be doing the annual voting for the full-year awards in the end of this month.

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of votes received out of 1,238 valid votes.

Best Drama
1) A LIFE ~ Itoshiki Hito ~ (251)
2) Uso no Sensou (159)
3) Onna Joshu Naotora (92)
4) Beppin-san (85)
5) Aibou season 15 (84)

Best Leading Actor
1) Kimura Takuya - A LIFE ~ Itoshiki Hito ~ (276)
2) Kusanagi Tsuyoshi - Uso no Sensou (222)
3) Mizutani Yutaka - Aibou season 15 (142)
4) Tsutsumi Shinichi - Salaryman Saenai-shi (130)
5) Miura Tomokazu - Shuukatsu Kazoku ~ Kitto, umaku iku ~ (80)

Best Leading Actress
1) Shibasaki Kou - Onna Joshu Naotora (209)
2) Ayase Haruka - Seirei no Moribito Kanashiki Hakkaigami (144)
3) Yoshine Kyoko - Beppin-san (138)
4) Sawaguchi Yasuko - Kasouken no Onna (137)
5) Yoshitaka Yuriko - Tokyo Tarareba Musume (131)

Best Supporting Actor
1) Matsuyama Kenichi - A LIFE ~ Itoshiki Hito ~ (148)
2) Sorimachi Takashi - Aibou season 15 (90)
3) Takahashi Issei - Onna Joshu Naotora (74)
4) Asano Tadanobu - A LIFE ~ Itoshiki Hito ~ (64)
5) Suzuki Ryohei - Tokyo Tarareba Musume (54)

Best Supporting Actress
1) Kimura Fumino - A LIFE ~ Itoshiki Hito ~ (170)
2) Koizumi Kyoko - Super Salaryman Saenai-shi (83)
3) Takeuchi Yuko - A LIFE ~ Itoshiki Hito ~ (72)
4) Oshima Yuko - Tokyo Tarareba Musume (62)
5) Yamamoto Mizuki - Uso no Sensou (56)

Source: Nikkansports

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 18th & 19th March 2017

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of cinemas showing the movie:

1) SING (359)

2) Moana (359)

3) Eiga Doraemon Nobita no Nankyoku Kachi Kochi Daibouken (362)

4) La La Land (259)

5) Eiga Puri Kyua Dream Stars! (213)

6) Gekijouban Kuroko no Basuke LAST GAME (91)

7) Sangatsu no Lion Zenpen (294)

8) Chia Dan Joshikousei ga chiadansu de zenbei seihashichatta honto no hanashi (300)

9) Hirune Hime Shiranai Watashi no Monogatari (231)

10) Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale (151)

Source: Eiga.com

Ishida Yuriko to appear in Kansai TV / FujiTV Spring 2017 drama "CRISIS Kouan Kido Sousatai Tokusouhan"

Ishida Yuriko will be appearing in the upcoming Kansai TV / FujiTV Spring 2017 drama "CRISIS Kouan Kido Sousatai Tokusouhan" starring Oguri Shun which will begin its run from 11 April in the Tuesdays 9pm timeslot. The drama written by Kaneshiro Kazuki features Oguri in the leading role of Inami Akira who belongs to the secret team within the police force named Kouan Kido Sousatai Tokusouhan (special investigation unit of the public security department's riot squad). The team is tasked to handle the "dirty jobs" of the country and government and consists of police officers who have unspeakable pasts and secrets which they have to struggle with while handling the critical issues facing the country on a daily basis such as terrorism, new religious groups, military spies and drug peddling organisations. Nishijima Hidetoshi plays his colleague Tamaru Saburo who also belongs to the same team. Inami is always resorting to unthinkable measures to overcome the criminals while Tamaru is the exact opposite and the epitome of calmness.

Ishida plays the role of Hayashi Chigusa, the wife of Hayashi Satoshi (Mashima Hidekazu) who was planted by Tamaru into a new religious group as a spy. However, Satoshi has gone missing for the past two years so Tamaru tries to support Chigusa who is awaiting her husband's return. Gradually, feelings develop between Tamaru and Chigusa but they have to try to restrain themselves from going over the forbidden line.

Ishida commented that this time, she has to show the emotions of her character with very few actions which is rather difficult. However, when she faces Nishijima who plays Tamaru, the sad emotions will well up naturally so she's very thankful for her co-star's presence. She also praised Nishijima for having a smiling face like a puppy which will be sure to send hearts fluttering especially. As such, the scenes of Chigusa and Tamaru should be a welcome distraction from the intense scenes in the drama.

Source: Oricon

Furukawa Yuuki to star in Netflix's drama adaptation of "Boku dake ga inai machi"

Furukawa Yuuki will be starring in Netflix's drama adaptation of popular manga "Boku dake ga inai machi"  which will be shown this winter to 190 countries worldwide. The manga by Sanbe Kei has sold 4.29 million copies to date and was made into an anime shown via FujiTV from January 2016. The real-life movie starring Fujiwara Tatsuya was shown in cinemas last March. This will be the first adaptation after the manga had ended its run.

Furukawa will be playing the lead character Fujinuma Satoru who has the ability to send himself back in time before a life-threatening incident happens so that he can prevent it from happening. When his mother gets murdered by an unknown person, Satoru is suddenly sent back to the time when he was an elementary school student. This in turn gives him the chance to prevent a serial kidnapping and murder case which had resulted in the deaths of his childhood friends and classmates.

Furukawa commented that he is very happy that the drama will be seen by an international audience through Netflix. The character happens to be of the same age as him i.e. 29 years old but he manages to become a heroine he had always aspired to be through this revival power. As such, he hopes to show the gap between his usual quiet self and his heroic side through his acting and that fans of the manga and new viewers will be satisfied with his performance.

Cast
Fujinuma Satoru (adult version) - Furukawa Yuuki
Katagiri Airi - Yuki Mio
Kobayashi Kenya (adult version) - Shirasu Jin
Fujinuma Satoru (child version) - Uchikawa Reo
Hinazuki Kayo (child version) - Kakihara Rinka
Hinazuki Akemi - Eguchi Noriko
Sawada Makoto - Mashima Hidekazu
Yashiro Gaku - Totsugi Shigeyuki
Fujinuma Sachiko - Kurotani Tomoka

Sources: Sponichi / Oricon

Aoi Wakana announced to be the lead of new NHK morning drama "Warotenka"

Aoi Wakana was announced to be the lead of the upcoming 97th NHK morning drama "Warotenka" which will consist of 151 episodes and be shown from 2 October 2017 to 31 March 2018 on Mondays to Saturdays at 8am. Filming is expected to begin from the middle of May and end by March next year.

"Warotenka" is set during the late Meiji era to post-World War II period at Osaka featuring the lead character Fujioka Ten who is modelled on Yoshimoto Sei, the founder of Yoshimoto Kogyo and a female show promoter. Fujioka was born into a family managing a drug wholesale business in Kyoto and meets Kitamura Fujiyoshi who is the son of a family in the rice dealing business at Osaka. When they fall in love, Fujioka goes against her parents' wishes to marry Kitamura who is a big lover of comedy. Subsequently, after her husband's family goes bust, she unwittingly becomes the owner of a vaudeville theater with her husband. This then leads to her becoming the first person in Japan to make comedy into a business and transforming Osaka into a capital of comedy.

During the press conference held at NHK's Osaka HQ in the morning and Tokyo HQ in the afternoon, Aoi commented that it felt like a dream for her when she was told that she got the heroine's role. Although she is still very new and inexperienced, she hopes to be able to grow together with the heroine and bring joy to everyone through this drama as the story progresses. The chief producer revealed that out of the young actresses who had remained in the final audition's camera test, any one of them could be the heroine. However, Aoi was picked in the end because they felt that she had contrasting traits such as youth vs. maturity, cuteness vs. strength, smiling face vs. frightening traits which coincided with what the heroine Fujioka represents. In addition, the actresses had to show a one-act comedy skit but nobody laughed at Aoi's impersonation of ETV character Nyanchuu so she thought that she had flopped. When she was told that she was chosen, Aoi was so shocked that she opened her mouth widely and forgot to cover it with her hand. A total of 2,378 people took part in the audition and this was Aoi's third attempt at a NHK morning drama audition.

Aoi made her debut through a CM in 2009 and gained attention after playing the junior high version of Ueno Juri in the movie "Hidamari no Kanojo". Her latest movie was "Survival Family" which is currently showing in cinemas. She will be entering Keio University's Faculty of Policy Management from April this year where she is supposed to attend lessons at its Shonan Fujisawa campus for the next four years but she has to be in Osaka and Kyoto on every weekday for the next ten months so she hasn't decided what to do about her studies and will go ahead to attend the entrance ceremony first. She is already undergoing training in dialect and how to move around in a kimono. Although Aoi was born in Kanagawa Prefecture, she has relatives from Shiga and is exposed to the Kansai dialect at home so she feels that she should have no problems in this area.

Sources: Mantan Web / Nikkansports 1 / Nikkansports 2 / Sanspo / Sponichi / Oricon 1 / Oricon 2

Production press conference of new TV Tokyo Spring 2017 drama "Code Name Mirage"

The production press conference of new TV Tokyo Spring 2017 drama "Code Name Mirage" was held on 10 March which was attended by cast members Kiriyama Renn, Kaname Jun, Sano Hinako and Takeda Shinji as well as creator Hiroi Oji who wrote this original story. The drama begins its run from 7 April in the Fridays 1.23am timeslot and describes how the special team K-13 in the National Police Agency deal with crimes which cannot be handled openly by the police force.

Kiriyama plans the lead character Moriyama Shinichi nicknamed Mirage who is a top agent within K-13 who doesn't show any emotions and rarely speaks. With regard to his character, Kiriyama revealed that he went through the 1st episode's script and found that he only had two lines, of which one was "ryoukai" (I understand). As such, he has to rely on his eyes to show his character's emotions  since he can't speak in the drama. On the other hand, Kaname who plays the section chief of the special public security team, has to do most of the talking in order to "cover" for Kiriyama's character. As for Sano who plays a genius hacker, she revealed that she had to attend a hacker's seminar and undergo training by a hacker who had won contests. For Takeda who plays the real estate magnate at odds with K-13, he commented that the style of this drama is similar to his signature work "NIGHT HEAD" as the key characters do not know who they are up against from the start and can't see where they are heading.

Source: Oricon

First-day-screening event of new movie "Sangatsu no Lion Zenpen"

The first-day-screening event of new movie "Sangatsu no Lion Zenpen" was held at TOHO Cinemas Roppongi Hills on 18 March which was attended by the director Ohtomo Keishi and cast members Kamiki Ryuunosuke, Arimura Kasumi, Kurashina Kana, Kiyohara Kaya, Niitsu Chise, Sasaki Kuranosuke, Sometani Shota, Toyokawa Etsushi, Maeda Gin, Itaya Yuka and Nakamura Tomoya. The second part will be shown in cinemas from 11 April.

The movie which is based on the same-titled manga by Umino Chika, features Kamiki as the lead character Kiriyama Rei, a 17-year-old professional shogi player who made his debut during junior high which was extremely rare. He lives alone at a suburb town in Tokyo as his parents and younger sister died during a traffic accident when he was young. While coping with the loneliness in his life, Rei aims to become a top-class shogi player. One day, Rei comes to know three sisters from the Kawamoto family i.e. Akari, Hinata and Momo (Kurashina, Kiyohara and Niitsu) which offers him much-needed warmth in his life as he grapples with the struggles in the competitive shogi world.

Kamiki commented that although he had his fair share of joy and worries while filming the movie, he was glad about the movie being finally ready to be seen by everyone. When asked if there was anyone or moment that he loved during the filming, Kamiki cited Sometani as his target of affection and always calls him "Some-chan" although it was the other way round in the movie. In response to this, Sometani said that he also likes Kamiki who is always smiling and helped him to relax during the filming. As for Arimura, she chose Niitsu as the little devil who is cute like an angel as the latter kept hugging her.

Meanwhile, Toyokawa who plays Kouda Masachika, the foster father of Rei in the movie, revealed that he envied the people in the Kawamoto family as the Kouda family was full of unhappiness. This comment made everyone laugh, He then continued to praise Kamiki for having grown up well as an actor since he acted with him in the movie "Youkai Daisensou" when Kamiki was just a primary school student. Toyokawa also jokingly commented that Kamiki has grown from the genius child actor to the genius talkative actor who is capable of leading everyone on the set and always greeting everyone with a smile.

Sources: Nikkansports / Eiga.com

Mukai Osamu & Saito Takumi to star in new WOWOW drama "Akira to Akira"

Mukai Osamu and Saito Takumi will be the double leads in the new WOWOW drama "Akira to Akira" (Akira and Akira) which will begin its run from July in the Sundays 10pm timeslot. The drama is based on the same-titled novel by Ikeido Jun which was first serialised between 2006 and 2009 in the monthly novel magazine "Mondai Shosetsu" before Ikeido gave it an overhaul and will be releasing it in the novel book format for the first time on 31 May. As such, this marks the "fastest" real-life adaptation for WOWOW since the original material's release. This will be WOWOW's 4th adaptation of a Ikeido work since 2011's "Shitamachi Rocket" and the longest drama to date i.e. 9 episodes.

The story which is set during the days of the bubble economy, begins in April 1986 where Kaidou Akira (Mukai) who is an elite born as the heir of a large company Tokai Yuusen. On the other hand, his genius classmate from University of Tokyo, Yamazaki Akira had a tough life due the bankruptcy of his father's company and having to run away from creditors but overcomes the odds to graduate from the top-notch school. The two of them enter the same bank and gets caught in a battle lasting over 10 years which causes upheavals in their lives.

As this is the 4th time that Mukai and Saito are working together, Mukai revealed that as they are both of the same age, they have always chatted a lot during their free time but he did have the feeling that Saito was a strange person when they first met. Although this is the first time that they will be clashing on screen, he thinks that it will be enjoyable and fascinating at the same time. He also commented that he will go to his uncle for advice as the latter worked as a bank employee in that era.

On the other hand, Saito will be making a change to his usual straggly hairstyle so as to look convincing as a bank employee. He expressed his joy at being able to work with Mukai again in this drama which describes a special period in Japan's history and will offer a different insight into the past and future when viewed in this era.

Sources: Sanspo / Yomiuri Hochi / Oricon

Female cast lineup of TV Tokyo Spring 2017 drama "Hyakumanen no Onnatachi" announced

The female cast lineup of TV Tokyo Spring 2017 drama "Hyakumanen no Onnatachi" starring RADWIMPS' Noda Yojiro has been announced. The drama which begins its run from 13 April in the Thursdays 11am timeslot, is based on the same-titled manga by Aono Shunjuu and features Noda as the lead character Michima Shin, a struggling writer who suddenly finds himself living with 5 mysterious women under the same roof. The women pay him a huge amount of rent totaling one million yen every month but their motive for getting close to him and their true identities will only be known as the story progresses. At the same time, Shin also finds his life changed in a drastic way through living with these women.

The five actresses playing the women paying Shin to live with them are Fukushima Rila who plays Shirakawa Minami, Matsui Rena who plays Tsukamoto Hitomi, Wagatsuma Miwako who plays Kobayashi Yuki, Takeda Rena who plays Suzumura Midori and Araki Yuuko who plays Hiraki Nanaka. In the original manga, Shirakawa Minami appears in her birthday suit most of the time at home so when Fukushima got the offer, she was apprehensive about it. However, after she read the manga, she didn't mind the nudity part anymore since she grew to know more about the character and became drawn to her. Fukushima even joked that she might find it more embarrassing to be wearing clothes after the filming ends as she could have gotten used to being nude by then. As for Matsui who plays the bookworm Hitomi, she hopes to convey the same impact she got from reading the manga through this drama and will try her best to play her character.

This drama will also be available for viewing via Netflix from 7 April.

Source: Oricon

Ando Masanobu to star in FujiTV drama SP "Streetwise In Wonderland - Jiken no hou ga hotteikenai tantei -"

Ando Masanobu will be starring in the new FujiTV drama SP "Streetwise In Wonderland - Jiken no hou ga hotteikenai tantei -"  (Streetwise In Wonderland - The case is the one who wouldn't leave the detective alone -) which will be shown at 12.35am on 27 March. This is Ando's first leading role in a FujiTV drama which is written by Ueda Makoto.

Ando plays the lead character Wada in this hard-boiled comedy who is a private detective and takes on any case no matter how trivial it may seem. He and his acquaintances gets embroiled into a big case beyond his imagination and cannot ditch the case even if he doesn't want to get involved. Co-stars include Tozuka Junki who plays an elite police detective and Ito Sairi who plays his client's wife.

For Ando who is playing a detective for the first time, he remarked that the six days of filming went by in a flash and he wished that he could do this again. With regard to this drama, he commented that this will be something unseen before in a nonsensical manner. Even though they tried to put on a straight face while acting, the viewers will find it hard not to giggle while watching the drama.

Source: Oricon

FujiTV to broadcast drama SP "Hanji Shikaku!? Bengoshi Natsume Rentaro no Gyakutensousa" in remembrance of Watase Tsunehiko

In remembrance of Watase Tsunehiko who had passed away recently, FujiTV will be showing the drama SP "Hanji Shikaku!? Bengoshi Natsume Rentaro no Gyakutensousa" (The judge's incapacity? The reverse investigation of lawyer Natsume Rentaro) starring him at 7.57pm on 24 March. This affects the drama SP "Sayonara! Obasan Deka Sakura Otome no Jikencho The Last" starring Ichihara Etsuko originally slated for this slot and its new broadcast date will be announced at a later date.

"Hanji Shikaku" was shot in 2014 and features Watase as the lawyer Natsume Rentaro who works together with his daughter Satsuki (Motokariya Yuika) who is also a lawyer, to find out the truth in a mysterious case. Rentaro used to be an excellent judge but was not allowed to extend his term because his judgement turnover time was too long. As such, he becomes a lawyer who doesn't care for his personal gains and would do anything to get to the bottom of things. Satsuki looks on coolly at what her father does but always ends up being dragged into his investigations unwittingly.

The case featured in this drama is a murder involving the president of a real estate company Terakawa Takashi (Ichikawa Isamu) and his wife Midori (Takeshita Akiko) who were found dead in their office. The company was also involved in a moneylending business and the office was ransacked with the safe being left open. On the floor, there lies a discount coupon from a beauty salon and a capsule. A few days later, Koda Masafumi (Kanie Ippei) who works at the beauty salon is arrested. Although he admits to stealing the money, he claims that he did not kill the couple. Nonetheless, he is still given a life imprisonment sentence.

Koda who continues to insist on his innocence, has only 13 days left to file his appeal application. His case is then passed to Rentaro by his senior at university Mochizuki Mutsuo (Tsugawa Masahiko) who is also Koda's lawyer. Upon investigation, Rentaro finds out that Koda was in need of money as he had just opened his hair salon. He was introduced by his friend Nishijima Yuji (Toba Jun) to borrow money from Terakawa who initially rejected his loan request of 10 million yen. Subsequently, he got a call from Terakawa to come to the latter's office saying that the loan can be arranged. When he reached the office, he found the couple already dead and there was 4 million yen in the open space. He then took away the money and did not report the murders to the police.

Source: Oricon

Yamashita Tomohisa, Aragaki Yui & Toda Erika to be back in Season 3 of "Code Blue ~ Doctor Heli Kinkyuu Kyuumei ~" this summer

Yamashita Tomohisa, Aragaki Yui, Toda Erika, Higa Manami and Asari Yousuke will be back in the third season of FujiTV drama "Code Blue ~ Doctor Heli Kinkyuu Kyuumei ~" which will be shown in the Mondays 9pm timeslot from July onwards. The drama series began in the summer of 2008 with a SP and season 2 shown in Winter 2010 so the new season will describe what happens to the 5 main characters 7 years later after Season 2.

When the cast first started acting in the series, they were all relatively new but have since moved on to become established actors taking on leading roles. Yamashita commented that he is very happy to be able to play Aizawa Kousaku again and reunite with his co-stars. Over the years, the number of helicopters equipped with medical equipment has grown from just 14 as at the point of Season 1 to 50 now so he hopes that more people will get to know about the Doctor Heli system through this drama. On the other hand, Aragaki who celebrated her 20th birthday while filming Season 1, expressed her joy to be able to play Shiraishi Megumi again in 7 years especially since this is the last year of her 20s.

In the latest installment, Aizawa who had left the emergency centre at Shohoku, is working as a neurosurgeon now and busy with operations every day. Shiraishi continues to work as a flight doctor at Shohoku which is facing a manpower crunch and is already the staff leader of the flight doctors team. Hiyama Mihoko (Toda) left Shohoku and becomes a gynecologist at a perinatal medical centre while Saejima Haruka (Higa) is still pursuing excellence as a flight nurse. Last but not least, Fujikawa Kazuo (Asari) is working as an emergency centre doctor specialising in plastic surgery and supports Shiraishi's team as well.

Filming will begin at the end of May and the supporting cast lineup will be announced at a later date.

Sources:Nikkansports / Sanspo / Yomiuri Hochi / Sponichi 1 / Sponichi 2 / Oricon

Preview of "Aozora Cut" (Drama SP)

Title: Aozora Cut アオゾラカット (Blue Sky Cut)
Official website: here
Official blog: here
O.A. Date: 15 March 2017 at 10pm
Broadcast by: NHK Osaka
Cast: Hayashi Kento, Kawaei Rina, Yoshida Kotaro, Tokoshima Yoshiko, Yamasaki Shizuyo, Miyajima Mai

Press conference of new NHK drama SP "Aozora Cut"

The press conference of new NHK drama SP "Aozora Cut" was held at NHK Osaka on 12 March which was attended by the lead Hayashi Kento. The drama SP was shown at 10pm on 15 March.

The drama which is set in Nishinari Ward of Osaka City, features Hayashi as a hairstylist who returns to Japan from Paris after receiving news of his mother's demise. However, this marks the start of clashes with his father (Yoshida Kotaro) who operates a beauty salon. Through the conflicts, the two of them gradually come to terms with their differences and the son rediscovers the charm of the town where he was born and raised. Kawaei Rina plays an employee at the salon.

Hayashi recounted that there was a scene where the father and son were fighting and Yoshida whispered to his ear before the filming not to hold back which greatly impressed him. In order to reflect the Osaka elements in the story, Hayashi even did things such as singing a song from the late Yashiki Takajin. As for playing a hairstylist, Hayashi went through training 2 weeks before the filming started. He had to go to a salon at Takatsuki City, Osaka after it closed for the day and train from 7pm to 11pm which led to him cutting his left hand many times by accident.

Sources: Yomiuri Hochi / Sponichi

Nakadai Tatsuya, Abe Hiroshi & Kuroki Haru to star in new movie "Umibe no Lear"

Nakadai Tatsuya, Abe Hiroshi, Kuroki Haru, Harada Mieko and Kobayashi Kaoru will be appearing in the new movie "Umibe no Lear" (Lear of the beach) which will be shown in cinemas from 3 June. The film which was filmed in Ishikawa Prefecture against the backdrop of the blue sea and beige beach, focuses on the state of families these days including the problems such as the child who isn't loved by the parent, the child who betrays the parent, a couple drifting apart and how the family grapples with the issue of parents getting on age.

The movie features Nakadai as Kuwahata Chokichi who used to be a famous actor but is suspected to be suffering from dementia now. He is betrayed by his elder daughter Yukiko (Harada), her husband-cum-his-former-disciple Ikuo (Abe) and Yukiko's lover, a mysterious driver (Kobayashi) and gets sent to a high-class old folks' home. One day, Choukichi runs away from the home and wanders to the beach where he meets his younger daughter Nobuko (Kuroki) who he had with his lover. Although he had thrown Nobuko out in the past, he begins to imagine seeing her as the image of Cordelia who is the beloved daughter of King Lear after talking to her. Once his past memories come back to him gradually, Choukichi also heads towards the world of insanity.

Source: Sanspo

Tabe Mikako to star in new NHK drama "Tsubaki Bunguten ~ Kamakura Daishoya Monogatari ~"

Tabe Mikako will be starring in the new NHK drama "Tsubaki Bunguten ~ Kamakura Daishoya Monogatari ~" (Tsubaki Stationery Store ~ The story of Kamakura notary public ~) which consists of 8 episodes and will begin its run from 14 April in the Fridays 10pm timeslot. The drama is based on the novel "Tsubaki Bunguten" by Ogawa Ito which was nominated for the 2017 Honya Taisho and set in the traditional city Kamakura.

Tabe plays the role of Hatoko who returns to her hometown in Kamakura for the first time in 8 years and inherits her late grandmother's stationery store Tsubaki Bunguten. However, the shop exists only in form and is actually a notary public which writes letters on behalf of others. As a newbie in this trade, Hatoko gradually becomes better at writing various types of letters with the best words to convey the clients' feelings to the recipients. Through her work, Hatoko's heart gets filled with satisfaction and joy which inspires her to make changes to her life. Co-stars include Takahashi Katsunori, Kamiji Yusuke, Katase Nana, Niitsu Chise, Enami Kyoko, Okuda Eiji and Baisho Mitsuko. The theme song "Kotonoha" is written and sung by ayaka.

Source: Oricon

Inoue Takashi passes away at the age of 56

Actor Inoue Takashi passed away in a Tokyo hospital at 6.30pm on 4 March as announced by his agency on 8 March. He was 56 years old. According to his agency, the cause of death was not revealed even though it was indicated on its website that Inoue was recuperating from an illness. His funeral will be attended by close family members only as per the wishes of his family. As for his farewell ceremony, it will be held on a later date.

Inoue was born on 27 December 1960 in Miyazaki and became a founding member of the theatre group Gekidan Kakusuko managed by Nakamura Ikuji. He was active in many dramas and stage plays including 2016's WOWOW drama "Cold Case" and TBS drama "Wataru seken wa oni bakari" as well as TV Asahi's "Aibou season 14" and NTV's "Woman". He also formed the band WataruOni Oyaji Band with members such as Kadono Takuzo which made their CD debut.

Sources: Sponichi / Oricon

Supporting cast line-up of NTV Spring 2017 drama "Boku, Unmei no hito desu" announced

The supporting cast line-up of new NTV Spring 2017 drama "Boku, Unmei no hito desu" starring Kamenashi Kazuya, Kimura Fumino and Yamashita Tomohisa has been announced. The drama begins its run from April in the Saturdays 10pm timeslot and features Kamenashi as a company employee Masaki Makoto who goes all out to woo the women who he thinks of as his soulmate despite being rejected all the time. When he meets a practical OL (Kimura) named Kogetsu Haruko who doesn't believe in destiny, he confesses his love for her but to no avail because she wants to have a relationship which is safe and fail-proof. Just then, a mysterious man calling himself as God (Yamashita) appears and offers him advice on how to woo his soulmate.

Nanao who will be working with Kimura for the third time, will play Haruko's colleague and buddy Yotsuya Mie who is a carefree person and a great help in Haruko's love life. As she will not be playing an evil woman this year, she is very looking forward to acting in this drama. Tanabe Seiichi will be playing Karasuda Shokichi who is the diretor at Makoto's company while Haruko's parents Daichi and Yoshie will be played by Sugimoto Tetta and Ishino Mako. Ookura Koji will play Sekihara Tsuguru, Makoto's superior and Sawabe Yu will play Makoto's colleague Katsuragi Kazuo who entered the company at the same time as him. Last but not least, Watanabe Eriko will be playing Hatozaki Sumire who is Haruko's and Mie's superior at work.

Sources: Nikkansports / Sponichi / Oricon

Top 20 celebrities with the highest CM exposure in 2016 (Video Research)

Numbers in brackets refer to the positions held in 2015 and the time presented here is the total amount of CM airtime for the entire year in seconds:

Top 20 in the Kanto region
1) Matsuda Shota - 290,025 secs (4)
2) Kiritani Kenta - 282,585 secs (3)
3) Ueto Aya - 270,960 secs (2)
4) Hamada Gaku - 260,085 secs (1)
5) Kiritani Mirei - 216,585 secs (61)
6) Suda Masaki - 210,215 secs (81)
7) Arimura Kasumi - 201,155 secs (8)
8) Ayase Haruka - 191,255 secs (6)
9) Nishijima Hidetoshi - 186,090 secs (7)
10) Ayano Go - 171,225 secs (17)
11) Higuchi Kanako - 164,490 secs (9)
12) Hirose Suzu - 157,605 secs (5)
13) Nakajo Ayami - 150,840 secs (222)
14) Nanao - 150,675 secs (21)
15) Yoshida Yo - 148,315 secs (41)
16) Dante Carver - 147,835 secs (10)
17) Matsuko Deluxe - 143,205 secs (57)
18) Abe Hiroshi - 143,010 secs (19)
19) Tsumabuki Satoshi - 130,890 secs (22)
20) Takahata Mitsuki - 129,240 secs (45)

Top 20 in the Kansai region
1) Ueto Aya - 315,885 secs (1)
2) Matsuda Shota - 255,855 secs (4)
3) Kiritani Kenta - 253,350 secs (3)
4) Hamada Gaku - 235,455 secs (2)
5) Ayase Haruka - 187,590 secs (6)
6) Nishijima Hidetoshi - 187,170 secs (5)
7) Suda Masaki - 185,015 secs (80)
8) Arimura Kasumi - 171,315 secs (7)
9) Kiritani Mirei - 170,925 secs (87)
10) Matsuoka Shuzo - 151,575 secs (11)
11) Matsuko Deluxe - 149,835 secs (47)
12) Sasaki Kuranosuke - 144,345 secs (94)
13) Hirose Suzu - 135,275 secs (8)
14) Ayano Go - 134,890 secs (20)
15) Karata Erika - 125,055 secs (186)
16) Karasawa Toshiaki - 124,230 secs (10)
17) Nakajo Ayami - 120,225 secs (184)
18) Yoshida Yo - 119,310 secs (43)
19) Higuchi Kanako - 118,890 secs (13)
20) Abe Hiroshi - 113,900 secs (21)

Top 20 in the Nagoya region
1) Kiritani Kenta - 266,130 secs (2)
2) Matsuda Shota - 264,975 secs (3)
3) Kiritani Mirei - 256,860 secs (26)
4) Hamada Gaku - 243,000 secs (1)
5) Ueto Aya - 223,935 secs (4)
6) Suda Masaki - 193,715 secs (66)
7) Arimura Kasumi - 175,695 secs (5)
8) Ayase Haruka - 168,615 secs (7)
9) Nishijima Hidetoshi - 162,135 secs (6)
10) Kagawa Teruyuki - 144,135 secs (27)
11) Suzuki Chinami - 142,860 secs (88)
12) Matsuoka Shuzo - 139,860 secs (12)
13) Ayano Go - 138,660 secs (18)
14) Abe Hiroshi - 128,040 secs (20)
15) Higuchi Kanako - 127,590 secs (11)
16) Hirose Suzu - 126,575 secs (8)
17) Nakajo Ayami - 121,305 secs (218)
18) Yoshida Yo - 120,345 secs (39)
19) Dante Carver - 114,600 secs (14)
20) Baba Toru - 112,320 secs (406)

Source: Video Research

Dean Fujioka announces the birth of his third child via Instagram

Dean Fujioka announced the birth of his third child via his Instagram account on 14 March. The post contained a picture of his baby and hashtags of "#remember311" and "#godbless" but there were no other comments from him.

Fujioka announced his wife's pregnancy to his fanclub members in October last year and expressed the joy of welcoming a new member into their family. He has a pair of twins (one boy and one girl) who were born in October 2014.

Source: Yomiuri Hochi

Production press conference of new WOWOW drama "Hitoya no Toge"

The production press conference of new WOWOW drama "Hitoya no Toge" was held on 8 March which was attended by the director Hirayama Hideyuki and cast members Kubota Masataka, Ozawa Yukiyoshi and Hagiwara Masato. The drama which consists of 6 episodes, will begin its run from 19 March in the Sundays 10pm timeslot.

The drama is based on the same-titled novel by Daimon Takeaki and features Kubota in the role of Takeshima Ryota who is a newbie prison warden like his late father and is newly assigned to the Kita Kanto Prison where bullying and illegal acts such as gambling are ignored by his corrupt colleagues who are supposed to be upright and partial. One day, a new prison chief Nakui Souichi (Ozawa Yukiyoshi) arrives at the prison and tries to eliminate the unacceptable behaviour by the wardens and makes a suggestion to Takeshima in order to achieve his aim. Hagiwara plays the warden director at the same prison.

As this is the first time that the trio worked together, they were asked about the impressions of one another. Ozawa described Kubota as a squirrel in early summer who is so excited about the arrival of summer and is always frank and straightforward. Hagiwara then commented that Kubota is so serious about his work and thought about his character even during rest times that he jokingly complained that he's such a troublesome person. As for the director, he said that Kubota is like an alien who he can't really fathom especially since there is an age gap between him and his co-stars. Upon hearing their comments, Kubota replied with a wry smile that he gets nervous around people older than him but he is happy to hear that he doesn't get stereotyped with his roles to date and he doesn't mind being called an alien who ditches his characters once he is done with acting as them and a squirrel in early summer.

The event was broadcast live on the Internet via WOWOW Purasuto and LINE LIVE where Kubota appeared very nervous from the start and did not see the microphone left on the seats for the actors. He began introducing himself without using the microphone which led Ozawa to tease him about his nervousness and blunder.

Filming of this drama was done in early summer last year for about two months.

Sources: Nikkansports / Oricon

Premiere screening event & completion press conference of new movie "ReLIFE"

The premiere screening event and completion press conference of new movie "ReLIFE" was held on 8 March which was attended by the director Furusawa Takeshi and cast members Nakagawa Taishi, Taira Yuna, Chiba Yuudai, Ikeda Elaiza and Okazaki Sae. The movie will be shown in cinemas from 15 April and is based on the manga by Yayoiso published on comico. Nakagawa plays the lead character Kaizaki Arata who is a 27-year-old NEET approached by a mysterious man Yoake Ryo (Chiba) from the ReLife Research Institute who offers him the opportunity to go back to his high school days 10 years ago for a limited period of one year as their test subject. During the period, he gradually falls in love with his classmate Hishiro Chizuru (Taira).

When Nakagawa first heard about the movie's offer, he was shocked to be playing a 27-year-old man even though he is only 18 and had played senior high school or university students most of the time todate. As such, he had to ditch his past experience and do a lot of research and imagine how he should behave as an adult in order to play his character. On the other hand, Taira who plays Chizuru having problems interacting with others, also revealed her worry about playing someone who is entirely different from her own personality. As such, she was feeling the pressure so much that she felt the stress and fatigue in her shoulders at the beginning of the filming.

As Nakagawa and Taira are graduating from senior high school this year, their co-stars and the director presented them with a cake with the image of a graduation certificate during the surprise celebration. Nakagawa thanked everyone for their gesture and pledged to work harder in future. For Taira, the filming of the movie coincided with the university entrance exams so she was glad to have made it to the university of her choice and thanked everyone for their support.

Meanwhile, Chiba who was the oldest among the cast to appear at the event (he is 27 now), was teased by his co-stars and the audience for being an ojisan (middle-aged man) but he didn't mind it and said that he is at the age where he hopes to be able to carry himself with dignity.

Sources: Oricon 1 / Oricon 2

Watase Tsunehiko passes away due to multiple organ failure

Watase Tsunehiko passed away in a Tokyo hospital at 11.18pm on 14 March due to multiple organ failure. He was 72 years old. According to the fax statement released by Watase's agency on 16 March, Watase's funeral and farewell ceremony will be attended by his immediate family members only as per his wishes. He leaves behind his wife Iho, a son and a daughter and his elder brother is actor Watari Tetsuya.

Watase was admitted to hospital for pneumonia in June 2015 during the filming of a drama and complained about feeling unwell in the autumn of the same year. After going through a checkup, he was diagnosed with a tumour in his gallbladder. He returned to work from December the same year while undergoing treatment and being admitted to hospital for short stays. While filming TV Asahi drama "Keishicho Sousa Ikka Kyuugakari" last year, he was diagnosed with gallbladder cancer but did not tell his co-stars and staff members at all except for a few who knew about his condition. Watase used to drink heavily but had abstained from alcohol since he was diagnosed with cancer. He was scheduled to make an appearance on 2 March at the completion press conference of TV Asahi drama SP "Soshite dare mo inakunatta" showing on 25th and 26th March but was absent with the reason of scheduling conflicts.

Watase was expelled from the law faculty of Waseda University and worked at the PR centre of advertising firm Dentsu. While his elder brother Wataru became a youth star of Nikkatsu movies, Watase had no interest in showbiz then and it was only until 1969 when he signed a contract with Toei to become an actor and made his debut the following year. Since then, he had appeared in many movies and dramas and won awards such as the Blue Ribbon, Nippon Academy and Kinema Junpo. In recent years, Watase was more active in TV dramas.

Watase was previously married to the late actress Ohara Reiko between 1973 and 1978 before he married his current wife Iho who used to be a OL. His last appearances on screen together with his brother was in the 2011 TBS drama SP "Kikyou" and in 2013 TBS drama "Nishimura Kyotaro Suspense Totsugawa Keibu Series 50th commemorative work Kieta Tanker" where Watase was the lead and Watari was the guest star.

In the statement released by Watase's agency, he was planning to participate in the filming of the latest installment of "Keishicho Sousa Ikka Kyuugakari season 12" which is scheduled to begin in February. The drama is scheduled to begin its run from April. However, he had been hospitalised due to pneumothorax in his left lung around mid February. Nonetheless, he recovered well enough to take part in the drama's scheduling meeting on 13 March but his condition suddenly took a turn for the worse in the night of 14 March and passed away due to multiple organ failure brought about by septicemia.


With regard to his younger brother's sudden demise, Watari released a statement through his agency where he mentioned that he was mentally prepared for the worst when Watase told him about his stage IV cancer and that he only had about a year left to live. However, he is still at a loss for words when faced with the passing of his younger brother especially when he recalls the time they spent together since childhood to now.

Meanwhile, V6's Inohara Yoshihiko who has also appeared in the "Keishicho Sousa Ikka Kyuugakari" series together with Watase since 2006, released his comments about the passing of his co-star. Inohara referred to Watase as his colleague and respected teacher and that there were so many memories between them so he can't find the right words to describe his feelings now. In the drama series, Inohara plays Watase's colleague and his daughter's (Nakagoshi Noriko) boyfriend. According to insiders, the first two episodes of the drama had been filmed without Watase who was hospitalised during the same period. TV Asahi has also confirmed that the 12th installment will be broadcast as planned from next month in the Wednesdays 9pm timeslot.


Sources: Nikkansports / Sanspo / Yomiuri Hochi 1 / Yomiuri Hochi 2 / Oricon

Fukushi Souta to star in new movie "Tabineko Report"

Fukushi Souta will be starring in the new movie "Tabineko Report" (The travelling cat report) which is based on the same-titled novel by Arikawa Hiro and will be shown in cinemas next year. Filming began at the end of last month and is expected to be wrapped up in April.

Fukushi will play the lead character Satoru who rescues a stray cat which had met with a traffic accident and names it Nana. However, something happens and he is unable to take care of the cat anymore so Satoru embarks on a journey to various places such as Shizuoka, Tochigi, Nagano and Fukuoka so as to find a new owner for Nana. Through his interaction with various people such as his first love during the journey, Satoru's secret is slowly unveiled.

As cats are known to be difficult to train unlike dogs, it has been said that the novel could never be made into a movie. In order to overcome this issue, cat trainer Kitamura Mayumi from major animal actors production house ZOO Doubutsu Pro was engaged to train the cats appearing in the movie. Even so, Arikawa who also takes on the role of scriptwriter for the movie was prepared to rewrite her script for the sake of the cats.

In order to get close to the male cat which will play Nana, Fukushi who is acting with animals for the first time, had to start interacting with the cat three weeks before the filming started and underwent lectures from Kitamura. Fukushi commented that he was a bit excited and worried about the distance between him and the cat but things got better by the time the filming began.

Sources: Sanspo / Sponichi

TV Asahi to change the title of its Spring 2017 drama due to protest from Akita Prefecture

TV Asahi will be changing the title of its Spring 2017 drama due to multiple protests from the people of Akita Prefecture over the controversial nature and negative nuance of the title. The drama staring AKB48 member Watanabe Mayu is to begin its run from April 2017 with the title "Sayonara, Kiritanpo" (Goodbye, Kiritanpo) where the word kiritanpo brings to mind the pubic region of men due to the theme of the drama. However, the same word also stands for the signature pounded rice skewer from Akita Prefecture. In view of this, the prefecture raised its objection to the TV station which then decided to change the title as of 8 March but the new title has yet to be decided.

TV Asahi commented that even though the drama has yet to be aired, they are apologetic about hurting the feelings of the locals in Akita Prefecture and have made amendments to the drama's website accordingly. In response to this, a spokesman from Akita Prefecture's government said that the title was a deliberate attempt to draw a link between kiritanpo with a man's penis which would have affected the image of their signature food adversely so they couldn't remain quiet and let it slide.

The drama features Watanabe as the Heisei-era version of Abe Sada, a Japanese woman who is remembered for erotically asphyxiating her lover, Kichizo Ishida (石田 吉蔵 Ishida Kichizō?) on 18 May 1936 before cutting off his penis and testicles and carrying them around with her in her kimono. The drama's story is conceptualised by AKB48's producer Akimoto Yasushi and written by Kiyasu Kohei. Watanabe plays the lead character Kiriyama Saori who desires true love but keeps meeting bad men who defy her expectations in various ways e.g. a married man treating her as his mistress, behaving badly after getting drunk or has the habit of inflicting domestic violence. In order to get back at them, she subjects them to physical torture just like what Abe Sada did.

Watanabe commented that when she first heard about the offer, she was shocked especially since she had never played such a character before. As such, she hopes to be able to deliver a performance which will make Sunday nights exciting for the viewers. Watanabe had won the leading role for this drama after winning the leading actress battle in "AKB Love Night Koikoujou" held between April and September 2016.

After the TV broadcast, the drama will be shown via au's video-on-demand service "Video Pass" and TV Asahi's "TereAsa Douga".

Sources: Oricon 1 / Oricon 2 / Nikkansports / Sponichi

Kankaku Pierrot to sing the theme song for new movie "22 Nenme no Kokuhaku Watashi ga satsujinhan desu"

Kankaku Pierrot will be singing the theme song for new movie "22 Nenme no Kokuhaku Watashi ga satsujinhan desu" starring Fujiwara Tatsuya and Ito Hideaki which will be shown in cinemas from 10 June. The movie which is based on the 2012 South Korean film, begins in the year 1995 where there were 5 peculiar murder cases. The murderer would always get someone close to the victim to witness how he would strangle the victim from behind with a rope but he would let the witnesses go and speak to the media on how the murders happened. Ito plays the role of Makimura, the police detective who was in charge of investigating the serial murders but failed to catch the cunning murderer and his respected superior ended up being killed as well. 22 years later in 2017 when the case is nearing its statute of limitations, a man named Sonezaki claims to be the culprit for the 1995 murders and even publishes a book titled "Watashi ga satsujinhan desu" to talk about the cases. Despite the disgust towards Sonezaki's actions, the intensive attention showered on him via the media and SNS makes him become the talk of town.

The theme song titled "Gimon Gitou" was specially written for the movie after the band watched it. The vocalist Yokoyama Naohiro commented that he was overwhelmed by the aftertaste of the movie and decided to come up with a stimulating-style of rock music to match it. As a result, the song has a blend of strong, coarse and fine elements demonstrated by their musical instruments, melody and lyrics.

Source: Eiga.com