TOKYO —Meisa Kuroki, 23, and Mikako Tabe, 22, will star in a new Asahi TV police drama, “Jiu Special Investigation Team,” which will air Fridays, starting tonight, on TV Asahi at 11:15 p.m. The drama is based on the “Jiu” suspense novel series written by Tetsuya Honda.
According to a press release from TV Asahi, Motoko Isaki, played by Kuroki, is a fierce, physically capable investigator with a strong battle instinct, while Tabe’s character, Misaki Kadokura, is more intellectual, kind-hearted and naive. The two of them join forces to track down Jiu, the ringleader responsible for a series of brutal crimes.
Kuroki said in a statement: “I’m an active person and I like physical scenes. I didn’t find it stressful at all.” Tabe, whose character often wears white to accentuate her kind-heartedness, said she is nothing like her character.
TOKYO — Bikini model turned TV personality Aki Hoshino, 34, attended a publicity event for KFC in Shinjuku this week. The event, titled “Facebook Chicken Check-in Project Launch,” was held to introduce the next generation of KFC stores. The new stores, which are currently under development in the capital, now have a “vegetable menu” as well as a new look.
Hoshino dutifully reproduced KFC slogans before telling the press, “I got my first ever part-time job here. When I was young, we only had KFC on birthdays and at Christmas. I wanted to have it every day.”
When she was asked the obligatory question about her love life, Hoshino confessed that she had been taking cooking classes with “talent” and friend Yuko Ogura, 27, in preparation for married life. Asked which of the pair was likely to marry first, Hoshino replied, “I’d imagine Yuko would be first, right?”
TOKYO — Hiroshima-born TV presenter Mona Yamamoto, 35, has announced that she is to retire from the public eye. In a fax distributed to media agencies this week, she wrote, “I apologize for the suddenness of this news, but as of June 30, I plan to retire from public life and return to my married name.”
Yamamoto, who is daughter to a Norwegian father and a Japanese mother, said, “I have been thinking deeply about what I want from my life and where my choices will lead me. I have decided to accept the challenge of becoming a working mother and housewife and to lead a more regular life. I truly appreciate all of the support my colleagues and the public have kindly given me up until now. To all of those people, I wish to say a heartfelt thank you.”
Yamamoto, an employee of Asahi Broadcasting Corp, has taken breaks from news broadcasting before. In September 2006, she was accused of having an affair with married DPJ politician Goshi Hosono and was forced to step down from her position on TBS’s “NEWS23” program, a job which she had only held for five days.
She was fired again in 2008 from her position as an anchor for Fuji TV after news broke of her affair with Yomiuri Giants player Tomohiro Nioka, who was married at the time. The alleged tryst took place on the eve of her comeback from the first scandal.
Yamamoto married her husband, the president of a real estate investment company, in 2010.
TOKYO — Actress Maki Horikita, 22, will play a doctor an NHK drama to air next year. The drama, which starts next April 2, is titled “Ume-chan sensei,” and is based on a screenplay by Masaya Ozaki. Horikita plays the title character, Dr Ume, who becomes a doctor in Kamata, Tokyo after World War II. Horikita said the theme is one of recovery, and added that it is also relevant to Japan today, which is trying to recover from the devastation of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
TOKYO —Tokyo Gov Shintaro Ishihara remains adamant that Bill 156 is a step in the right direction in stemming the tide of extreme sexual depictions of minors in Tokyo.
The controversial manga censorship ordinance pushed through by the Tokyo metropolitan government late last year has been much talked about. Specifically, the bill aims to regulate manga that “unreasonably praise or exaggerate” extreme sex. While elements of the ordinance took effect earlier this year, it will come into complete effect on July 1. Many artists, individuals, organizations and people in Tokyo are against the new measures because they claim that it is a threat to civil liberties and that it will hinder a vibrant sector. However, others support Ishihara on the grounds of protecting minors and because of other important factors. This applies to animation scenes which depict rape, incest, child marriage and the sexual abuse of minors.
However, if the ordinance only includes Tokyo, then it seems rather strange because Saitama Prefecture is only 11 minutes away by train from Ikebukuro and within around 18 to 19 minutes, you can get to Kanagawa from Shinjuku. Similarly, Chiba is not so far away from Ueno; therefore, if the entire region is not included, then the ordinance appears rather limited and open to be manipulated.
Also, what if you buy animation which depicts rape, incest and the abuse of minors, from an online company based in another part of Japan? Will this also become illegal? If so, then what measures can prevent packages from containing the newly banned material. And if individuals download their new purchase online, are they breaking the law? Ishihara can’t please everyone because it is a very emotional topic in certain circles. However, it is clear that explicit animation and manga generate a lot of capital and the creativity it unleashes also crosses over into other areas. Already restrictions have been put on six titles. Aki Sora, Oku-sama wa Shōgakusei, Lovers & Sharing, Koibito 8-gō, Hana-Hiyori, and Midori no Kisetsu, are the first to feel the act of this bill.
The final consequences remain unknown but with the closeness of other prefectures, it is clear that nothing is what it seems. It is also clear that this problem will be brought up again in the new future and much depends on the determination of people against the bill because the policing it will not be easy given the reality of mass communications and the sheer size of Tokyo.
AKB48 member Tomomi Itano, 19, popularly called Tomo-chan by fans, takes part in a promotional event for wireless mobile operator EMobile’s new commercial, “Finger Logo,” in Tokyo on Wednesday. The new commercial, which airs from Saturday, features Itano dancing to her new single “Wanna be now” and making an “E” and “M”’ (for EMobile) pose with her fingers. The pose, which is repeatedly used during the commercial, was “difficult to master,” Itano said.
The Pink Lady duo greet fans in the lobby after their mini-live event for charity in Tokyo.
TOKYO — Reformed 1970s pop duo Pink Lady, currently in the middle of their sixth reunion, took part in a live music event for charity in Tokyo last week, performing 11 fan favorites, including “Pepper Keibu” and “UFO.”
Keiko Masuda, 52, (known to fans as “Kei”) and Mitsuyo Nemoto, 52, (“Mie”), told the audience, “It’s the duty of those of us outside affected areas to send as much positive energy and cheer their way as we can. Pink Lady will continue to sing and dance as we always do.”
A spokesperson for the duo said that in order to conserve electricity during their upcoming Japan tour, stage lighting will be replaced by an array of LEDs and that the stage show has also been altered. All proceeds from charity auctions and merchandise sales will be donated to earthquake and tsunami relief funds. The duo has also announced plans to establish their own foundation in the near future.
Pink Lady performed their first ever concert on March 31, 1977. Then on the same day in 1981, the pair gave their farewell concert at Korakuen Stadium in Tokyo. They told fans, “It has been exactly 30 years since that breakup, so today is a special day for us. Believe in your dreams. Let’s all pull together.”
