NMB48 song tops Oricon chart

NMB48's new single "Junjo U-19"

The newest song by NMB48, a sister group of AKB48, has risen to the No. 1 spot in Oricon’s rankings for Feb 20. “Junjo U-19” is the third single in a row from NMB48 to occupy the No. 1 spot.

The group is based in Namba, Osaka. Members of the group said that it is like a dream.

The No. 1 ranked album is L’Arc~en~Ciel’s “BUTTERFLY.” The group hasn’t held the No. 1 spot since late 2007.

Japan Today

www.japantoday.com

Kuroki reported pregnant 2 weeks after denying relationship with Akanishi

Meisa KurokiJapan Today

TOKYO —

 Popular actress-singer Meisa Kuroki, 23, is two months pregnant and has announced her marriage to former KAT-TUN singer Jin Akanishi, 27, tabloid media reported Thursday.

The news, first reported by Sports Nippon, comes two weeks after the couple denied they were dating. “We’re friends but he is not my boyfriend,” Kuroki said in a statement released last month by her agency, while Akanishi’s agency, Johnny’s Jimusho, released a statement in which he said “We are not going out.”

The gossip started when the pair were spotted together at Tokyo DisneySea on Jan 22, Sankei Shimbun reported. A Johnny’s spokesperson said that Akanishi did go to Tokyo DisneySea, but he wasn’t alone with Kuroki. They were among a group of friends, the spokesperson said.

Besides DisneySea, the pair were also seen in Okinawa on Jan 14 and at Lalaport Toyosu in Tokyo’s Koto Ward on Jan 21.

Akanishi is going to release the album “JAPONICANA” in Japan and the U.S. on March 7, and go on a concert tour of five cities in the U.S. He will also be seen in the Hollywood film “47 RONIN,” alongside Keanu Reeves, to be released in December.

Kuroki has a second album, “UNLOCKED,” due out on Feb 15. Sports Nippon reported that she will continue working after giving birth.

Japan Today

www.japantoday.com

Masami Nagasawa relishes her role as detective

Masami Nagasaki shows her detective pose.TV ASAHI

TOKYO —

 Masami Nagasawa says she is very happy to play a detective in her newest TV drama, “Toshi Densetsu no Onna,” which will air on TV Asahi on Friday nights from April.

It has been three years since Nagasawa appeared in a TV drama series. “Toshi Densetsu no Onna” is a mixture of comedy and mystery. Nagasawa plays Tsukiko Otonashi, a police detective who is obsessed with urban legends and who works on unsolved cases behind the legends.

Nagasawa said her character is always on the lookout for evidence to link crimes to unexplained urban legends. She even goes so far as to investigate crimes by herself in secret.

The obligatory romance is provided by Junpei Inomata who plays a handsome forensic investigator. He falls in love with Tsukiko at first sight.

Nagasawa told reporters she has wanted to play a detective for a long time. She said that the director was very open to her ad-libbing jokes.

Japan Today

www.japantoday.com

Aya Ueto gets a 'sister' for Aoki ads

Aya Ueo, right, and Ayame GorikiAOKI

TOKYO — Actress Aya Ueto, 26, is happy to have a “sister” for the new ad campaign for clothing brand Aoki.

Ueo and Ayame Goriki, 19, who belongs to Ueto’s agency, will be appearing in the new TV commercial campaign, wearing suits.

“A lot of people have told me that Ayame looks like me,” Ueto said. “It’s like I’m looking at me a long time ago.” Goriki gushed: “I’m so happy that I look like Ueto. I feel like we are sisters.”

Japan Today

www.japantoday.com

Reina Triendl joins White Family in Softbank Mobile ads

SOFTBANK MOBILE

TOKYO —

 Model Reina Triendl is making a guest appearance in Softbank Mobile’s Shirato (White) Family ads.

Triendl, 20, plays a “student from Hawaii” who comes to Japan for a homestay with the Shirato family. “I’m Tada. I’m from Hawaii,” she says in the ad. Wearing a school uniform, Triendl is a modern girl who uses “gal” language.

She communicates well with other family members played by Aya Ueto, 26, and Kanako Higuchi, 53, who believe she is from the U.S. state of Hawaii, but in reality, she is from Hawai in Tottori Prefecture.

Japan Today

www.japantoday.com

Kyoko Koizumi to release album containing 30 songs for 30th anniversary

TOKYO — Singer and actress Kyoko Koizumi, 46, will release a 2-disc album containing 30 songs that her celebrity acquaintances and friends have chosen to mark the 30th anniversary of her debut as a singer on March 21. The album also includes a 160-page booklet containing photos of Kyon-kyon (as Koizumi is popularly known) over the past 30 years.

The album is titled “Kyon30 ~Nantettatte (It’s) 30 years!~” (3,900 yen with booklet). Koizumi debuted as a singer in 1982 with the song “Watashi no 16 sai.”

Japan Today

www.japantoday.com

Erika Sawajiri tries her hand at designing clothes, handbags

BeeTV

TOKYO — Actress Erica Sawajiri, 25, has designed a line of clothes and handbags as part of a promotion for a new cell phone drama she is appearing in. The new line is a collaborative effort between BeeTV and popular brands Samantha Thavasa and MERCURYDUO for the drama titled “Let M the reason why I love you other story.”
The story is about two women who are opposite in fashion, hairstyle, make-up and personality. Sawajiri plays both characters and designed clothes and bags to match each character in the drama.
Japan Today

www.japantoday.com

TV commercial of the week: Staff Service with Cyborg

TOKYO —

 This commercial is for Staff Service which is a big recruiting company.

Staff Service currently shows two kinds of Cyborg commercial series. One features the Cyborg temp worker 022 (the number “022″ refers to the phone number of Staff Service), and stars Mikako Tabe. The other features Cyborg full-time worker 003 (Cyborg 003/Françoise Arnoul) from the famous cartoon/animation “Cyborg 009.”

In this version, featuring Tabe, workers have to clip 50 sets of material together for a presentation in 30 minutes and worry that they cannot make it. Then Cyborg temp worker 022 transforms her right arm into a Gatling gun and does the job in no time at all.

www.japantoday.com

Kuroki, Akanishi deny they are dating

Meisa KurokiJapan Today

TOKYO — There have been several tabloid reports recently that actress Meisa Kuroki, 23, and former KAT-TUN singer Jin Akanishi, 27, are a couple. But both stars this week denied the couple were in a relationship.

“We’re friends but he is not my boyfriend,” Kuroki said in a statement released by her agency, while Akanishi’s agency, Johnny’s Jimusho, released a statement in which he said “We are not going out.”

The gossip started when the pair were spotted together at Tokyo DisneySea on Jan 22, Sankei Shimbun reported. A Johnny’s spokesperson said that Akanishi did go to Tokyo DisneySea, but he wasn’t alone with Kuroki. They were among a group of friends, the spokesperson said.

Japan Today

www.japantoday.com

Chinatsu Wakatsuki announces she's 5 months pregnant and married

Chinatsu Wakatsuki

TOKYO —

Model and “tarento” Chinatsu Wakatsuki, 27, is pregnant and married.

Wakatsuki said on her blog this week that she has married an older man, described as a company employee, and that she is five months pregnant.

She said she had submitted marriage registration papers to her ward office in Tokyo on Tuesday.

Wakatsuki said she intends to keep working after she gives birth.

Japan Today

www.japantoday.com

Ayumi Hamasaki to divorce husband of 1 year

Ayumi HamasakiIMAGE.NET

TOKYO —

Pop diva Ayumi Hamasaki, 33, has announced through her official fan club that she is to divorce Austrian actor Manuel Schwarz, 31. The couple who were wed in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day of 2011, are to file for a divorce after a year of marriage.

Hamasaki told fans that she had initiated the split, explaining that she felt unable to keep the promise she made to Schwarz, who lives in Los Angeles, that the pair would live together in America. “Since the Tohoku disaster, I have had the feeling that I don’t want to be apart from Japan,” she wrote. “As a result I have been spending more and more days away from him.”

“We spoke about this and we thought we could maintain our relationship by traveling to see each other, but at some point, physical distance becomes emotional distance,” she explained. “When I thought about our future, I realized I couldn’t see myself returning to the state of mind I was in when I agreed to live in America.”

It is reported that Hamasaki will file for divorce through a lawyer in the United States.

Japan Today

www.japantoday.com

Erika Sawajiri says there will be nude scene in new movie 'Helter Skelter'

Erika Sawajiri(C) "Helter Skelter" Production Co

TOKYO —

Erika Sawajiri, 25, returns to the big screen on July 14 when she stars as the main character in “Helter Skelter,” directed by Mika Ninagawa. The film is based on Kyoko Okazaki’s manga that includes many sexually graphic scenes and Sawajiri said there will be some nudity in the film.

Sawajiri plays Ririko, a model who has undergone extensive plastic surgery all over her body. When the clinic is investigated for its shady business practices, Ririko’s beauty to starts fade. Her mental condition also starts to deteriorate.

The film marks Sawajiri’s first movie starring role since “Closed Note” in 2007. That was the start of her troubles when she displayed a bad attitude during a stage appearance at the Japan premiere.

Sawajiri told reporters that she enjoyed making “Helter Skelter” and that she is happy to be back in business, Sankei Shimbun reported. She said the choice of Ririko is a good match for her own character. But she wouldn’t say how much skin she’ll reveal in the movie.

Japan Today

www.japantoday.com

TV commercial of the week: Google Chrome and Hatsune Miku

TOKYO —

The popular and famous Hatsune Miku, who is the mascot character for audio-editing software Vocaloid, appears in this commercial for Google’s web browser Google Chrome.

Some of the video responses include “Hatsune Miku is a miracle diva made from social media” (in Japanese), “never get bored even I looped this video many times” (in English); and “Even though this video is a Japanese local commercial, it is very popular in foreign countries too” (in Japanese) and so on.

Japan Today

www.japantoday.com

Nozomi Tsuji reportedly living apart from husband

Nozomi TsujiJapan Today

TOKYO —

“Talent” and former Morning Musume singer Nozomi Tsuji, 24, is living separately from her husband Taiyo Sugiura, 30, Josei Seven magazine reports.

According to the article, Tsuji “borrowed” an apartment in the center of Tokyo far from her home earlier this month. The magazine says the cause of the separation is financial troubles concerning Sugiura’s relatives.

However, Tsuji’s agency said the couple aren’t separating and that Tsuji has moved into the apartment to prepare for her return to work.

Japan Today

www.japantoday.com

Aoi Miyazaki, Sosuke Takaoka to divorce after 4 1/2 years

Aoi MiyazakiJapan Today

TOKYO —

Actress Aoi Miyazaki, 26, and her husband, actor Sosuke Takaoka, 29, who are living separately, announced this week that they are going to finalize their divorce before the end of the year. They have been married for 4 1/2 years.
Tabloid media quoted a source close to the couple as saying that divorce papers have been signed and will be filed on Dec 29. Miyazaki wanted to wait until after she attends a ceremony for her movie on Dec 28, the source said.

Japan Today.com

Big-name stars to perform in New York on New Year's Eve

Pop diva Lady GagaAFP

NEW YORK —

Pop diva Lady Gaga, tenor Placido Domingo and rock veterans Chuck Berry and Patti Smith will join a star-studded lineup to ring in the new year Saturday in New York.

As with every Dec 31, the main celebration will be held at Times Square in the heart of Manhattan, where more than a million people are expected to gather to watch the New Year’s crystal ball drop at the stroke of midnight.

The party, first held in 1908, is one of the biggest in the world to ring in the new year.

Lady Gaga and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will press the button that drops the giant glittering ball at one minute before midnight.

Ahead of midnight, the indefatigable Berry, now 85, will perform at a club near Times Square, while rocker Smith will give three concerts on the Lower East side of Manhattan.

Domingo, 70, will perform at The Metropolitan Opera, while the New York Philharmonic will offer a concert at the Lincoln Center.

Separately, a local company is making a big splash by selling a patch it claims can prevent hangovers.

The “Bytox Hangover Prevention Remedy” is an “all-natural specially-formulated” patch containing “a powerful blend of antioxidants, vitamins and amino acids.” Bytox claims the ingredients “have been shown to reduce and prevent hangovers.”

If the patch works, it may help save lives: according to the New York Department of Health, alcohol-related emergency department visits more than double on New Year’s Day compared to the daily average.

© 2011 AFP

www.japantoday.com

Chiaki Kuriyama to advertise new platinum jewelry range

TOKYO —
Actress Chiaki Kuriyama, 26, has been chosen as the face of a new range of platinum jewelry by Ginza Tanaka, part of the Tanaka Kikinzoku Group. Kuriyama attended the product launch in Tokyo this week in a striking purple dress with a shining white platinum necklace and matching earrings. “You feel more confident when you put them on,” she said. “It makes me feel radiant.”

When asked if there were prospects of her putting a bauble on her ring finger, Kuriyama replied, “Not for a good while yet. I’m still a child. I’ve got a lot of growing up to do first.” Kuriyama has reportedly been dating actor Tetsuji Tamayaki, but the actress was tight-lipped on the subject.

TV commercials for the new jewelry range will air from Friday.