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Nov 12, 2008 Artist, Karina
Model and actress Karina (24) held a handshake event on the 8th at Fukuya Bookstore in Ginza to commemorate the sale of her first photo essay ‘I can.’ How she became a model at 15 and the various work she did on her journey to being a pro are included inside.
“The contents include material which I have never mentioned in interviews before.”
When she’s doing work she has no confidence in, “I can. I can do it.” That’s what she tells herself to fire herself up, and the meaning behind the title. On next term’s US President, Obama’s repeated slogan of “Yes, we can,” Karina said, “I had started using it earlier.”
unleashthegeek
Recent Entries
Nov 12, 2008 Artist, Info, Music
Eric Clapton, 63, will be back in Japan for the first time in two and a half years, performing in Tokyo and Osaka next February. It will be his 18th visit to Japan. In celebration of the 35th anniversary of his first visit to Japan, event organizer Udo Artists Inc has designed various tickets for the upcoming concerts, and feature miniaturized versions of the posters used for Clapton concerts from his first visit to Japan to his 12th visit in 1999.
He will be performing at the Osaka Castle Hall on Feb 12 and 13, and at the Budokan in Tokyo on Feby 15, 18, 19, 24, 25 and 27. For those interested in purchasing tickets, the Tokyo number is 03–3402–5999. The Osaka number is 06–6341–4506.
JapanToday via Asianfanatics
Nov 12, 2008 Artist, Ayase Haruka, Movie
Tags: Movie : Ichi
Actress Ayase Haruka, 23, is having a busy month. She will soon appear in the airline drama “Happy Flight” and a second film, “Ichi,” has just opened nationwide.
“Ichi” is the latest film version of a famous story about a blind masseur and swordmaster created by novelist Shimozawa Kan. Set in the Edo era, the story has already been filmed a few times, but the new film is a female version with Ayase in the title role.
At the Japan premiere, Ayase said, “I found this film more interesting when I watched it the second time. I think people can enjoy it many times.”
JapanToday
Nov 12, 2008 Artist, Info, Movie
Actor Sato Koichi, 47, will star as a detective who finds himself at odds with the media and caught up in an Internet hate campaign against the family of a criminal.
The film, “Nobody to Watch Over Me,” is about a detective (Sato) who tries to shield the family of a man arrested for murder. Shida Mirai plays the sister of the arrested man whom Sato’s character tries to protect from a media blitz.
Asked about what he thinks about the way journalists do their job, Sato said, “In my case, since I’m a bad guy in my private life, media coverage of me now works as a sort of moral hazard. Thanks to them, I have to watch what I do and say.”
The film will be released on January 24, 2009.
JapanToday
Nov 10, 2008 Artist, CM, Ueno Juri
Ueno Juri (22) is the image-character for Honda’s new car series, “Life”. The official press conference was held yesterday, 6th November 2008 in Tokyo.
Ueno, who has been driving for 3 years, says that the car comes equipped with a “pack monitor” which makes it easy to park. She also thinks that it is a very nice car, especially when she enters and gets out of it. She has no problems doing parallel parking and would love to take her friends and elder sister out for a drive!
She also revealed that she was thinking of doing a 5-day road trip from Gifu to Kinki, and reporters immediately asked if she would be doing so with a boyfriend, to which Ueno replied, “…”. The CM for Honda’s Life goes on air today, 7th November 2008.
myfirstgossipblog
Nov 10, 2008 Artist, Info
Actress Coda Risa, 22, was arrested for drug possesion with tennis pro also her boyfriend, Miyao Joji, 27. Coda Risa’s real name is actually Kikuchi Arisa and is charged for owning marijuana and stimulants.
Coda was arrested after police searched the apartment and found 0.027 grams of stimulants and about 0.7 grams of marijuana. Coda stated “I bought the marijuana because my boyfriend enjoyed it and we were planning to use it together.” Miyao was also questioned and was later arrested for joint and marijuana possession. Miyao and Coda both admitted on the charges being brought.
Investigators stated “Coda and Miyao met in May 2007 but only started dating this past September. Since then, Miyao has reportedly been spending 4-5 nights a week at Coda’s apartment, and she has been supplying the both of them with marijuana.”
Coda stated “I started doing stimulants around August 2007, though I have only been purchasing in very small quantities at a time from a Japanese dealer.” It seems that she started doing drugs when she broke up with her last boyfriend. Miyao also said that he didn’t know that Coda was doing stimulants too.
After some while when Miyao and Coda met, Miyao said he liked smoking marijuana, so she went and bought a gram for him to use. Miyao says he only smoked it twice in Coda’s apartment and in one of those occasions she smoked it with him.
Police are still searching on this case and hope to find more evidence on this investigation.
kojaproductions
Nov 7, 2008 Artist, Info, Oricon
Which celebrities have a sexy voice? Oricon asked a thousand men and women that question in a poll taken last month. Fukuyama Masaharu unsurprisingly landed at the top of the list of male celebrities, though actress Sugimoto Aya was a more unexpected choice to lead the female list.
Fukuyama’s closest competition was from Tanihara Shosuke and Mizushima Hiro at #2 and #3, respectively. Kirin’s Kawashima Akira placed 4th, above popular actor Tamaki Hiroshi. The bottom half of the top ten consisted of Gackt, HYDE, Akanishi Jin, Abe Hiroshi, and Inaba Koshi (of B’z).
On the women’s rankings, Koda Kumi came in second behind Sugimoto. Actresses Maya Miki, Kuroki Hitomi, and Miura Rieko took the next three slots. Hamasaki Ayumi was #6, followed by actress Momoi Kaori. Shiina Ringo, Nakama Yukie, and Fujiwara Norika completed the list.
Tokyograph via asianfanatics
Nov 7, 2008 Info
Composer and arranger Makoto Saeki died of ureter cancer on Monday at a Tokyo hospital. He was 70.
Among Saeki’s works were the Hibari Misora hit “Yawara” and the more recent Hikawa Kiyoshi song “Ikken,” which both won a Japan Record Award.
Nov 6, 2008 Amuro Namie, Artist, Fashion, Hamasaki Ayumi, Karina, Koda Kumi, Miyazaki Aoi, Oshikiri Moe, Sawajiri Erika, Tsuchiya Anna, Yamada Yu
Oricon recently conducted a survey of a thousand women ages 20 to 35 who expressed an interest in fashion. The survey had several questions, and Oricon has published some of the results on its website.
One question asked the women which female celebrity looks best in animal prints, which have recently been catching on as a fashion trend. Hamasaki Ayumi was voted #1, followed by rival Koda Kumi, actress Sugimoto Aya, model Kanda Uno, and actress Sawajiri Erika.
Another pop star, Amuro Namie, ranked #6. The rest of the top ten were models: Kinoshita Yukina, Umemiya Anna, Tsuchiya Anna, and Rinka.
In another part of the survey, Oricon asked which beauty was best suited for boots. Here, Amuro enjoyed the #1 spot, repeating her performance from last year when the same question was asked. Model Yamada Yu moved up from #6 to #2, while Karina jumped one spot to #3 and Rinka climbed from #8 to #4.
Meanwhile, Hamasaki Ayumi dropped from #2 last year to #5 this year. Also on the list were Ebihara Yuri, Koda Kumi, Kinoshita Yukina, Mizuki Alisa, and Oshikiri Moe.
A third section of the survey posed the question, “whose face would you like to have?” The cute but fierce looks of Shibasaki Kou earned her the honor of #1, followed by young actress Miyazaki Aoi. Amuro Namie also appeared on the short list at #3, while Hamasaki Ayumi tied for #4 with Takeuchi Yuko.
Tokyograph
Nov 6, 2008 Artist, Movie, Tamaki Hiroshi, Yamada Takayuki
Special video from dark suspense story marks Tezuka Osamu’s 80th birthday
To mark the 80th anniversary of the birth of manga pioneer Tezuka Osamu, the official Japanese website for the live-action adaptation of Tezuka’s MW manga began streaming a new special video on Tuesday. The Oricon market survey firm also posted the same video at a different resolution.
In this dark suspense story, Yūki Michio (live-action Nodame Cantabile’s Tamaki Hiroshi) survived a deadly nerve gas tragedy as a child, but this “MW” incident left his damaged brain without a conscience. Yūki grows up to become a handsome bank executive by day, and a mass murderer by night. On top of that, Yūki aims to acquire the MW nerve gas, which leaves his longtime confidante Garai (Densha Otoko film’s Yamada Takayuki) struggling with the right decision.
Director Iwamoto Hitoshi is adapting the MW manga for release in Japan next year. Vertical is publishing the manga in North America.
ANN via asianfanatics
