Sat, February 2, 2008 (4:54pm EST)
Actress Yuki Amami will take on her first doctor role when she stars in a TBS drama series next season. The show, which is currently untitled, will feature Amami as a 39-year-old, unmarried psychiatrist.
The central focus of the series seems to be the "arafo" generation (an abbreviation of "around forty"). 40 is now considered a turning point in women's lives, especially with regard to marriage, childbirth, and work. The show will depict the joys and sufferings of these women in a comical way.
The network plans to start filming early next month. Katsuaki Setoguchi is producing, and the cast includes Naohito Fujiki, Nene Otsuka, and Michitaka Tsutsui. The drama will air on Fridays at 10:00pm, starting in April.
The central focus of the series seems to be the "arafo" generation (an abbreviation of "around forty"). 40 is now considered a turning point in women's lives, especially with regard to marriage, childbirth, and work. The show will depict the joys and sufferings of these women in a comical way.
The network plans to start filming early next month. Katsuaki Setoguchi is producing, and the cast includes Naohito Fujiki, Nene Otsuka, and Michitaka Tsutsui. The drama will air on Fridays at 10:00pm, starting in April.
Sat, February 2, 2008 (4:01pm EST)
Pop star Kumi Koda has found herself in trouble after making a careless remark on a radio show earlier this week. As a result, Koda will be putting all of her activities on hold for the time being.
The comment came on Tuesday night while Koda was hosting "All Night Nippon." The topic of her manager's marriage came up, and Koda was asked about when her manager was planning to have children. She made a seemingly light-hearted reply that "when women turn 35, their amniotic fluid goes rotten, so I'd like them to have a child by 35."
The inaccurate statement sparked a lot of criticism among listeners, particularly on the internet. Koda issued a public apology on Friday through the websites of Nippon Broadcasting System and Avex, but the damage had already been done. Cosmetics firm KOSE has temporarily removed her presence from its Visee site, and promotional events for her new album "Kingdom" have all been canceled. Koda was also scheduled to appear on a Tokyo FM show on Saturday, but she has been replaced by fellow Avex artist Ami Suzuki.
However, some of her television appearances will go on as planned, such as the already-recorded "Koi no Kara Sawagi" on Saturday and "Tetsuko no Heya" on Thursday.
According to Avex, the length of Koda's self-suspension has not yet been decided but is expected to last until the end of this month. Koda has a national tour scheduled to start in April, so she hopes to resume activities in time for rehearsals in mid-March.
The comment came on Tuesday night while Koda was hosting "All Night Nippon." The topic of her manager's marriage came up, and Koda was asked about when her manager was planning to have children. She made a seemingly light-hearted reply that "when women turn 35, their amniotic fluid goes rotten, so I'd like them to have a child by 35."
The inaccurate statement sparked a lot of criticism among listeners, particularly on the internet. Koda issued a public apology on Friday through the websites of Nippon Broadcasting System and Avex, but the damage had already been done. Cosmetics firm KOSE has temporarily removed her presence from its Visee site, and promotional events for her new album "Kingdom" have all been canceled. Koda was also scheduled to appear on a Tokyo FM show on Saturday, but she has been replaced by fellow Avex artist Ami Suzuki.
However, some of her television appearances will go on as planned, such as the already-recorded "Koi no Kara Sawagi" on Saturday and "Tetsuko no Heya" on Thursday.
According to Avex, the length of Koda's self-suspension has not yet been decided but is expected to last until the end of this month. Koda has a national tour scheduled to start in April, so she hopes to resume activities in time for rehearsals in mid-March.
