Wed, May 28, 2008 (3:11am EDT)
Director Yukio Ninagawa has lined up two popular young actors for an upcoming theatrical production. Tatsuya Fujiwara and Shun Oguri will co-star in his version of "Musashi," written by noted playwright Hisashi Inoue.
The story, which revolves around the famous swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, was penned by Inoue more than 20 years ago. He had hoped to turn it into a Broadway musical, but the dream was never realized. Three years ago, he worked with Ninagawa for the first time on a different play, and they eventually decided to team up again to take "Musashi" to the stage.
Fujiwara will take on the role of Musashi, while Oguri plays his rival Sasaki Kojiro. The two swordsmen had a famous duel in 1612, during which Sasaki was defeated and killed.
Anne Suzuki and Kayoko Shiraishi have also been cast. Performances have been scheduled for March-April 2009 in at least Saitama, Tokyo, and Osaka. Ninagawa and Inoue are also aiming to have the play performed overseas in the future.
The story, which revolves around the famous swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, was penned by Inoue more than 20 years ago. He had hoped to turn it into a Broadway musical, but the dream was never realized. Three years ago, he worked with Ninagawa for the first time on a different play, and they eventually decided to team up again to take "Musashi" to the stage.
Fujiwara will take on the role of Musashi, while Oguri plays his rival Sasaki Kojiro. The two swordsmen had a famous duel in 1612, during which Sasaki was defeated and killed.
Anne Suzuki and Kayoko Shiraishi have also been cast. Performances have been scheduled for March-April 2009 in at least Saitama, Tokyo, and Osaka. Ninagawa and Inoue are also aiming to have the play performed overseas in the future.
Wed, May 28, 2008 (2:49am EDT)
On the album charts this week, Superfly's debut album held on to the #1 spot with more than 76,000 in sales, beating out a handful of challengers in the top 10, including new albums by Kiyoshi Hikawa, Acid Black Cherry, Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi, Nightmare, Fumiya Fujii, and Rina Aiuchi.
Meanwhile, Southern All Stars fans reacted to news of the group's hiatus by picking up their albums, sending their last two "greatest hits" collections up the charts. Both "Umi no Yeah!!" (1998) and "Ballad 3 ~the album of LOVE~" (2000) were well outside the Top 300 last week, but they respectively ranked at #50 and #74 this week.
In singles, Hey! Say! JUMP's new song "Dreams come true" overwhelmed the competition with 181,000 in sales, keeping Johnny's Jimusho at the top for the third straight week (following NEWS and KAT-TUN). This is Hey! Say! JUMP's second #1 single.
Hikaru Utada's "Prisoner of Love" went on sale at #2. It only sold 39,000 copies, but it has been doing well as a ringtone and has been available for two months as part of Utada's "HEART STATION" (which is still at #7 on the albums chart). Ai Otsuka reached #4, selling 30,000 copies of her double A-side "Rocket Sneaker / One x Time."
Mariya Takeuchi, The Cro-Magnons, and Micro also entered the Top 10 with their new releases.
Meanwhile, Southern All Stars fans reacted to news of the group's hiatus by picking up their albums, sending their last two "greatest hits" collections up the charts. Both "Umi no Yeah!!" (1998) and "Ballad 3 ~the album of LOVE~" (2000) were well outside the Top 300 last week, but they respectively ranked at #50 and #74 this week.
In singles, Hey! Say! JUMP's new song "Dreams come true" overwhelmed the competition with 181,000 in sales, keeping Johnny's Jimusho at the top for the third straight week (following NEWS and KAT-TUN). This is Hey! Say! JUMP's second #1 single.
Hikaru Utada's "Prisoner of Love" went on sale at #2. It only sold 39,000 copies, but it has been doing well as a ringtone and has been available for two months as part of Utada's "HEART STATION" (which is still at #7 on the albums chart). Ai Otsuka reached #4, selling 30,000 copies of her double A-side "Rocket Sneaker / One x Time."
Mariya Takeuchi, The Cro-Magnons, and Micro also entered the Top 10 with their new releases.
Wed, May 28, 2008 (2:21am EDT)
Actress Hiromi Nagasaku is taking on the starring role of a TV Asahi drama series titled "Yottsu no Uso," not to be confused with a similarly titled series ("Yu Aoi x Yottsu no Uso: Camouflage") that aired on WOWOW earlier this year.
The drama follows four women in the "around 40" generation, which has been recently gaining attention and is currently the central topic of a TBS drama series. Nagasaku plays Shifumi, an attractive woman who stole her classmate's boyfriend in high school, and despite criticism from others, she got married and had a child. However, she soon divorced and currently keeps a younger boyfriend.
The other main characters are three of Shifumi's former classmates: an ordinary housewife (Shinobu Terajima), a work-focused doctor (Reiko Takashima), and the housewife Minami (Michiko Hada). Minami is having an affair with Shifumi's ex-husband (the boyfriend Shifumi originally stole from her), but after she and the man die in a ferry accident, the various secrets and lies kept by the four women all come to light.
Shizuka Oishi is doing the screenwriting. Shooting will start early next month, as the show premieres in July. TV Asahi will air the drama at 9:00pm on Thursdays.
The drama follows four women in the "around 40" generation, which has been recently gaining attention and is currently the central topic of a TBS drama series. Nagasaku plays Shifumi, an attractive woman who stole her classmate's boyfriend in high school, and despite criticism from others, she got married and had a child. However, she soon divorced and currently keeps a younger boyfriend.
The other main characters are three of Shifumi's former classmates: an ordinary housewife (Shinobu Terajima), a work-focused doctor (Reiko Takashima), and the housewife Minami (Michiko Hada). Minami is having an affair with Shifumi's ex-husband (the boyfriend Shifumi originally stole from her), but after she and the man die in a ferry accident, the various secrets and lies kept by the four women all come to light.
Shizuka Oishi is doing the screenwriting. Shooting will start early next month, as the show premieres in July. TV Asahi will air the drama at 9:00pm on Thursdays.
Wed, May 28, 2008 (1:50am EDT)
Weekly magazine FLASH reported on Monday that talento Yuko Ogura is now dating actor and businessman Keiichi Kozuki, and she is said to have personally confirmed the relationship. However, she has now stated the opposite on her official blog, as well as on television.
The magazine had spotted Ogura and Kozuki together on May 18 at a baseball game and afterwards at a restaurant. According to the article, a reporter directly asked her if they were dating, and she responded with a yes. She also went further to say that she had fallen for him at first sight.
But after FLASH's article was picked up by the media, Ogura denied the reports by writing on her blog that she and Kozuki are just friends. She now says the magazine just happened to take a picture of her when she was watching the baseball game with a group of people.
Ogura was in a similar situation in 2006, when it was widely believed that she was dating Yoiko comedian Masaru Hamaguchi. That relationship was never officially confirmed, in part due to Ogura's agency cutting her public appearances short whenever the topic was brought up.
The magazine had spotted Ogura and Kozuki together on May 18 at a baseball game and afterwards at a restaurant. According to the article, a reporter directly asked her if they were dating, and she responded with a yes. She also went further to say that she had fallen for him at first sight.
But after FLASH's article was picked up by the media, Ogura denied the reports by writing on her blog that she and Kozuki are just friends. She now says the magazine just happened to take a picture of her when she was watching the baseball game with a group of people.
Ogura was in a similar situation in 2006, when it was widely believed that she was dating Yoiko comedian Masaru Hamaguchi. That relationship was never officially confirmed, in part due to Ogura's agency cutting her public appearances short whenever the topic was brought up.
Wed, May 28, 2008 (1:32am EDT)
Singer-songwriter Ataru Nakamura has been chosen to do the theme song for the live-action "Gegege no Kitaro" movie sequel, which hits theaters on July 12. The song is titled "Kaze Tachinu" and goes on sale July 9.
Wed, May 28, 2008 (1:11am EDT)
The primary voice cast of Hayao Miyazaki's "Gake no Ue no Ponyo" was announced on Tuesday. Set to open on July 19, the movie tells the story of a boy named Sosuke and the female goldfish Ponyo who wants to become human. Those lead roles will be played by 8-year-olds Hiroki Doi and Yuria Nara, respectively.
Tomoko Yamaguchi and Kazushige Nagashima are playing the parents of Sosuke. This is Nagashima's first voice acting role. Meanwhile, Ponyo's parents will be played by Yuki Amami and George Tokoro. It was previously announced that musician Akiko Yano has been cast as Ponyo's sister.
Veteran actresses Kazuko Yoshiyuki and Tomoko Naraoka have also been added to the cast, playing two elderly characters at the daycare center where Sosuke's mother works.
Tomoko Yamaguchi and Kazushige Nagashima are playing the parents of Sosuke. This is Nagashima's first voice acting role. Meanwhile, Ponyo's parents will be played by Yuki Amami and George Tokoro. It was previously announced that musician Akiko Yano has been cast as Ponyo's sister.
Veteran actresses Kazuko Yoshiyuki and Tomoko Naraoka have also been added to the cast, playing two elderly characters at the daycare center where Sosuke's mother works.
