Wed, March 11, 2009 (2:55am EDT)
Asahi Kasei revealed its 2009 campaign models on Tuesday. Continuing the trend of the past few years, the company selected a Japanese and a Chinese representative: 20-year-old junior college student Ayumi Kura and 18-year-old model Shi Weng Lu.
Asahi Kasei's theme this year is "New Standard ~Chikyu no Tame ni Dekiru Koto~," an ecological campaign focusing on using recycled fibers in an attempt to cut back carbon dioxide emissions.
Asahi Kasei's theme this year is "New Standard ~Chikyu no Tame ni Dekiru Koto~," an ecological campaign focusing on using recycled fibers in an attempt to cut back carbon dioxide emissions.
Wed, March 11, 2009 (2:39am EDT)
Popular television and movie actor Eita will be taking his skills to the stage this year. He will star as Hagiwara Shinzaburo in Nobuyuki Onishi's version of the ghost story "Kaidan Botan Doro," directed by Hidenori Inoue.
The well-known story, which has also been adapted numerous times to film and television, revolves around the romantic and physical relationship between a male human and a female ghost. Eita, in his first theatrical role, plays the male lead, while Yuki Shibamoto plays his ghostly lover. The play also depicts two other couples, performed by Yasunori Danta with Ran Ito and Tetsuya Chiba with Natsuko Akiyama.
Performances will begin in August at the Bunkamura Theatre Cocoon in Shibuya.
The well-known story, which has also been adapted numerous times to film and television, revolves around the romantic and physical relationship between a male human and a female ghost. Eita, in his first theatrical role, plays the male lead, while Yuki Shibamoto plays his ghostly lover. The play also depicts two other couples, performed by Yasunori Danta with Ran Ito and Tetsuya Chiba with Natsuko Akiyama.
Performances will begin in August at the Bunkamura Theatre Cocoon in Shibuya.
Wed, March 11, 2009 (2:15am EDT)
Arashi's latest single, "Believe / Kumori Nochi, Kaisei," dominated the charts this past week. With roughly 502,000 copies sold, it has become the best-selling single of 2009 so far. It is also the first to break half a million in its opening week since KAT-TUN's "Real Face" (754,000) in April 2006. Arashi achieved the same feat once before with their debut single "A-RA-SHI" (557,000) in 1999.
New singles flooded the top ten, occupying the next seven spots behind Arashi. The releases came from GLAY, AKB48, Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi, Yuna Ito, YUKI, Ken (of L'Arc~en~Ciel), and ROCK'A'TRENCH.
On the album rankings, FUNKY MONKEY BABYS edged out a win with their aptly named third album, "FUNKY MONKEY BABYS 3." The album sold 80,000 copies, only 2,000 more than Chatmonchy's "Kokuhaku." Also in the top ten were JUJU, supercell, Mika Nakashima, Dragon Ash, Kalafina, and AI.
New singles flooded the top ten, occupying the next seven spots behind Arashi. The releases came from GLAY, AKB48, Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi, Yuna Ito, YUKI, Ken (of L'Arc~en~Ciel), and ROCK'A'TRENCH.
On the album rankings, FUNKY MONKEY BABYS edged out a win with their aptly named third album, "FUNKY MONKEY BABYS 3." The album sold 80,000 copies, only 2,000 more than Chatmonchy's "Kokuhaku." Also in the top ten were JUJU, supercell, Mika Nakashima, Dragon Ash, Kalafina, and AI.
Wed, March 11, 2009 (1:49am EDT)
Fashion model SHIHO (32) and professional judo fighter Yoshihiro Akiyama (33) have tied the knot. The two have been dating since January 2007, and they registered their marriage around the start of this year.
Akiyama has been successful as a K-1 fighter for the past few years. Just last month, it was announced that he has signed with the U.S.-based UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship). He will be first introduced at a UFC event in Montreal, Canada, on April 18, followed by his proper debut in July.
Akiyama has been successful as a K-1 fighter for the past few years. Just last month, it was announced that he has signed with the U.S.-based UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship). He will be first introduced at a UFC event in Montreal, Canada, on April 18, followed by his proper debut in July.
Wed, March 11, 2009 (1:07am EDT)
Seicho Matsumoto's novel "Yakou no Kaidan" is being turned into a television drama series this spring on TV Asahi. The story is described as a male-led version of Matsumoto's "Kurokawa no Techo," which was turned into a drama in 2004 starring Ryoko Yonekura.
Naohito Fujiki stars as a successful beautician who rose from poverty, using women as stepping stones on his way to the top. Yoshino Kimura plays the heroine of the story, a magazine editor and one of the beautician's customers. A victim of love, she ends up entangled in Fujiki's dark past.
"Yakou no Kaidan" airs on Thursdays at 9:00pm, starting in April.
Naohito Fujiki stars as a successful beautician who rose from poverty, using women as stepping stones on his way to the top. Yoshino Kimura plays the heroine of the story, a magazine editor and one of the beautician's customers. A victim of love, she ends up entangled in Fujiki's dark past.
"Yakou no Kaidan" airs on Thursdays at 9:00pm, starting in April.
Wed, March 11, 2009 (12:38am EDT)
Popular young actor Toma Ikuta has a solo starring role in a drama series for the first time. The show, titled "Majo Saiban," will be the first drama to tackle the issue of Japan's new "saiban-in" (lay judge) system.
This May, Japan is reintroducing the jury system, which was previously abolished in 1943. Since then, only judges have decide the outcome of criminal cases, but under the new system, cases will be decided by a combination of judges and lottery-selected citizens.
In "Majo Saiban," Ikuta plays a typical part-timer with little interest in social issues. However, he is unexpectedly chosen as a juror in the trial of a suspected female murderer. While the mystery surrounding the case unfolds, an unknown group is secretly attempting to bribe the jury.
Actress Ai Kato plays a housewife who is also selected as a juror, while Manami Higa plays Ikuta's girlfriend, a newspaper reporter. Yuriko Ishida takes on the role of the accused.
Fuji TV will air "Majo Saiban" on Saturday nights at 11:10pm. The series starts on April 25, about a month before the actual jury system goes into effect.
This May, Japan is reintroducing the jury system, which was previously abolished in 1943. Since then, only judges have decide the outcome of criminal cases, but under the new system, cases will be decided by a combination of judges and lottery-selected citizens.
In "Majo Saiban," Ikuta plays a typical part-timer with little interest in social issues. However, he is unexpectedly chosen as a juror in the trial of a suspected female murderer. While the mystery surrounding the case unfolds, an unknown group is secretly attempting to bribe the jury.
Actress Ai Kato plays a housewife who is also selected as a juror, while Manami Higa plays Ikuta's girlfriend, a newspaper reporter. Yuriko Ishida takes on the role of the accused.
Fuji TV will air "Majo Saiban" on Saturday nights at 11:10pm. The series starts on April 25, about a month before the actual jury system goes into effect.
