Monthly Archives: April 2009

High school baseball movie “Rookies – Sotsugyo” looks likely to be the hot movie ticket of the summer. Distributor Toei said yesterday that advance tickets sales have reached 180,000 since March 8, surpassing those at the same point for last year’s “Hana Yori Dango – Final.” That movie went on to make &yen7.7 billion and became the biggest Japanese box-office success of 2008. The two movies seem to have been born from the same formula: they are both adaptations of TV series that ran on the TBS network, and bring to a climax the story that played out on TV; they both made the leap to the big screen because of high audience ratings; and they both feature a cast of handsome young actors. Mind you, though the story revolves around a high school baseball team aiming for the national championships, all the actors are in their 20s. Yesterday, they took on a real team of elementary schoolers in Futagotamagawa, the Tokyo suburb where their fictional school is located, and beat them 6-2. They then led a parade through the local shopping district, where 1,000 fans turned out to cheer them on. The movie is scheduled to open on May 30.

In what is believed to be the first case of its kind, an actress and a former company president have been arrested for distributing indecent materials in a so-called “image video.” Actress Goto Mai (36) and Fujiyama Masanori (40), former president of the DVD production company Kingdom, were arrested in connection with sales of the “Senya Ichiya no Yume” (Arabian Nights) DVD last year. According to the police Public Morals and Safety Division, the video was filmed in the United Arab Emirates in March 2008 and sold on the Internet from the end of last year. The DVD was featured in a weekly magazine, which brought it to the attention of the police and they searched the offices of Kingdom in February. Goto began her show business career when she was runner up in the annual Clarion Girl contest. She worked as a reporter for the raunchy late night show “Tonight 2” and as a race queen. She has been appearing in videos and photo books for Fujiyama for about ten years. Though she appears alone in the videos, the content has been overtly sexual. When first introduced, image videos went no further than to feature swimsuit-clad young idols, but the trend has increasingly been towards more borderline pornography in recent years. Roughly a quarter of the 50-minute video features images where Goto’s genitals can be seen uncensored. 5,000 copies of the DVD were produced and were sold out early this year, with the company making ¥9.68 million. Goto was paid about ¥5 million for the DVD appearance and two other projects shot while in the UAE. Copies have been traded on the Web for more than ¥20,000 each. Article 21 of the Japanese Constitution guarantees freedom of expression and prohibits formal censorship. But this arrest was based on Article 175 of the Criminal Code of Japan, which these days is interpreted to require all pornography to be at least partly censored. Such arrests have been very rare. Fujiyama is said to have confessed to the charges against him, while Goto says she worked under the impression that what she was doing was not indecent.

Yesterday was a day for tearful press conferences in Osaka. Veteran actress Kyou Utako (81) was allowed out of hospital to talk to reporters at a hotel in the city. She cried as she explained how medical problems have forced her to drop out of a production at the Osaka Shochikuza theater next month and cancel all work commitments from June. “I’ve been in show business for 64 years and I never dreamed it would come to this.” Experiencing leg pains in January, she had an MRI which revealed she had a fractured vertebra. She was told that it would heal in a couple of months, and she continued working with the help of a corset. But earlier this month her pain returned and she was told that she had developed a condition known as degenerative spondylolisthesis in two other vertebrae. Though she was told it will take at least three months to heal timbermen.org, she took to the stage in a wheelchair for a one-week production at the Meijiza Theater in Tokyo last week. Doctors had to force her not appear on the closing night last Saturday. “I love the stage,” she said. “I’ve often said I’d like to die on stage, and really that would be the happiest way for me to go. But I suppose I have to look after my health.” Kyou is perhaps best known for her role in the long-running TBS drama series “Wataruseken wa Oni Bakari.” In the late 1950’s she formed a popular manzai comedy duo with her former husband Ootori Keisuke (1923-94), and the duo were inducted into a showbiz hall of fame just last year.

Meanwhile, popular talento Kitano Makoto (50) gave a press conference at the Westin Hotel in Osaka to apologize for the verbal gaffes that may yet end his career. Long known as a straight talker, he has a history of upsetting people with the things he says on his radio show. He bowed repeatedly to reporters and said that he had allowed his image as a “dokusetsu” (poison tongue) talento to become his “curse.” Neither Kitano nor his Shochiku Geino management have clarified exactly what he said that caused the latest uproar, but they denied Internet rumors that his target had been either a certain religious organization or show business management agency (the strongly politically affiliated Soka Gakkai organization is sometimes referred to as a cult, while the Burning agency is said to be a front for the yakuza). Kitano was in tears as he talked about his family and how he had asked them to be patient with him until he got his career back on track. He has been dropped from all his regular radio and TV shows, the last one having been broadcast on Monday. His forced sabbatical is open-ended but he insisted yesterday that he doesn’t want to quit show business and will aim to get back on the air someday.

• Among those recognized by the government this spring for their contributions to society and the arts are veteran actresses Mizutani Yaeko (70) and Asaka Mitsuyo (81) and Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood (78). The Emperor and Prime Minister will present the various decorations at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on May 8. Mizutani will receive the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Rosette; Asaka gets the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays; and among the 70 overseas recipients, FIFA president Sepp Blatter (73) is to receive the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, while Eastwood will get the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon.

Song lyricist Sonoda Ryoji (33) has been arrested for use of “kakuseizai,” or stimulant drugs, the Azabu department of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police announced today. Sonoda was recently detained and formally arrested yesterday after urine tests were positive. He is said to have admitted to using the drugs. Though he has his own singing career since 1995, he is best known as a lyricist of such hits as SMAP’s “Kimi wo Suki ni Natte” and BoA’s “No.1” He has also penned hits for Misia and Korean vocal group Tohoshinki. Though no connections have been mentioned, the arrest is more unwelcome news for SMAP following the arrest last week of member Kusanagi Tsuyoshi (34).

Meanwhile, last night’s edition of the weekly Fuji TV variety show “SMAPxSMAP” saw a noticeable drop in its audience rating. TV viewers are well used to how the networks operate and knew not to expect any mention of last week’s arrest. predictably, the show was heavily edited to include past segments and totally remove any signs of Kusanagi. It drew an audience rating of 13.7% in the Kanto region, well below its 16% average for the last four weeks.

Management for singer and actress Nishikawa Mineko (50) said yesterday that her divorce is finally complete. She met her husband, Murakami Takashi (44), in November 2000 when he was her guide for a travel show on the small island of Okishotou in Shimane Prefecture. The couple married seven months later and split their time between her house in Tokyo and Murakami’s family home on the island, where his role as grave keeper for the exiled 12th century emperor Gotoba drew additional media attention. He was elected to the local town council in 2002 and also opened a bar in Tokyo the same year. But after he had an affair with a woman he met at the bar and became verbally abusive towards Nishikawa, she filed for a divorce. Her lawyers initiated divorce arbitration in January 2008 but Murakami failed to show up in court. The lawyers filed again in June, and the following October Murakami admitted to the affair and the court issued the divorce. But there remained the matter of money Nishikawa had put into the building of a luxury house on Okishotou. After negotiation, it was decided that Murakami’s parents would pay his half of the outstanding mortgage. The first payment was made at the end of March, finally bringing closure to the divorce. Nishikawa is to give a press conference today. She won a national song contest in 1973 and became an overnight star when her debut single was a big hit the following year. She had a string of hits before switching to acting in 1979. She made the news in 1993 following the publication of a nude photo book, and again in 1998 when her newly built holiday home in Nasu Kogen was destroyed by a typhoon.

Young kabuki star Nakamura Kantaro (27) and actress Maeda Ai (25) got formally engaged yesterday at the Hotel Okura in central Tokyo. Among those in attendance were his father, Kanzaburo (53), grandfather Shikan (81), and younger brother Shichinosuke (25), all kabuki actors, and aunt Namino Kuriko (63) who is also an actress. Though his mother Yoshie is not an actress, she is also from a top kabuki family. After the traditional engagement, the couple held a press conference and announced that they would hold their wedding ceremony and reception at the same venue on October 28. Nakamura wore a gray kimono, while Maeda’s pink kimono was the same one that Yoshie wore when she got engaged. The two have dated since they appeared together in the 2001 NHK drama “Hikari no Teikoku.” They first acknowledged their relationship and talked of their marriage plans back in January. Asked if she planned to give up her acting career, Maeda said, “As long as it doesn’t affect his work, I hope I can continue.” As kabuki is a family business, there were the inevitable questions about children. Nakamura said, “I don’t want her to be under that kind of pressure. But having said that, I’d like to have about three children.” One of the unusual things about this particular kabuki family is that their real name is Namino, but Yoshie’s maiden name was Nakamura. So her name legally changed to Namino when she married, but due to her husband being part of the Nakamura-ya stage family, she is still known by her original name.

Earlier stories:

Nakamura Kantaro, Maeda Ai to Marry (Jan 7, 2009)

• Actor Abe Tsuyoshi (27) today announced that he has married Chinese actress Shi Ka. The couple met on the set of a joint Chinese-Taiwanese movie in 2006. Born in China, Abe moved to Japan when he was 9 and later took Japanese citizenship and the family name of his grandmother. He continues to work both in Japan and in the Chinese language world, where his stage name is Li Zhendong. He made his breakthrough in Japan in the popular TBS drama series “Hana Yori Dango” in 2005, and also the follow up series and big screen spinoff. His new bride is based in Beijing, so Abe will go solo at a press conference scheduled for today.

• On Saturday night, Katori Shingo (32) was the first member of SMAP to speak publicly about last week’s arrest of Kusanagi Tsuyoshi (34) on public indecency charges. On his live TV Asahi show “SmaStation!!” he choked up several times as he apologized on behalf of the group and said he hoped to see his best friend back at work as soon as possible. After having spent Friday night at a hotel in the capital, Kusanagi is said to have returned to his apartment for the first time since the incident.

Earlier stories:

Butt Naked SMAP Star Arrested For Indecency (Apr 23, 2009)

Kusanagi Tsuyoshi Gives Press Conference (Apr 25, 2009)

Kusanagi Tsuyoshi (34) gave a press conference on Friday night to speak about his arrest yesterday on public indecency charges. He appeared before about 200 reporters amidst a sea of camera flashes at the headquarters of Victor Entertainment in Tokyo shortly after 9pm. He immediately gave the customary bow of apology and apologized to fans, those connected with him and his fellow SMAP members. “I drank way too much and lost control of myself, and I behaved in a way that is an embarrassment to any adult. I deeply regret what happened and I apologize sincerely.” He bowed again deeply before he and reporters took their seats. After that his lawyer took over and said, “As you can see my client has been released and he has not been prosecuted. That investigation is still underway” He then explained the sequence of events that led to the arrest. He said that the singer was off on Wednesday and spent the day at his family home in Saitama prefecture. After returning to his apartment in Tokyo he went to a local izakaya. There he had dinner and drank several beers before switching to shochu. The izakaya normally closes at 10pm, but Kusanagi and two female staff were there drinking until about 2am. It may have been at this point that Kusanagi headed home and ended up in the Hinokicho Park on the way, or he may have visited another bar first, as was said in some reports. His lawyer said he had absolutely no recollection of this sequence of events. The conference was then opened to reporters’ questions. Kusanagi answered most of them himself, occasionally choking up when talking about how supportive the other SMAP members had been, though he has yet to meet with them face to face. When asked whether he would give up drinking, he said that he would only try to drink more responsibly. When asked if the incident had been caused by stress or pressure, he insisted that he was not suffering from either but had simply let a fun night go too far. When asked how he felt about not being able to work for the foreseeable future, he said, “It’s tough. I want to get straight back to work. But I need to do my penance and the rest is really not up to me. I have to be forgiven by the fans, by the other members (of SMAP).”

Earlier stories:

Butt Naked SMAP Star Arrested For Indecency (Apr 23, 2009)

The Kusanagi Storm Continues (Apr 23, 2009)

Kusanagi’s Arrest to Cost Billions (Apr 24, 2009)

The media have been busy for the last day or so analyzing the aftermath of Kusanagi Tsuyoshi’s arrest. Some big numbers are being thrown around as estimates of the cost to the companies that have a financial stake in him. At the time of his arrest he had 7 commercial contracts, 8 regular TV and radio shows and a movie due for release in September. Columnist Himura Masaaki (59) said, “With SMAP being probably Japan’s top talentos, Kusanagi alone would get about ¥50 million for an ad. As a group, their guarantee would be &yen120-150 million. Even just a music tie-up would bring in ¥50 million at a bare minimum.” He estimated that the cost to Johnny’s Jimusho agency just in terms of this lost income would add up to about ¥420 million. But on top of that, with the cost of posters, TV, magazine and newspaper ads, those companies would be looking at losses of ¥500 million each. So Johnny’s could easily be faced with having to compensate sponsors to the degree of ¥5 billion. And then of course there’s disgruntled TV networks and the ongoing effect on future earnings as well. All in all, it turns out to have been a pretty expensive naked romp in the park.

Meanwhile fans and commentators have been questioning why police decided to search Kusanagi’s Tokyo apartment after the arrest. As he tested negative for drugs and the incident took place elsewhere, the search should not have been part of the investigation. Lawyer Osawa Takayuki said, “It’s very unusual in such a case. As he’s a celebrity and the impact of the arrest is very wide, they may have decided to do it just in case.” Nihon University law professor Itakura Hiroshi said, “The prosecution of this case may be unexpectedly harsh. But I think he will be released soon. Even if he’s indicted, he should face a fine of les than ¥300,000. I certainly don’t see him getting a prison sentence.”

Earlier stories:

Butt Naked SMAP Star Arrested For Indecency (Apr 23, 2009)

The Kusanagi Storm Continues (Apr 23, 2009)

The media have been in a frenzy all day today about the arrest of a drunk and naked Kusanagi Tsuyoshi (34) in a Tokyo park last night (photo above). Residents of an apartment building next to the park were interviewed by reporters. One elderly man said, “At about 3am I heard someone screaming ‘Waa, waa” and at first I thought it was someone shouting for help. It was really loud and lasted for about 15 minutes.” A female resident said, “I heard a high-pitched scream. It sounded like someone was letting out their stress. I could hear it even with my windows closed. But we often have foreigners making a racket in the park so I didn’t make much of it. I was very surprised to hear it was Kusanagi-san.” Another person said they heard him shouting “Shingo! Shingo!” no doubt referring to fellow SMAP member Katori Shingo (32). The star’s management agency, Johnny’s Jimusho, said that he had the day off yesterday and they had no idea of his whereabouts. They faxed out a typical bland apology addressed to fans and anyone affected by the scandal, while the woman who works as his manager was in tears when questioned by reporters. It sounds like it’ll take more than that to appease the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications. Always a grandstander, Hatoyama Kunio blasted the celebrity, saying, “It makes me boiling mad. He’s the lowest kind of human being. Unforgiveable.” He added that he couldn’t understand why such a low life had been given the job of media point man for the government’s plan to switch to all digital broadcasting by 2011. He has been promptly removed from that post, and all posters and TV commercials featuring him will disappear. NHK has already cut him from one show on their educational channel and four regular Fuji TV slots – “Waratte Iitomo!,” “SMAPxSMAP,” “Bokura no Ongaku” and “Chonan Khan” – will undoubtedly be affected. Meanwhile, Kusanagi has been transferred from the Akasaka police station, which is being remodeled, to the one in Harajuku.

It sounds like a TV stunt gone wrong, but SMAP member Kusanagi Tsuyoshi (34) has actually been arrested for public indecency. The popular talento and singer was detained by Tokyo Metropolitan police in the early hours of April 23 after residents in the central Tokyo area of Akasaka called them around 3am to complain about someone making a racket in Hinokicho Park near the Tokyo Midtown complex. Police arrived to find the drunk Kusanagi stark naked and running around shouting abuse at anyone and everyone. Normally under such circumstances, the person would be taken into police custody rather than arrested. So it can be assumed that Kusanagi was violent in resisting arrest. Like the other four members of the perennially popular SMAP (profile), Kusanagi appears in a wide variety of TV and commercial roles and the impact of his arrest is likely to be huge. One casualty will probably be the movie “Ballad Namonaki Koi no Uta,” which is scheduled to open in the autumn. Misbehaving celebrities usually get their names and credits quietly removed from TV shows and movies, but as this movie actually stars Kusanagi it’s not a matter of a bit of cutting and pasting. Fellow SMAP-ite Inagaki Goro disappeared from the scene for a while after he got himself arrested for turning a simple parking violation into an attempted hit and run in August 2001.