February 2012
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BUMP OF CHICKEN Starts Ticket Sales for Tour
Popular rock band BUMP OF CHICKEN will go on their “GOLD GLIDER TOUR” which it has been 4 years since their last all Japan tour. Tickets for the 24th and 25th of April at the Osaka Jo Hall will be on sale until the 28th (till 11:59PM). Tickets on May 3rd and May 6th at the Ishikawaken Sangyouten Jikan and Niigata Convention Center will be sold until the...
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Amuro Namie reveals jacket covers for “Go Round /...
Singer Amuro Namie has unveiled the jacket covers for her upcoming single, “Go Round / YEAH-OH“!
The single is slated for release on March 21st and will be available in two different versions: CD+DVD and CD-Only. The DVD will contain music videos for both “Go Round” and “YEAH-OH”.
“Go Round” is currently the campaign song for the cosmetic brand, ‘KOSE ESPRIQUE‘.
CD
...
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Aoki Kotomi’s manga “Kano-Uso” to get live-action...
It was announced on the latest issue of manga magazine “Cheese!” (released on February 24th), thatAoki Kotomi’s manga “Kanojo wa Uso wo Aishisugiteru” (also nicknamed as “Kano-Uso”) will get a live-action movie adaptation.
This is Aoki’s third manga to get live-action movie adaption, as her previous series “Boku wa Imouto ni Koi wo Suru” (starring Matsumoto Jun and Eikura...
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Abe Hiroshi & Ueto Aya in Rome for “Thermae Romae”...
On February 22nd, a premiere for upcoming movie “Thermae Romae” was held at Cinema The Space in Rome, Italy. The main cast members Abe Hiroshi, Ueto Aya, and the director of the movieTakeuchi Hideki attended this overseas stage greeting.
“Thermae Romae” is a live-action adaptation of Yamazaki Mari’s popular manga. It’s a story of Lucius (played by Abe), a bath design...
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Warner Brothers planning live-action movie...
Entertainment news source Variety reports that Warner Bros. has licensed the live-action movie rights to Tite Kubo’s popular supernatural action manga “Bleach.” Warner Bros. is currently developing the project with Viz Productions, a subsidiary of Viz Media (which publishes the English version of “Bleach”).
Dan Mazeau (“Wrath of the Titans”) is in charge of writing the...
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“Suzuki-sensei” drama series gets a movie
Taketomi Kenzi’s manga “Suzuki-sensei” is getting a movie, it has been announced. The movie will continue the television drama adaptation that aired on TV Tokyo last spring, and actor Hasegawa Hiroki (34) will return in the starring role.
“Suzuki-sensei” follows the story of an ordinary junior high school teacher as he deals with various problems with his students. The manga received one...
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Ayumi Hamasaki ARENA TOUR 2012 Announced
Singer Ayumi Hamasaki will go on her ayumi hamasaki ARENA TOUR 2012 A ～HOTEL Love songs～ tour starting in April. Within the tour, the 7th and 8th of April’s tickets for the Saitama Super Arena will be sold until March 4th until 11pm.
The performance on June 9th at the Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center will be selling tickets until this Sunday the 26th until 11:59PM.
Hamasaki...
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Artists line-up for NTV’s special music program...
On March 7th, NTV will live broadcast a special music program titled “Nittere-kei Ongaku no Saiten Ongaku no Chikara 2012” to help support recovery efforts for the Tohoku earthquake.
In addition to relay broadcasting from the disaster area, many gorgeous artists will perform “cheering up songs” at the studio in Tokyo. The main host of the program will be Arashi’s Sakurai Sho.
Arashi’s...
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Jin Akanishi pisses off important producer
omoxi:
It seems Jin is good at pissing people off.
With the news of Akanishi Jin’s marriage, rumors have been flying saying that its possible Akanishi could be let go from the agency, according to a well-informed insider, and now one more obstacle has appeared.
Akanishi has apparently had a huge fight with a big-shot Japanese producer. Supposedly, the producer was ticked off by Akanishi’s...
D☆DATE announces first album + live tour
On February 22nd, D☆DATE held a release event for their latest single ‘JOKER‘ at the Shinjuku Balto 9, where they announced that they’ll be releasing their first album in April. The boys will also launch a second live tour in June.
After showing their short movie, “JOKER”, on a large screen, the boys held an interview with the crowd. Commenting on their new single, leader Araki Hirofumi said,...
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Idol Group SMAP to Cover More Anime Songs!
For the February 27 edition of their SMAP x SMAP variety show, pop group SMAP will once again cover famous anime songs in collaboration with their original artists. The group had done this for the first time last November
Their performances will include versions of songs from series such as One Piece, Dragon Ball Z, Cutie Honey, City Hunter, and Castle in the Sky. The website also...
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New Read or Die Manga Previewed Before Saturday...
The editors of Shueisha’s new Super Dash & Go! magazine confirmed that the R.O.D. Rehabilitation manga will launchin the magazine’s third issue on Saturday. While the editors say the manga features an eyeglasses-wearing Yomiko, “she is not the Yomiko from before” in the previous light novel series, manga, and various anime projects.
Hideyuki Kurata, the...
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AKB48 collaborates with HP
Five members of AKB48 is back with the newest CM for Hewlett-Packard Japan. After a successful collaboration last year where they were named asHP’s Support Angels, the girls are back with a brand new title-Love PC Evangelists.
Joining this newest campaign for HP are Maeda Atsuko, Shinoda Mariko,Itano Tomomi, Kojima Haruna, and Mitsumune Kaoru. The CM will be released on Feb 23rd.
For...
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Arashi encourages victims in Special show on NTV
Popular group Arashi held a mini concert at Hichigahama city, Miyagi where there had been extensive damage due to last year’s tsunami. This was first time Arashi held concert at a victim area, before the concert they visited temporary housing and interacted with the survivors.
The SP will air NTV 3 hours music show “Power of Music 2012” (on air 3/7 7pm) that convey earthquake...
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Ninomiya Kazunari and Sasaki Nozomi no longer...
uso-ippai:
Are they or aren’t they? Actually, it’s pretty much confirmed that Ninomiya Kazunari and Sasaki Nozomi have broken up (good luck trying to get an official statement out of their agencies since they’re just “good friends.”)
Can their breakup be blamed on anyone? Well, how about Hannya’s Kawashima Akiyoshi (umm… he’s the fatter one.) Nino’s been prioritizing his time with...
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Ghibli's Arrietty had $8.68 Million in 4 Days
The Box Office Mojo website reported that Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Studio Ghibli’s anime film The Secret World of Arrietty (Karigurashi no Arrietty) earned an estimated US$8,102,000 over the four-day President’s Day holiday weekend in the United States. With the fourth day’s tally included, the film now rises to #8 for the extended weekend.
The film had earned an...
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Sashihara Rino to Release Solo Debut Single on 2nd...
Apart from being in AKB48 and sub-unit’s Not yet, it’s also announced back in January that Sashihara Rino will be the 5th AKB48 member to go solo. Shortly after, her debut single was titled “Sore demo suki da yo” and she has already performed a few times commercially.
Now, the release date is announced to be 2nd May. This coincides with the birthday of Akimoto...
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Kanon Wakeshima Performs at Sakura Con
Sakura-Con 2012’s website recently announced that Kanon Wakeshima, the Japanese singer and cellist, will be a honored guest at the convention. The convention itself is being held on April 6th-8th at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center.
Kanon Wakeshima has been enjoying her international success during her Euro Tour this past year. The tour consisted of 10 cities...
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Ohno Satoshi, Aiba Masaki to star in separate...
Two Arashi members will be starring in separate television dramas this spring. Ohno Satoshi (31) will occupy Fuji TV’s Monday 9:00pm time slot with “Kagi no Kakatta Heya,” while Aiba Masaki (29) will take overNTV’s Saturday 9:00pm time slot with “Mikeneko Holmes no Suiri.” Both shows will be mystery dramas.
For Ohno, this will be his first time starring in a drama series on Fuji TV,...
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Sato Takeru & Ishihara Satomi attend the press...
On February 21st, Sato Takeru, Ishihara Satomi, and other cast members for the upcoming stage play “Romeo & Juliet” appeared at the press conference.
As we reported previously, this will be the stage debut for Sato, who reportedlystarted preparing for his stage debut about 2 years ago. Sato said, “I have been struggling what else I could do to prepare for this, and I am still...
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Original Series: A documentation of Johnny...
uso-ippai:
I’ve had these articles sitting bookmarked for 1+yrs now. Been wondering if I should translate them for a while. Since I have nothing else better to do today, I decided to translate some of them. Problem? I don’t know if I’m going to translate the whole series because it’s not always a slow news day. And since I own the tumblr, I have editorial control on what gets posted. If you...
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Original Series: A documentation of Johnny...
uso-ippai:
Let me just preface this entry by saying that I’m a huge JE fan. I just feel that with all the misinformation going around the English fandom, it is good to translate a series of articles CyzoWomen did that talked about Johnny’s past. I know I’m going to get flamed for it, but they are interesting. I feel like they’re worth a read. Before you go and flame me for spreading...
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Ohno Satoshi in new drama
The new drama is called 「鍵のかかった部屋」 (Locked Room) starring Arashi’s Ohno Satoshi who will play the role of a nerd who is into physics, crimes and architechture named Junko Enomoto. He wakes up one day in a locked room, and explains 4 extreme closed room tricks and the mysteries behind closed doors
This is an adaptation of a novel of the same title written by same writer of “Blue...
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New Dad Matsuyama Kenichi & Eita makes a surprise...
On February 19th, the premiere of “Bokutachi Kyuko A-Ressha de Ikou” was held at Shinagawa Prince Cinema in Tokyo both starring actors Matsuyama Kenichi (26) and Eita (29) attended this event.
This film was directed by Morita Yoshimitsu, who passed away last December. Regarding this fact, Matsuyama stated, “This movie contains the director’s important message,” explaining the...
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http://www.tokyograph.com/news/akb48s-oshima-yuko-j...
Some supporting cast details have finally been revealed for the “Yamikin Ushijima-kun” movie that was announced last August. AKB48’s Oshima Yuko (23) has been cast as the heroine of the story, playing a young woman who has to shoulder her mother’s debt.
Starring Yamada Takayuki (28), “Yamikin Ushijima-kun” was a 2010 television drama adaptation of a manga by Manabe Shohei. Yamada plays a...
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Koike Teppei holds a handshaking event for 10th...
On February 19th, actor Koike Teppei (26) held a commemorative release handshaking event atFukuya Shoten Shinjuku Subnade for the memorial photo album “I will…” to celebrate his 10th year since debut. He was welcomed by approximately 1,800 of his fans at this bookstore.
This photo album includes exclusive photos of Koike and his dog (which he recently took into his...
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Ueto Aya finally becomes CM queen
Video Research Ltd. has released the 2011 edition of its annual report on TV commercial data. In particular, its ranking of celebrity screen time revealed that actress Ueto Aya received the most exposure in 2011 in the Kanto, Kansai, and Nagoya areas, largely due to her appearances in the SoftBank and Asahicommercials. Dante Carver, who also appears in the SoftBank commercials, rose from 22nd to...
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Matsuda Shota and Sasaki Nozomi attend stage...
On February 18th, actor Matsuda Shota and actress Sasaki Nozomi attended the first stage greeting for the upcoming movie, “Afro Tanaka“, at Shinjuku Piccadilly.
The afro Matsuda had to wear became a topic of great amusement at the stage greeting, especially after Sasaki revealed, “Matsuda-san would put on his afro and make strange movements, so I couldn’t help but laugh every time. I also...
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Koyuki makes her first public appearance after...
On February 16th, actress Koyuki and director Martin Scorsese attended a press conference for the movie, “Yugo no Fushigi na Hatsumei“.
This event marked Koyuki’s first public appearance after giving birth to her first son last month. When reporters asked about her condition, Koyuki responded with a sweet smile.
During the conference, Koyuki gave the movie rave reviews. “Regardless of your...
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updates from uso-ippai
uso-ippai:
Hey Y’all,
Life’s been busy so I haven’t been making proper entries lately but here’s a break down of the rumors that’s been making the rounds in the past 3 days. I’m not going to provide any source cause I’m on my phone right now but if you click around my usual sources, you’ll find the articles.
Sawajiri Erika showed up on the set of Helter Skelter in early Feb hung over and 2 hrs...
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Arashi reveals the track lists + cover jackets for...
Arashi will be releasing a new single titled, “Wild at Heart” which is being used as the theme song for member, Matsumoto Jun’s ongoing drama “Lucky Seven“, on March 7th. Recently, they finally revealed the track lists and the cover jackets for the upcoming single! As reported earlier, the single will be released in two different editions.
Limited Edition ※16 pages booklet included
CD ...
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SCANDAL Nippon Budokan Tickets Sold-Out in 15...
SCANDAL’s “Harukaze” might have been in second place of AKB48’s “Give Me Five!” in CD ranking (as of feb 15) but when it comes to concert sales, the girls are in high gear.
SCANDAL’s general ticket sales that started last Feb 11 were sold-out in 15 minutes, Sony Music Japan reported. The four-member group is slated to perform for the first time at the prestigious Nippon Budokan. The concert...
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AKB48’s latest single “GIVE ME FIVE!” sells over...
AKB48’s 25th single “GIVE ME FIVE!” was released on February 15th, and it topped Oricon’s daily chart with a sales figure of 966,529 copies on the first day!
This is the third best record for the number of sales on the release day after AKB48’s “Kaze wa Fuiteiru” (released in October 2011/sold 1,045,937 copies on the first day), and “Flying Get” (released in August 2011/sold 1,025,952 copies on...
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2012 Flumpool Tour Announced
Flumpool’s 5th all around Japan tour “Because… I am” has been announced.
The tour will kick off on March 31st at the Misato City Culture Hall and run its span of about three months before wrapping up on July 31st at Hiroshima ALSOK Hall. Tickets which are 5,800 Yen each (Tax included) will gradually go on sale starting February 18th.
Remember to check out their...
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Porno Graffitti announces new album, “PANORAMA...
Rock band Porno Graffitti has announced that they will be releasing their new album, “PANORAMA PORNO“, on March 28th.
“PANORAMA PORNO” will be the band’s 9th original album, and their first in about two years. It will include their latest singles, “Kimi wa 100%“, “EXIT“, “One More Time“, “Yuki no Iro“, and “2012Spark“.
The album will be available in two different versions: a regular CD-only...
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Tamayama Tetsuji marries, will become a father
Actor Tamayama Tetsuji (31) announced on his official website that he got married on Valentine’s Day, February 14. He stated that his wife is a non-celebrity whom he had been dating for a while. He further revealed that they are already expecting a child, though he did not say when the baby will be born.
Because his wife is not in show business, Tamayama stated that he...
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Cobs' Valentine Anime Character Survey
The Japanese portal site Cobs Onlineposted the results of a survey of the anime and manga characters that people want to give chocolates to, and receive chocolates from. In Japan, women give chocolates to men on February 14, and men return the favor on White Day (March 14).
Between December 7-13, Cobs asked its users which character they want to give chocolates to — and receive chocolates...
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AKB48 to release ‘Kohaku singing battle’ on DVD
It’s been revealed that AKB48 will be releasing their live event, ‘AKB48 Kohaku singing battle‘, on DVD!
‘AKB48 Kohaku singing battle’ was held at TOKYO DOME CITY HALL back on December 20th. 139 members of the AKB family participated in this event by splitting up into ‘red’ and ‘white’ teams for a singing showdown.
Disc 1 will contain the first half of the event, while disc 2 will include...
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Two of JKT48's members resigns from group
It’s been reported that JKT48 members Siti Gayatri and Intan Ratama Ilham have resigned from the group.
According to the announcement, both girls requested to resign from the group in order to focus on their studies. After much deliberation from both parties, the management accepted the girls’ decisions.
Below are the messages from the two members:
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“I, Siti Gayatri, have...
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Aya Hirano to Resume Her Music Career
Aya Hirano, who shot to fame after voicing ‘Suzumiya Haruhi’ from The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi, has announced she will release new music under Universal Music.
After last year’s scandals and other personal reasons, Aya Hirano stopped making music and left her ex-label Lantis. She also left Space Craft Entertainment, which managed her seiyuu career, but soon...
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Celebrity baby news: Yukina & Fujimoto, Impulse’s...
Talento Kinoshita Yukina (24) and comedian Fujimoto Toshifumi (41) of the duo FUJIWARA are now expecting their first child. Sources say that Kinoshita is in her 4th month of pregnancy and is due to give birth around August of this year.
Kinoshita and Fujimoto have been married since August 2010. Since then, Kinoshita has often publicly expressed her desire to become a mother, and...
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Versailles Plans for 2012 Tours!
After finishing, their Holy Grail world tour this past week, the band Versaillesalready started posting their plans for the first half of this year, including multiple concerts, two singles, and a new album.
Versailles will start off as guests for D’s Mad Tea Party in April and from there they will have a small four stop spring tour. The last concert they posted is a two day event...
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Yamashita Tomohisa's CD Release Campaign Starts on...
Warner Music Japan recently announced that the CD release campaign for Yamashita Tomohisa’s “Ai, Texas” will officially start on White Day. White Day happens on Mar 14th, exactly a month after Valentines Day. It will be Yamapi’s first fan event after going solo. The event will be limited to 50 fans and they will be picked by a lottery draw.
For more info...
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Kuroki's activities being cancelled
omoxi:
Kuroki Meisa (23) is beginning to feel the first effects of being married to Akanishi Jin.
It was announced on the 12th that the planned March 4th special buyer event for Meisa’s album “UNLOCKED” has been suspended. Announced on her official homepage, reasons cited for the cancellation include being “due to physical condition, and considering various other circumstances”. Although her...
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The idol's mom, the underage boy and the media
By MINORU MATSUTANI
The recent arrest of the mother of a Japanese pop idol for sex with a minor raises questions on how the media here handles such high-profile cases.
Usually, if someone who is related to a tarento (TV personality), or other type of celebrity, is arrested in Japan, the shukanshi (weekly gossip magazines) almost always report the names of the celebrities — though major TV news...