tokyographers

On Thursday, there was a PR event for the “Hana Yori Dango Final” movie, attended by co-stars Mao Inoue and Jun Matsumoto. The press snapped some nice photos of Mao in a wedding dress:

(pictures taken from Sanspo)

Toho also announced that as of Wednesday, the movie has earned 7.1 billion yen, making it the highest-grossing live-action Japanese film so far this year. (It unfortunately can’t beat Miyazaki’s “Ponyo.”)

Well, here’s something you probably didn’t need to see - Teppei Koike dressed as a maid:

Images taken from this Sanspo article. It’s part of his role for an episode of “Shibatora,” airing on August 5.

Better late than never! Anyway, here’s the second batch of AX images, featuring Shoko Nakagawa over at the Bandai booth:

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After Scandal’s performance at Japan Nite 2008, I figured the next act would probably be Petty Booka - at least if the staff wanted to avoid a huge drop in energy during the latter half of the show. My instincts were quickly confirmed when crew members set up two ukuleles in front of the two mics on stage.

Petty and Booka made their entrance by walking in hidden behind a banner they were holding, and they finally lowered it, revealing a pair of cute (in fact, too cute) women in blue cowgirl outfits with amazingly high-pitched voices. I’m sure the crowd had no idea of what to make it at first, and when they kicked off the set with their version of Alan Jackson’s “Don’t Rock the Jukebox” (which was significantly slower than their recorded version) the room was full of stunned silence mixed with snickering. Clearly, Petty Booka was out of place at a rock show.

They mostly sang while kind of swaying side to side, patting their ukuleles rather than playing them, all the while never breaking their smiles. They were accompanied by a guy on mandolin and another guy on guitar. At the end of each song, they said “arigatou” in their too-cute voices and gave a small bow. By the end of the second song, I still think the crowd was unsure of what to think.

However, at one point, the two guys left, leaving only Petty and Booka on stage, and that’s when things picked up. Singing and strumming their ukuleles, they finally won the crowd over when they played the best rendition of “Que Sera Sera” in history, and they got the whole room singing along with the chorus.

They only played a few songs alone, and the mandolin and guitar came back. One of the other highlights of their set is that the mandolin player was pretty awesome too, rocking some very fast and complicated solos with skill and style.

A lot of Petty Booka’s charm is in their unconventional takes on familiar songs, so you can appreciate them a lot more when you actually know the song they’re playing. Personally, I thought it awesome when they played The Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” (appropriately reworked as “I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend”), while I wasn’t as enthusiastic as the Grateful Dead fans when they covered “Friend of the Devil.” Another song I liked, even though I was unfamiliar with it, was the absolutely charming “Ukulele Lady.”

Overall, Petty Booka is a fun group with a lot of novelty and charm (despite the supercute factor). It’s certainly not the type of music that will get you sweaty, though some of their songs can be fairly lively in a country-western type of way. Those familiar with the group may know that the lineup has changed from its original members (more than once I think), so be aware that the vocals vary throughout the group’s history.

(Okay, since I don’t have time to put together one huge post about Japan Nite, and since there are too many pictures I want to post, I’m breaking this up into smaller parts, one for each band.)

Anyway, as I’ve mentioned before, the Japan Nite 2008 tour came to Los Angeles for its final show last weekend. After an amazing show last year, I definitely didn’t want to miss out this year, and this time I got to stay for the whole event!

The show was at the Knitting Factory again, but on a different stage. The turnout seemed to be smaller this year (perhaps last year was the exception because of GO!GO!7188?), but I guess it’s a pretty reasonable size for this type of concert. It’s just disappointing that more people don’t show up, especially when tickets are so cheap.

But whatever. First ones to take the stage are SCANDAL, a band composed of 4 high school girls from Osaka.

From left: Tomomi (bass), Haruna (vocals, guitar), Mami (guitar)
In back (sorry you can’t really see her): Rina (drums)

These girls play a really energetic brand of pop-rock, though I have to say they’re going to need to work a bit on their stage presence. They’re still young, though, so they’ve got plenty of time to improve. They’ve already got talent, so I can only see them getting better over time.

They did try to interact with the crowd, and they were partly successful, getting a good number of people clapping and raising their hands up in the air. They also did a short “Japanese language time” with phrases from Osaka-ben (”maido” and “ookini”), but after seeing the same thing from Oreskaband before (and I really like Oreskaband), I guess it fell flat on me.

My favorite song from their set was “S.L Magic,” though “Space Ranger” and “Koi Moyou”(”Love Pattern” as it’s titled in English) were also good. I was looking forward to “Playboy,” since it was my favorite from the songs on their MySpace page, but in the end I think I like the sound of the recorded version better (that one always gets me energized).

The bassist Tomomi is my favorite from the group, as I felt like she was having the most fun up there on stage. She just kept rocking out with a big smile on her face, occasionally sticking her tongue out for kicks. I mean, they all seemed like they were having fun, but Tomomi left the strongest impression. And in every picture I’ve seen of the group, she just looks the happiest. =)

I definitely enjoyed their performance, but it’s much closer to cute pop than something I could really rock out to (like detroit7, but I’ll get to them later). And I couldn’t help but feel that a lot of the guys in the crowd were into them largely because they’re cute high school girls jumping around on stage in skirts. Sure, that’s part of the appeal, but for me, the music always comes first.

They were selling a CD+DVD of “Space Ranger” for $5, but I waited too long to get it and it was sold out before I could pick one up… sad =(

Overall, SCANDAL is a band I’m hoping to hear more of in the future, even if their live performance was personally a little disappointing. They have a chance to be a really fun and powerful band, and I think this tour was a great opportunity for them, in terms of both exposure and experience.

(By the way, credits for all pictures in these posts go to my brother.)

So Anime Expo isn’t hosting Utada like I speculated (yet), but it is bringing over the otaku queen, Shoko Nakagawa. Awesome. I can’t wait to see what kind of antics she’ll pull. And I really hope the rest of AX’s lineup gives her good company.

In other news, I’m still trying to get through this hectic week (and next week) to catch up on all the news. Fortunately, I do have some help from staff members 千秋 D. and gloomybear, who just posted a translation of a Bennie K interview (I’ll be posting the link on the front page once I get an additional system set up this weekend). So they deserve some credit.

I had quite a few stories in my backlog, so I’ve cut some out to keep this update reasonably short (or long).

• Back in February, talento Becky was at a PR event. The previous week, a tabloid had run an article claiming that she was dating young actor Yuya Yagira, and they supposedly went on a date to a game center. When the question came up during the PR event, Becky admitted that they had met, but denied that there’s any sort of relationship. According to her, she just gave him a ride for work, and that he didn’t even ride in the passenger seat.
• Comedian Kenji Tamura encountered a case of an eat-and-run last month. At the yakiniku restaurant he owns, two men came in and ate 11,360 yen worth of food (which is roughly $113 by today’s exchange rate of nearly $1-to-100 yen) before stealthily disappearing.
• For those who missed out on the news, the “Hana Yori Dango” movie finished its overseas shoots a couple weeks ago, traveling about 25,000 kilometers for the entire trip. They first went to Hong Kong, then flew to Los Angeles and Las Vegas (at Orleans and at Bellagio). Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see any of it.
• Someone paid over 1.6 million yen for a collection of posters for all 48 films in the popular “Otoko wa Tsurai yo” film series, which ran from 1969 to 1996. The posters had been confiscated from a delinquent taxpayer and subsequently auctioned off online.
• Early this month, model Izumi Mori publicly acknowledged that she has a boyfriend, though she didn’t say who. Two years ago, she was reportedly seeing a former Johnny’s Jr., but it’s not known if that’s the same relationship as her current one.
• Cosplay retailer Cospa Inc. is giving everyone a chance to become Char Aznable. In June, the company will release a 7-piece costume, including cape and mask. They previously produced a Char costume through its luxury line that retailed for 65,100 yen, but the new outfit is a much more affordable 13,440 yen.
• Jazz pianist Yosuke Yamashita gave a daring display last week when he performed with a burning piano on a beach in Ishikawa. He was of course wearing a protective suit, and he played for a full 10 minutes before conceding to the fire’s smoke. This isn’t the first time he’s done this, though - he made a name for himself back in 1973 with the same feat.
• Nippon Broadcasting System once again apologized for the Kumi Koda comment, but the president apparently has gone even further and taken drastic (though dubious) measures to help prevent a similar incident in the future. HALF of the show’s staff have been replaced and are being retrained (no word on exactly how many people that is). Koda’s incident was taken very seriously by the station, especially since the show had been pre-recorded and should have been checked beforehand.
• Retired celebrity Ai Iijima may have to find work again, as she revealed on her blog that she is quickly going broke. On March 7, she wrote that she had 160,000 yen and some change, but by the next day that amount had dropped to only130,000. Then on the 11th, she wrote that she had gone to the movies and karaoke and had bought some DVDs, leaving her with only 98,000 yen.
• All you fujoshi may be happy to know that Japan now has its first true fujoshi portal site (here) . The site was launched on Tuesday by TreasureNet. So what exactly does this mean for the future of the fujoshi movement? I have no idea.

• Comedian Norio Nishikawa went on a trip to France last month with his wife. When they were checking out of their hotel, Nishikawa stepped outside to smoke a cigarette while his wife was waiting inside with their luggage. However, one of their bags disappeared, containing a large sum of cash and other valuables. Fortunately, their passports and plane tickets were safe, but they arrived back in Japan with only 2 euros left.
• Akihiro Nishino of comedy duo King Kong revealed last week on his blog that he dislocated his right shoulder. He was enjoying himself at a music event, getting drunk enough that he had to be carried to a taxi by his younger colleagues. When he woke up the next morning at home, he realized he couldn’t move his right hand and went to the hospital.
• Taiyo Sugiura (the husband of Nozomi Tsuji) and Tsunku had an amusing exchange on their blogs recently. Tsunku chided the actor for his forgetfulness, and Sugiura quickly apologized on his own site. What was it all about? It turns out that they had gone out to eat in Roppongi, and Sugiura had left behind a glove belonging to his baby Noa.
• Last April, FRIDAY reported that Kyoko Fukada and Ryuji Sainei were an item, but Horipro denied the rumors on behalf of both celebrities. Last week, the same magazine published a fresh article about the pair on a yakiniku date, followed by them spending the night at Fukada’s place. However, their agency is still sticking to the story that the two are just friends.
• Saturday marked a special milestone for the stage version of “Saiyuki.” It was the 1900th performance as the starring role for 87-year-old actress Mitsuko Mori, which extends her record for most performances as a sole lead. She has played that part for 47 years and has not once skipped a show. For the curtain call, she was joined on stage by 11 Johnny’s artists, including Masahiko Kondo and Noriyuki Higashiyama. They cheered her on towards reaching 2000, which she will be very close to by the end of this year.
• The general ticket sale for X Japan’s 3 reunion concerts (March 28-30) opened on Sunday morning. Not surprisingly, the 150,000 tickets only lasted a few seconds before it was announced that the shows were completely sold out.
• Two people were recently arrested for selling unauthorized DVDs of Koichi Domoto’s stage performances, including “Endless Shock.” It seems that they have sold approximately 1,000 discs of secretly-filmed footage in the last 4 or 5 years. Their final transaction took place last month near the Yurakucho station, selling a Kanagawa woman 7 DVDs for 65,000 yen (~$606).

• Shoko Nakagawa is still one of Japan’s top celebrity bloggers - her blog recently reached 1 billion hits. The milestone was announced earlier this week, at the same event she announced her first original album (and declared she would run naked through Nakano Broadway in the very unlikely event the album tops the charts).
• Electropop trio Perfume had an achievement of their own. On Tuesday, their “Perfume Complete Best” was certified gold, which in Japan means that it has sold 100,000 copies. This counts sales of both the original release (August 2, 2006) and the re-release (February 14, 2007). While 100,000 isn’t really that high, it’s a pretty big step for a group like Perfume. They’re also releasing a new album, titled “GAME,” on April 16.
• Though not nearly as bad as the Kumi Koda faux pas, 53-year-old announcer Ichiro Furutachi also found himself apologizing for an on-the-air comment he made on Wednesday. Some were upset about his use of the phrase “adult children,” which he intended to refer to adults who still had the maturity of children, often due to being raised in dysfunctional families.
• Also making an apology is JAM Project. The website Canned Dogs found a story about the music group getting drunk and causing a ruckus while returning from Nagoya on the Shinkansen. Some blogger got angry and wrote about the incident, which probably led to JAM Project’s official apology.
• The media reported that owarai duo Charanporan is disbanding, but there’s more to the story. Member Kojin Onishi was the one who sent the fax out about the breakup, but apparently his partner Makoto Tomiyoshi wasn’t told beforehand. Yoshimoto Kogyo was still discussing future plans with the duo, but it seems Onishi decided on his own that he wanted out. His contract has consequently been terminated (which is likely what he was aiming for).

• About two weeks ago, popular idol Aki Hoshino made the news with a lucky horse racing bet. She bought a 100-yen trifecta ticket and it won, paying out more than 24,000 yen (~$225). It was initially reported that her ticket had won over 140,000 yen (~$1,300), which would have been a much bigger story. Still, it was a decent win, and she’s apparently on a streak - she made a correct prediction the previous week as well.
• Just over a week ago, pop group Globe announced that they are temporarily closing their fan club due to a lack of activity and services to offer. Members’ annual fees are being refunded.
• Takarazuka top star Hana Hizuki (of the Cosmos Troupe) fractured her left ankle during a rehearsal last week. She is being replaced by Miou Kazune in the “Reimei no Kaze” production that just opened.
• Yamapi fangirls got a treat in this week’s issue of anan magazine. The magazine ran a sexy pictorial of the young star, which included bedroom poses with a woman and a fully nude shot in the shower (from behind, at least).
• Tutorial’s Yoshimi Tokui is apparently quite the playboy. FRIDAY magazine caught him on dates with 3 different women within a span of less than 2 weeks. First, he was seen with one woman at his home. A week later, he was with another woman at a goukon. Then only 2 days later, he was spotted sharing motsunabe with yet another girl. Is he actually romantically involved with any of them? Who knows. His agency, Yoshimoto Kogyo, opted for a “no comment.”
• What would Akiko Wada look like in animated form? Perhaps like this. In episode 8 of the currently-running “Yatterman” anime series (set to air on March 3), Doronjo and her team will command a mecha named Wada Akko. A fairly frightening interpretation…
• Actress Sae Isshiki once again proves that she’s a bad driver. On Tuesday, she was stopped for violating the ban on the use of cell phones while driving. She at first tried to pin the blame on her children, but she later apologized and said she would reflect on the incident. Will she really? In the past 3 years, she’s committed more than 10 traffic violations from parking to speeding to not wearing a seatbelt. Her license has now been suspended for the second time.