Archive for January, 2008

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Daily Japan 2008.01.29

Wednesday, January 30th, 2008

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Misc entertainment news 2008.01.26

Sunday, January 27th, 2008
  • Koichi Domoto had to cancel a performance of his musical “Endless Shock” on Wednesday afternoon. According to Toho, there was a computer malfunction shortly after the show started, and it was decided that the show couldn’t continue. The evening show went on as planned, however. The “Shock” series has had more than 500 shows since it started in 2000, but this is the first time one has been canceled.
  • Comedian Kenji Tamura ran into a bit of trouble on Tuesday. He was filming an interview in Osaka for a television show. The crew’s equipment accidentally hit a woman from a group of passersby, and a man from the group (who was in his 60s) kicked Tamura in his left thigh. Police got involved, and it was discovered that the man had been drinking. He apologized to Tamura, and since there were no injuries, Tamura chose not to press charges.
  • The tabloids are still reporting on the rumored relationship between Tomoya Nagase and Saki Aibu. Earlier this month, Aibu was seen entering Nagase’s apartment, and she didn’t leave until the next morning. Nagase was also seen driving Aibu in his car. Both of their agencies are maintaining the stance that the two are just friends.
  • Actress Yu Aoi attended a PR event for her WOWOW series “Yottsu no Uso,” a drama themed around lies. When asked about the topic, Aoi mentioned one of her own lies from her childhood. During junior high, she didn’t feel like going to school, so she imitated her mother’s voice over the phone and told the school she was sick. Unfortunately for her, the lie was completely exposed the next day.
  • Eikichi Yazawa is currently involved in a trial regarding his lawsuit against impersonator Ryudai Ishiyama. The proceedings have been merged with Ishiyama’s countersuit, and the first hearing opened on Friday. However, Ishiyama’s lawyer made a last-minute cancellation and failed to show up, leaving the judges and Yazawa’s lawyer bewildered. At this rate, Ishiyama’s case looks doomed for failure.
  • The blog of Idoling!!!’s Mira Takiguchi has been locked down due to some controversy. It looks like she mistakenly posted (and criticized) something she shouldn’t have (involving incomplete jokes taken from R-1 Grand Prix or something like that), and it led to lots of negative comments. She apologized and will still continue with her activities, but the blog has been suspended indefinitely.

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Daily Japan 2008.01.26

Sunday, January 27th, 2008

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A bunch of Oricon surveys

Saturday, January 26th, 2008

Here are a few Oricon surveys that I didn’t report on the main site, either because they’re rather strange or because they’re similar to ones I’ve already covered.

Which celebrity most resembles a witch/wizard/magic-user?

  1. Mari Natsuki
  2. Akihiro Miwa
  3. Yuko Ogura
  4. Shoko Nakagawa
  5. Tetsuko Kuroyanagi
  6. Gackt
  7. YOU
  8. Uno Kanda
    Mika Nakashima
    Erika Sawajiri

Which celebrity seems to be good at video games? (similar to this survey)

  1. Shinya Arino (of Yoiko)
  2. Shoko Nakagawa
  3. Hikaru Utada
  4. Hikaru Ijuin
  5. Kazunari Ninomiya (a bit surprising)
  6. Takahashi Meijin (Toshiyuki Takahashi)
  7. Tsuyoshi Kusanagi
  8. Hitori Gekidan
  9. Satoshi Inoue (of Jicho Kacho)
    Shingo Katori

Whose life would you like to experience? (similar to this survey)

  1. Ayumi Hamasaki
  2. Takuya Kimura
  3. Oda Nobunaga (yes, really)
    The Kano Sisters
  4. Bill Gates
    Masaharu Fukuyama
    Ichiro Suzuki

And now some fashion/culture surveys. The first is about an area in Tokyo known as Shimokitazawa (Shimokita for short), that is generally recognized as a trendy and artistic urban neighborhood popular among young people, especially college students. The second is the opposite, focusing on the high-class Ginza area. Both surveys have separate lists for men and women.

Which celebrity is best suited to Shimokitazawa?

Men

  1. Joe Odagiri
  2. Tsuyoshi Domoto
  3. Shun Oguri
  4. Kankuro Kudo
  5. Keiichi Sokabe
  6. Arata Furuta
  7. Yuzu
  8. Yo Oizumi
  9. Satoshi Tsumabuki
  10. Masaharu Fukuyama

Women

  1. Aya Ueto
  2. Becky
  3. Masami Hisamoto
  4. Eiko Koike
  5. Kaela Kimura
  6. Yu Aoi
  7. Aya Hirayama
  8. Chinatsu Wakatsuki
  9. Rie Shibata
  10. YUI

Which celebrity is best suited to Ginza?

Men

  1. Junichi Ishida
  2. Minomonta
  3. Akira Nakao
  4. Yujiro Ishihara
  5. Kenichi Mikawa
  6. Hiroki Matsukata
  7. Hiromi Go
  8. Shosuke Tanihara
  9. Hiroshi Abe
  10. Masaharu Fukuyama (he’s on both lists!)

Women

  1. Hitomi Kuroki
  2. The Kano Sisters
  3. Ryoko Yonekura
  4. Naomi Kawashima
  5. Nanako Matsushima
  6. Uno Kanda
  7. Sayuri Yoshinaga
  8. Aya Sugimoto
  9. Dewi Sukarno (Naoko Nemoto)
  10. Norika Fujiwara

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Daily Japan 2008.01.24

Friday, January 25th, 2008

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Misc entertainment news 2008.01.21

Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008

Some miscellaneous news recently from the entertainment world that I didn’t feel like turning into separate news posts:

  • Shoko Nakagawa is releasing her third “Shokotan Blog” book this week. The books are basically excerpts and extensions of posts from her popular blog, and one of the stories in this new installment is about her encounter with a groper last October. She even illustrated the story in manga form, with a touch of Shigeru Mizuki’s art style.
  • Ryoko Yonekura has publicly denied the rumors of her dating comedian Atsushi Tamura. Not surprising in any case.
  • Yui Aragaki revealed on her blog that she recently had a bad kitchen experience - while trying to cook something, her hair caught on fire. She’s fortunately safe, but she expressed her chagrin at the fact that she had just had her hair treated before the accident.
  • Singer Chiemi Hori also revealed some misfortune on her blog. She recently had a fall in her own home that resulted in a fractured rib. She was trying to open a window while avoiding her children’s toys, but her hand slipped and she lost her balance. She says she’s continuing with her work schedule, however.
  • Gatas Brilhantes H.P. ended up taking 2nd place at the most recent Skylark Group League tournament. They faced off against the Adidas team in the finals. A 0-0 tie sent them to penalty kicks, but the opposing team stopped both Fujimoto and Yoshizawa, ending the game in a 3-4 loss for the H!P team.

I’m considering making this a weekly thing (as long as I find enough random news during the week). Or maybe I should be including these little things in the main news? What do you think?

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Daily Japan 2008.01.21

Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008

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Daily Japan 2008.01.16

Thursday, January 17th, 2008

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Daily Japan 2008.01.12

Sunday, January 13th, 2008

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Japan Loves Its RPG Music

Saturday, January 12th, 2008

A fun survey from Oricon: “Which song that appeared in a video game left the greatest impression on you?” Not too surprisingly, all of the top answers were songs from RPGs, especially the Final Fantasy series.

  1. Real Emotion - Kumi Koda (FFX-2)
  2. Hikari - Hikaru Utada (Kingdom Hearts)
  3. Eyes on Me - Faye Wong (FF8)
  4. Karma - Bump of Chicken (Tales of the Abyss)
  5. Kiss Me Good-Bye - Angela Aki (FFXII)

Looking at just the women’s answers, it’s the same 5 songs, just in a different order. Same situation on the men’s side, except that Kiss Me Good-Bye is replaced by DEEN’s Yume de aru you ni (from Tales of Destiny).

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