Changes to the news schedule

March 16th, 2008

Some personal news! This Friday, I’m starting a new job. I’m really looking forward to it, especially since it’s in the Japan-related industry. I won’t say much more about it here, but maybe I’ll be able to share some details in the future.

The reason I mention it is that it’s going to affect the Tokyograph news schedule. I’m switching from a nighttime job to a regular daytime job, which means that I’ll no longer be available in the early afternoon to read the news from Japan and update right away. I still plan to keep the news output at about the same rate, but new stories will now be appearing several hours later than usual. I’m hoping it’s not a big deal, but I’m mentioning it so that I can point to this post when people start asking why the news isn’t as fast as it used to be.

(By the way, if you saw the recent poll about being a day person or night person, I fall under the latter category. And on top of that, I have to retrain my sleep schedule!)

On a related note, the past couple days I’ve also been a bit behind in the news - this is partly due to me trying to finish off everything for my old job, and partly due to the awesomeness that is Super Smash Bros. Brawl (yes, I’ll admit I’ve been slacking in favor of some video game time).

Updates in the near future may also suffer, due to the job transition, the Easter holiday, relatives visiting in a week from now, and yes, SSBB. In particular, I may not get much news done this Friday (as I finish my old night-time job on Thursday and then start my new daytime job the next morning) and this Sunday (spending Easter with the family, then going to the Japan Nite show). Don’t hate me for late news.

If you have any questions or concerns about all of this, drop me a line in the comments or by email. Also, if you’d like to help out in improving the site’s news coverage, feel free to offer your services :)

Anyway, wish me luck with my new job (and everything else)!

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Misc entertainment news 2008.03.12

March 13th, 2008

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.

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Daily Japan 2008.03.12

March 13th, 2008

Still falling behind…

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Daily Japan 2008.03.05

March 6th, 2008

Time to play catch up from more than a week ago. Looks like I’ll be skipping a bunch of stuff:

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Lack of updates

March 3rd, 2008

Sorry to everyone about the slow updates for Daily Japan and the misc. news. There’s a bunch of stuff in the backlog, but I just don’t have the time to get to it since the main page news takes priority. My schedule’s been pretty hectic lately, and I hope it eases up in the near future so I can take care of this stuff - though don’t get your hopes up since the release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl may just keep me away from doing my work!

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Misc entertainment news 2008.02.24

February 25th, 2008
  • 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).

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Daily Japan 2008.02.24

February 25th, 2008
  • Kaho and Kazuma Sano at the premiere of “Tokyo Shojo” [Video: Yahoo] [Pics: Oricon]
  • Lou Oshiba and Saki Fukuda promoting the new “Keroro Gunsou” movie [Pics: Mantan Web, Oricon, Sponichi, Sports Hochi]
  • Maki Horikita and Ayaka promoting the new “Doraemon” movie [Pics: Oricon, Sanspo]
  • Satoshi Tsumabuki being announced as the star of NHK’s “Tenchijin” [Pics: Oricon, Sponichi, Sports Hochi]
  • Riko Narumi, Mariya Nishiuchi, Maki Tamaru, and Nicole Kidman at the Japan premiere of “The Golden Compass” [Pics: Oricon, Oricon, Sanspo]
  • Tadanobu Asano and Chara in Los Angeles for the Academy Awards [Pics: Sanspo, Sponichi, Sports Hochi]
  • BoA, DOUBLE, and others at the Kobe Collection fashion show [Pics: Oricon]
  • Idoling’s Ruri Koizumi in her first photobook [Pics: Sanspo, Sponichi]
  • Shota Shimizu at a special performance for his major label debut [Video: Yahoo]
  • The Possible performing at a release event for their new single [Pics: Oricon]
  • Saki Aibu in a new CM for internet service provider OCN [Video: Yahoo]
  • Miwa Asao in a promotional clip for Asahi Beer [Video: Yahoo]
  • Karina celebrating her 24th birthday [Pic: Sports Hochi]
  • Gravure idols Mayuka Okada and Junne at a mini-live for their CD debut as Pink Pie JacK [Pic: Sponichi]

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Daily Japan 2008.02.19

February 20th, 2008

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Misc entertainment news 2008.02.14

February 15th, 2008
  • 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).

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Daily Japan 2008.02.14

February 15th, 2008

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