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smapKusanagi Tsuyoshi to Show Virtues of Marriage in New Film
Tuesday November 10, 2009 Japan
SMAP member Kusanagi Tsuyoshi will play the lead role in the upcoming film '僕と妻の1778の物語 / Boku to Tsuma no 1778 no Monogatari [lit. '1778 Stories Between My Wife and I']' set to premiere during winter next year. Kusanagi will costar with actress Takeuchi Yuko. The two had previously appeared together in the 2003 film '黄泉がえり / Yomigaeri (2003)', and had helped make 'Yomigaeri' earn 3.1 billion yen (34 million dollars). Kusanagi sounded delighted to be able to form a tag team again. "I think we've both matured as actors since our previous film, so I hope we can effectively incorporate the skills we've acquired." The two will portray the love shared between a husband and his wife. The film 'BALLAD 名もなき恋の歌 / BALLAD Na mo naki Koi no Uta [lit. Love song with no name]' currently shown in theaters is a sad tale of love between people belonging to differing feudal classes, and Kusanagi stars in the role of a samurai warlord who falls in love with a princess [of a higher rank]. For the upcoming film he will try to express the 'greatest form of ..... (article cut to save bandwidth)
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NHK Loves Using SMAP - Set on Having Nakai Masahiro in Taiga Drama
Friday November 6, 2009 Japan
NHK Loves Using SMAP - Set on Having Nakai Masahiro in Taiga Drama
Source: udn
Translated by: sparkles_n15 @ asianfanatics.net
NHK announced earlier this week that their 60th Red and White Singing Contest will be hosted once again by Nakai Masahiro and Nakama Yukie. While there's nothing out of the ordinary with this pair, what's interesting is that NHK has continued using SMAP even with Kusangai Tsuyoshi's arrest for public indecency earlier this year. Rumours began circulating yesterday that NHK and Nakai in fact have a secret arrangement in place.
This will be the fourth year in a row that Nakai has hosted the Red and White Singing Contest. Before there were rumours that the job would be passed onto Shimada Shinsuke and Fujiwara Noriko. However NHK still settled on Nakai and Nakama at the end. According to Nikkan Sports, NHK is staying on good terms with Nakai because they have an agreement in place for him to film the next Taiga drama airing in 2011. According to an insider: "The rumours of him starring in a Taiga drama has been around for a while. His ..... (article cut to save bandwidth)
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Nakama & Nakai to host Kouhaku again
Wednesday November 4, 2009 Japan
Today it got announced that the actress Nakama Yukie and SMAPs Nakai Masahiro are going to host the "60th Kouhaku Uta Gassen", NHKs prestigious annual singing contest held on New Years Eve.
Including 2006 and 2008, it would be the 3rd time that we are going to see the "Naka-Naka Combination" on the singing contest, literally known as the "Red and White Song Battle." For Nakai it is going to be the 6th time in general, the most anyone ever did, not counting NHKs very own announcers. Being the host for 4 years in a row would be a new record as well. For Nakama its going to be the 4th time and the 2nd consecutive year for the 2nd time.
Nakai: "Ill do my best in order to support all our national singers with all my power." Nakama: "Im a bit nervous, but Im also relieved to once again be able to do it together with the always reliable White Team Host Nakai-san."
With the 60th anniversary of the contest, NHK aims to turn it into a memorable one. Both Nakai and ..... (article cut to save bandwidth)
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SMAP's Masahiro Nakai at Michael Jackson's This Is It red carpet screening
Thursday October 29, 2009 Japan
Masahiro Nakai of popular Japanese boy band SMAP attended the premier screening of Michael Jacksons This Is It on October 27 (October 28 in Japan) at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. After receiving an invitation from Sony Pictures, the production company releasing this film for a special two weeks, Nakai was the sole delegate of the Japanese entertainment at the international red carpet event.
Nakai wore a black tuxedo to the VIP screening and mingled with other celebrities, some of which have had the opportunity to guest in the SMAPs SMAPXSMAP. The Japanese talent expressed his admiration for the King of Pop since he was in junior high. Jackson, who passed away at age 50 in June, is still highly respected by Japanese artists and has influenced their Pop scene very much. Nakai, who entered Johnnys and Associates in his junior high years, admitted that Jacksons impact on his life as a performer is profound. He attended the film screening with a feeling of reverence of the deceased King of Pop.
After the screening, there was filming of Fuji TV in Odaiba with the other four members of SMAP ..... (article cut to save bandwidth)
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Kusanagi Tsuyoshi Defeats SMAP Members to Win Best Actor
Friday October 23, 2009 Japan
Kusanagi Tsuyoshi Defeats SMAP Members to Win Best Actor
Buzzer Beat Scoops Multiple Drama Awards
Source: Mingpao
Translated by: sparkles_n15 @ asianfanatics.net
With the new season well on its way, it's time to announce the results from last season's dramas. Fuji TV's Getsu 9 drama 'Buzzer Beat', starring Yamashita Tomohisa and Kitagawa Keiko took in numerous awards, including the Best Drama Award from Nikkan Sports' 13th Summer Drama Grand Prix and The Television Magazine's 62th Drama Academy. After his bout of public indecency earlier in the year, Kusanagi Tsuyoshi seemed to have redeemed himself with 'Ninkyo Helper'. He beat out fellow SMAP member Kimura Takuya and Katori Shingo to win the Best Actor award.
'Buzzer Beat' won four awards from Nikkan Sports' 13th Drama Grand Prix, including Best Drama, Best Actor and Actress Awards for Yamashita and Kitagawa and Best Supporting Actress for Kanjiya Shihori. In second and third place for the Best Drama category were 'Orthros no Inu' starring Nishikido Ryo and 'Ninkyo Helper' starring Kusanagi. All three dramas had artistes from Johnny's Entertainment.
No Luck for Kimura or Katori
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KinKi Kids to Appear in SMAP TV Program!
Thursday October 22, 2009 Japan
KinKi Kids will guest star in the regularly broadcast TV program 'SMAPSMAP' hosted, of course, by the SMAP members. The duo will appear in the segment titled 'Bistro SMAP', where the SMAP members become chefs and serve food to the guests. Before their debut KinKi Kids had performed as backing dancers for SMAP. Among the Johnny's members KinKi Kids consider the SMAP members their closest 'big brothers'. At the beginning of the show Nakai Masahiro jokingly greeted the two very courteously. "We are honored to have you as guests in our program today." Domoto Koichi and Tsuyoshi were visibly embarrassed and quickly responded to Nakai's joke. "Please don't address us so formally!" "We learned a lot from you." Since they've known each other for a long time they talked about a plethora of shared memories. One of the incidents they reminisced fondly about had taken place over 15 years ago. As part of a game Katori Shingo, Tsuyoshi and Koichi had filmed a Jackie Chan-like action sequence. Katori had been the director and lead actor, Tsuyoshi a supporting actor and Koichi the cameraman.
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SMAP: one day you're in and the next day...you're out?
Wednesday October 21, 2009 Japan
Here's something that came out in Shunkan Bunshun last month.
SMAP's popularity is on the decline. For many years they were called national idols and anything they appeared in would get massive ratings, but all that is beginning to collapse. Their drama ratings have fallen and their show SMAPxSMAP, which at one point was pulling in over 30%, is now closer to 10%. TV stations are now focusing more on Arashi. Furthermore, all of this will have an impact on who will be succeeding the throne to Johnny's Jimusho.
Having realized SMAP just aren't what they used to be, TV stations have started putting their feelers out to find another talent to replace them. However, their reliance on Johnny's hasn't changed. A showbiz insider said,"Their interest has shifted from SMAP to Arashi. Back in August after Arashi's Kokuritsu concert, they had a big party at a hotel where Fuji and NTV executives greeted them - something unthinkable back in SMAP's heyday."
Apparently the whole SMAP situation is having an effect on who will be successor to Johnny's Jimusho, something TV stations are keeping their eyes on. "Right now it's ..... (article cut to save bandwidth)
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SMAP's Nakai, Japan's representative to the world premiere of Michael Jackson's This is It
Sunday October 11, 2009 Japan
Japan's legendary boyband SMAP will pay homage to the King of Pop after their leader Masahiro Nakai was invited to attend the world premiere of This is It at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California on October 27. Invited by Sony Pictures to the event, he is the sole Japanese representative on the star-studded red carpet event, which will include superstars like Diana Ross, Beyonce, Madonna, Elton John, and Mariah Carey. A superstar in Japan in his own right, Nakai is looking forward to attending the event, and reporting about his experience back to his country.
With Michael Jackson's last appearance in Japan was on June 2006 in SMAP's TV show SMAPXSMAP, Nakai had prior interaction with the global phenomenon called the King of Pop. Jackson surprised the boyband with an unannounced visit to their studio recording of their show. On that specific event, Nakai expressed his admiration for the King of Pop.
Outside of the United States, Japan has the largest music industry in the world, and Jackson has influenced its evolution to become what is currently called JPop. Despite not ..... (article cut to save bandwidth)
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Charts: SMAP extends #1 streak, Arashi reaches 1 million
Wednesday September 2, 2009 Japan
SMAP managed to come out on top of the weekly charts with their newest single, "Sotto Kyutto / Superstar." The song ended its first week with close to 105,000 in sales, overcoming the early lead taken by girl group AKB48's "Iiwake Maybe." The girls were not far behind at #2 for the week, with 91,000 copies sold.
For SMAP, "Sotto Kyutto" is their 11th consecutive (22nd overall) #1 single. It is also their 44th consecutive top ten single, which puts them one ahead of B'z. Ayumi Hamasaki has also released 44 top ten singles, though hers are not all consecutive.
Three "K-On!" character singles ranked highly, occupying the #3, #5, and #6 spots. Spitz came in at #7, while abingdon boys school took #8 and Buono! took #10.
On the album charts, Arashi kept the #1 seat with their "All the BEST! 1999-2009," which sold an additional 233,000 copies for the week. On the daily charts of August 31, in the album's 13th day on sale, the album reached 1 million in total sales, making it Arashi's first million-seller. It is also the ..... (article cut to save bandwidth)
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Japan Pop Band SMAP Urges Voters to Back Incumbents in Election
Thursday August 27, 2009 Japan
SMAP, the Japanese pop group that has dominated the nations music scene for more than two decades, urged voters to support incumbent politicians as the ruling party faces likely defeat in a national election this weekend.
The five-member all-male group, which has had a top-10 selling compact disc for 17 straight years with songs such as Celery and Fly, appeared in a four-page newspaper ad this week titled How to Build a Happy Nation.
When the economy is good, prime ministers are popular, but in bad times, that popularity fades, the band said in the ad, which was wrapped around the Aug. 26 morning edition of the Sankei newspaper. Still, these are people whom weve elected, so lets make some allowances and support them.
The ad is an appeal to young voters to support the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said Takao Sasaki, a professor of politics and media at Heisei International University in Saitama, north of Tokyo.
The ad clearly backs the LDP and Aso, and it could affect younger voters and SMAP fans who havent decided whom to support, said Sasaki. It may have confused readers because ..... (article cut to save bandwidth)
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AKB48 outsells SMAP on first day
Thursday August 27, 2009 Japan
As evidence of their growing popularity, the latest single by idol group AKB48 ranked #1 on the daily charts, outperforming even SMAP's newest song. According to Oricon, AKB48's "Iiwake Maybe" had estimated sales of more than 57,000 copies in its first day, compared to less than 31,000 copies for SMAP's "Sotto Kyutto / Superstar." Both were released on August 26.
Before this, AKB48 had never reached #1 on the daily or weekly charts. At this rate, "Iiwake Maybe" is on track to become their first chart-topper when the weekly sales numbers are published next week. SMAP, on the other hand, has already put out 21 number-one singles, including their last 10 releases before "Sotto Kyutto."
Meanwhile, popular anime series "K-On!" occupied the #3 to #5 slots with three new character singles. Last month, the show managed to become the first anime series to reach #1 with a character album.
Tokyograph
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Lin Chi-ling and Kimura Takuya Dance; Role as the Lead Actress in SMAP's New MV
Wednesday August 26, 2009 Japan
Lin Chi-ling and Kimura Takuya Dance
Role as the Lead Actress in SMAP's New MV
Source: Mingpao
Translated by: sparkles_n15 @ asianfanatics.net
After starring in 'Red Cliff' as 'Xiao Qiao', Lin Chi-ling's popularity has skyrocketed in the Japanese market. Even popular idol group SMAP asked her to appear in their new MV 'Sotto Kyutto' as their female lead. Lin Chi-ling and Kimura Takuya danced together; Katori Shingo appeared with puppets and Inagaki Goro used flower petals.
Five Members Used Their Charm on the Beauty
SMAP rarely invites female actresses in the MVs, but Lin Chi-ling was specially invited due to her rise in popularity. Lin Chi-ling also expressed she never thought it would happen. The MV was released the night before yesterday. Lin Chi-ling played the role of a depressed OL crying in the rain. SMAP members used their charms to cheer her up. Inagaki blew pink flower petals at her; Nakai Masahiro offered his handkerchief, Kusanangi Tsuyoshi held an umbrella; Katori used puppets to make her smile; while Kimura held her hand and invited her for a dance.
'Sotto ..... (article cut to save bandwidth)
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Ryo-san Holds Event and Attracts 10,000 Fans!
Tuesday August 25, 2009 Japan
SMAP member Katori Shingo is currently playing the role of ‘Ryo-san’, the main character in the TV drama series ‘こちら葛飾区亀有公園前派出所；Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Koen Mae Hashutsujo [Lit. This is the police station in front of Kameari Park in Katsushika ward]. On August 22nd Katori Shingo as ‘Ryo-san’ attended an event at Tokyo’s Ryogoku Kokugikan called ‘両さん祭り!! / Ryo-san Matsuri!! [Ryo-san Festival!!]’.
It was the release event of a new single sang by Katori as Ryo-san. It is the main theme song for the drama series and shares the same title.
The single was released on August 5th♪
The positive, light-hearted track can be enjoyed by little children as well, and Katori himself loves singing the song. “I feel great. Please support ‘Kochi-kame’ [Abbr. of the name of the song/drama] this summer!”
For this particular event celebrating the release of the single, Ryo-san/Katori wore his signature police uniform and made his way to the stage riding on a mikoshi [神輿; Portable Shinto shrine carried on people’s shoulders]. He seemed to have gotten slightly sick by the wild bucking motion of the shrine.
But he soon recovered, and as a ..... (article cut to save bandwidth)
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"Kochikame" premiere pulls in weak ratings
Monday August 3, 2009 Japan
Despite the hype, the TBS drama series "Kochira Katsushikaku Kameari Kouenmae Hashutsujo" (abbreviated as "Kochikame") got off to a poor start this weekend. The first episode, which aired on August 1, managed to get only 12.2% ratings in the Kanto region.
"Kochikame," starring SMAP member Shingo Katori, is an adaptation of a long-lasting comedy manga by Osamu Akimoto. In addition to Katori, the show features Karina, Mocomichi Hayami, and many guest stars - including Beat Takeshi, Hitori Gekidan, and Becky for the premiere episode.
The series airs in TBS's Saturday 7:56pm time slot. Before "Kochikame," that slot was occupied by "MR.BRAIN," starring fellow SMAP member Takuya Kimura. "MR.BRAIN" started out at 24.8% and averaged 20.1% over its eight episodes.
tokyograph
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SMAP To Do Theme For New Kusanagi Drama
Wednesday July 1, 2009 Japan
SMAP member Kusanagi Tsuyoshi is starring in a new drama called "Ninkyo Helper", and he and his SMAP brothers will be providing the show's theme song!
The song, "Sotto Gyutto" (Gently tightly) will be SMAP's 44th single, and is set for release on August 26th. It will have been approximately one year since the release of SMAP's last single, "Kono Toki, Kitto Yume Ja Nai" in August of 2008. The song's music was written by hit-maker Kubota Toshinobu with lyrics by Aso Tetsurou, who also wrote the lyrics for SMAP's "Dear WOMAN". Kubota previously wrote the music for Kimura Takuya's solo song "Style", but it was his first time to write for a SMAP single.
"Ninkyo Helper" begins running on July 9th on Fuji TV, Thursday nights at 10 PM. Speaking of SMAP's participation in the drama, Kusanagi said, "I'm very happy that our group has performed the theme. I sometimes hear it while we're filming, and I find it gives me strength. I hope my co-stars feel the same way."
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