gaijinmark wrote:

ASKA arrested for possession of stimulants, denies charges

Just like American entertainers, Japanese entertainers have good lawyers too.

Pop star ASKA gets suspended sentence

The Tokyo District Court on Friday handed Shigeaki Miyazaki, the pop star known as Aska, a suspended three-year prison term for possession and use of stimulants, noting that he had shown contrition and committed himself to rehabilitation.

Presiding Judge Mikio Uemura said the singer�fs crimes were grave and said the frequency with which he indulged in illegal stimulants, including euphoria-inducing MDMA, suggests his addiction is �ghighly habitual�h and �gserious.�h

Uemura also acknowledged that Miyazaki, 56, was truly repentant, had shown a willingness to commit himself to rehabilitation and pleaded guilty to all charges. He also said the intense media coverage sparked by his fame served as punishment in itself.

His term was suspended for four years.

�gYou�fve betrayed your family and all the people who have supported you, by committing crimes,�h Uemura said after handing down the sentence, addressing Miyazaki directly. �gI insist you take some time to think about what it means to live with others in society, which will be the first step for you to make up with those who you�fve betrayed.�h

Miyazaki apologized in a written statement after his sentencing.

�gI will take this ruling seriously and become a decent, healthy human being again with the help of my family,�h the statement said.

These girls are REALLY only in it for the money: http://www.dramafever.com/news/japanese-idol-group-created-strictly-to-pay-off-debt/

Winners of Clariono '2014 Beautiful Legs' Awards

On November 5, actresses Takei Emi (20), Manda Hisako (56), Fukiishi Kazue (32), and Ono Ito (19) attended the awards ceremony for the 'Clarino Beautiful Legs Award 2014'.

During the event, Takei claimed that she has a complex with her legs, "They're not thin, I don't like them very much." She continued, "My entire family has the same body type. Even my parents wondered if I should be receiving the award." However, upon winning the award, she said with a smile, "I thought I was far from receiving this award, so I feel very happy. I've gained confidence by receiving the award."

Manda, who was awarded in the over 40s category, expressed, "I am receiving this award thinking that it's my first and last time. I feel very honored."

Every year, the 'Clarino Beautiful Legs Award' is given to female celebrities who have healthy and beautiful legs. Previous recipients include Hirosue Ryoko, Nagasawa Masami, Ueto Aya, Kichise Michiko, and Kuriyama Chiaki.

Source: Oricon

FUJI TV to release 3 classic '90s dramas on Blu-ray

FujiTV announced on 19 Nov that it will be releasing three of its classic dramas in the 90s in Blu-ray format for the first time. The three dramas are 1995's "Ousama no Resutoran", 1991's "Tokyo Love Story" and "Hitotsu Yane no Shita" shown in 1993 and 1997. "Ousama no Resutoran" stars kabuki actor Matsumoto Koshiro as a legendary garcon who tries to resurrect an ailing restaurant and will be released on 21 January in a three-disc box set for JPY 21,384. "Tokyo Love Story" which features Oda Yuji and Suzuki Honami will be released on 18 February for the same price. Last but not least, "Hitotsu Yane no Shita" starring Eguchi Yosuke, Sakai Noriko and Fukuyama Masaharu will be sold from 18 March in a 7-disc box set for JPY 32,832.

Source: Sanspo

Some fake swords are more realistic than others:

Actor dies during rehearsal

(CNN)A Japanese play rehearsal took a tragic turn Monday, when an actor was stabbed in the stomach with a samurai sword.

33-year old Daigo Kashino was rushed to hospital where he later died.

The actor was in a rehearsal session at a studio in Koto, Tokyo, when he was pierced in the abdomen "with a sword-like object" during an action scene, a police spokesperson told CNN.

The other actors reportedly heard him groan and turned to discover him hunched over -- but no one saw exactly what happened.

Police are now investigating whether his death was an accident or a criminal act.

Reiko Takashima's ("Engine', "Kekkon Dekinai Otoko" among others) husband, probably soon to be ex-husband got busted for drugs the other day. Didn't help that he was in a hotel room with a woman other than Reiko. So Reiko wanted to clear the air:

Reiko Takashima holds press conference to discuss husbands arrest

Takashima Reiko held a press conference on 30 June at Kyoto City in response to her husband Takachi Noboru's arrest for possession of drugs on 24 June where she apologised for the inconvenience and worry caused by this. The press conference began 20 minutes later than scheduled and Takashima began by thanking the media for coming and apologised for not being able to speak to them directly until now. This was partly because she had to be questioned by the authorities and go through an urine test herself as part of the investigations. Results of the test will be out at a later date. In addition, when news of the case first broke, she was in a state of shock and wanted to get the details of the case first before speaking publicly on the issue. Takashima has been in Kyoto recently for the filming of her new TV Tokyo drama "Onnatachi no Tokusou Saizensen" which is due to begin its run from 21 July.

Takashima revealed that she thought at first that Takachi's arrest was a joke and reality only sunk in much later. She stated that she had no idea about her husband's drug consumption. Nonetheless, since she is living together with her husband, she had to be questioned and subjected to an urine test. When asked if she noticed signs of her husband displaying unusual behaviour typical of drug users such as excessive sweating or extreme mood swings, Takashima revealed that both Takachi and her sweat a lot so it wasn't anything to worry about. Besides, Takachi has always been a very emotional person who expresses openly how he feels thus she didn't sense anything amiss.

While holding back tears, Takashima revealed that she will not rule out divorce in future but that's dependent on how Takachi behaves in future. She admitted that not having noticed or detected her husband's drug consumption habit was something she wasn't really proud of but she is prepared to see how he turns over a new leaf in future and hopes that he will change his ways. However, she cannot ignore the negative impact that this matter has caused to her or the people around them so she has to think about divorce as a possibility. When asked if she regretted getting married, Takashima said that she had decided to get married on her own will and that the couple had their fair share of quarrels before marriage. However, things got better after they got married so she wasn't regretting her decision then.

As for the woman who Takachi was arrested with, Takashima admitted that she had met the woman once about 10 years ago when the latter was introduced to her as a friend. However, she had no knowledge of her husband's relationship with the woman and was really saddened by their alleged affair. However, she tried to put on a brave front and said that there are more important things for her to do now so she will not wallow in self pity over this.

At the end of the press conference, Takashima expressed her thanks to the people who have been showering her with encouraging words and promised to work hard so as to repay them for the support they've shown for her.

Sources: Sponichi 1 / Sponichi 2 / Sponichi 3

^ And it's official:

Reiko Takashima divorces Noboru Takachi

Takashima Reiko announced through her agency on 1 August that she had divorced her husband Takachi Noboru on the same day. According to the statement, Takashima informed her agency after she had submitted the divorce application which was signed and sent to her by Takachi. She asked for the understanding of everyone with regard to this decision and hoped to receive the continued support of everyone around her. Takashima also apologised for the worry and concern over what happened since her husband was caught for drug consumption on 24 June.

Takashima and Takachi got married in 1999. In July 2015, Takachi announced his retirement from acting with the reason that he wanted to take care of his father-in-law who was suffering from Parkinson's disease. However, he was arrested in June along with his lover before he was released on 29 July. On the other hand, Takashima had been filming in Kyoto for her drama which had been completed so she returned to Tokyo on 30 July.


Sources: Oricon / Huffington Post Japan

The actor Yuta Takahata was arrested on rape charges earlier this week. So, if you're watching "Otokomeshi" and wonder what happened to the character he's playing after episode 5, there's this:

TV Tokyo to re-shoot scenes in "Otokomeshi" involving actor Yuta Takahata

Following news of Takahata Yuta's arrest for alleged rape leading to assault, TV Tokyo sent a fax statement to the media where they announced that they will be re-shooting some scenes in their ongoing Summer 2016 drama "Otokomeshi" which had involved Takahata. The drama's filming had already been wrapped up and 5 episodes had been shown to date. In the upcoming Ep 6 to be shown on 26 August, there will be no replacement actor for Takahata and his scenes will all be cut from the drama. For scenes which cannot be cut, they will be re-shot. Takahata had played the classmate of Emoto Tokio in this drama.

TV Tokyo mentioned in their statement that it was a pity that such a thing happened and said that for the viewers who enjoy this drama, they will reshoot some of the scenes and continue with the broadcast as usual.

Sources: Daily Sports / Oricon

And in one of those things about Japanese culture I will never understand, Atsuko Takahata had to meet the press and apologize for her son being an idiot:http://doramaworld.blogspot.com/2016/08/takahata-atsuko-meets-media-during.html

gaijinmark wrote:

Just like American entertainers, Japanese entertainers have good lawyers too. Pop star ASKA gets suspended sentence

And just like American lawyers, Japanese lawyers have stupid clients.

Pop star ASKA arrested again for alleged drug use

Kyodo News -

Pop singer-songwriter ASKA is to be arrested again for an alleged violation of the stimulants control law while still on parole for a 2014 drug offense.

The 58 year old ASKA, whose real name is Shigeaki Miyazaki called police around 7 p.m. on Friday and was incoherent when police officers arrived at his house. A sample of his urine tested positive for an illegal stimulant drug.

In September 2014, ASKA received a three year prison sentence, suspended for four years, for drug possession and use after being arrested in May of that year.

Edit: From what I've read, ASKA called the police because he thought his phone had been tapped.

We know what was tapped ASKA, and it wasn't your phone!

I thought she had a thread of her own. Guess we won't need one now.

Makiko Esumi retires from show business

Esumi Makiko made a shocking announcement about her immediate retirement from showbiz on 23 January via a fax statement issued by her lawyer. Coincidentally, reports of her alleged infidelity and her living apart from her husband for the past two years are to be published in some female weekly magazines tomorrow to which she flatly denied in her statement.

In her statement, Esumi clarified that the man who she had met as reported in the articles to be released was actually someone she had entrusted her money to for investments. The meeting between them was purely a bid on her part to retrieve her investments and she denied that there was no romantic relationship between them. As such, she reserves the right to sue against those which are publishing such baseless reports.

As for the part regarding living apart from her husband, Esumi admitted that this is true but emphasized that this was for the sake of conveniences in their respective lifestyles and that their relationship is definitely not on the rocks. As such, there are no plans for a divorce.

With regard to her intended retirement from showbiz, Esumi acknowledged that this is true and expressed her thanks to be able to work in the entertainment world for the past 30 years. However, with the birth and growth of her children, she hopes to stop in her steps and make some choices for herself and her children at this stage thus leading to her decision to leave showbiz.

Esumi was a professional volleyball player after she graduated from senior high school but was forced to quite due to an injury. She later became a model and made her debut as an actress in 1995 through the movie "Maboroshi no Hikari". A year later, she married photographer Kirishima Rowland but they divorced 9 months later. In 2003, Esumi remarried FujiTV's general director Hirano Shin and gave birth to their daughter and son respectively in 2005 and 2009. In March 2014, Esumi left Ken-On, her agency for the last 18 years and set up her own agency Inquirer.

Although the full report about Esumi has not been published yet, Josei Jishin has shed some light on the situation leading up to her retirement announcement. On 19 January, the editorial department sent a series of questions to Esumi asking if she is having an affair who is referred to as A. According to the magazine, they had taken photos of her and A spending more than 6 hours together at a highrise apartment unit in Tokyo last December. A was caught in August last year for an investment scam and subsequently sentenced for violating the Financial Instruments Transactions Act. However, instead of receiving a response from Esumi about this matter, the editorial department received a fax statement from her lawyer in the evening of 20 January which mentioned her retirement from showbiz. When the reporters went to interview Esumi's husband Hirano about the alleged affair, he acknowledged that he knew about A and even admitted to living separately from Esumi since two years ago.

More details about this are expected to be revealed when the full report is published in the 24 January issue of Josei Jishin.

Source: Oricon

can't find Celebrity Marriage thread but there should be Divorce thread as well anyways, you can get divorced more than one because someone did-

Tomosaka Rie announces her divorce from Suneohair at the end of last year

Tomosaka Rie announced through her blog on 29 March that she had divorced her second husband Suneohair at the end of last year following reports in the media about this. In her post, Tomosaka said in a self-depreciating tone that she was aware of the likelihood that people might say that they expected this to happen (since this was her second marriage) and she had nothing to say in return to that. However, she stressed that even though divorce itself can be hardly seen as amicable, the process went through smoothly with no alimony demands. Although she and her ex-husband tried to talk things through, it did not turn out well so they had to go their separate ways.

With regard to her 12-year-old son from her first marriage, Tomosaka said that she was sorry for letting her son be caught in this undesirable situation created by the adults. Her son was more mature than she expected which she also felt was due to the circumstances she had placed him in. As such, she will focus more on being a frank and honest mother to her son going forward.

Tomosaka got married to actor and stage director Kawahara Masahiko in 2003 and gave birth to their son in 2004. However, the couple got divorced in December 2008 before she remarried Suneohair in June 2011. Tomosaka and Suneohair met through the 2010 movie "Aburasakusu no Matsuri" and sang the ending theme together which led to them dating. Subsequently, they acted in the movie "Haizai ~ Kamisama no iutoori ~" in 2012 after their marriage. During the early days of their marriage, Tomosaka would mention Suneohair in her blog and Instagram but this stopped in the last two years. During the New Year holiays this year, Tomosaka posted in her blog that she had gone on a trip to Karuizawa with her parents and her son. While this is Tomosaka's second divorce, it is Suneohair's third divorce as he had been married to two non-celebrities in the past.

Source: Yomiuri Hochi

Ouch.. feel sorry for her.

File this under, "they grow up so fast":

Mana Ashida enters Keio Junior High School this Spring

Ashida Mana has entered one of the best junior high schools in Tokyo i.e. Keio Junior High School this spring and was seen taking part in the entrance ceremony held on 8 April while dressed in her grey uniform. In February this year, it was reported that Ashida had passed the entrance exams of several top-notch junior schools which required deviation scores of more than 70 after beginning preparations only since last summer when she took a break from her acting career. It was said that Ashida had chosen to enter Keio so that she could continue her acting career while juggling her studies.

Ashida made her debut at the age of 4 and started to gain a lot of attention in the 2010 NTV drama "Mother" when she was just 5. Since then, she has been featured in various dramas and movies and even appeared on the NHK Kouhaku as the youngest participant to date at 6 years old.

Keio Junior High School was established in 1947 and accepts about 240 students per year i.e. about 140 boys and 50 girls. However, about half of the slots are usually taken up by those from the Keio-affiliated primary school so it is extremely difficult to enter its junior high school from non-Keio primary schools. Actresses who had graduated from the Keio primary school and junior high school include Nitani Yurie, Shibamoto Yuki and Kikuchi Maiko.

Source: Nikkansports

you forget this-

Un-jash's Watabe Ken & Sasaki Nozomi announce their marriage

Un-jash's Watabe Ken and Sasaki Nozomi have gotten married as per Watabe's announcement during his appearance on the live broadcast of NTV's variety programme "Gyoretsu no dekiru houritsu soudanjo" 3-hr SP on 9 April. During the second half of the programme, Watabe revealed the news about his marriage and was congratulated by the artistes who appeared in the same programme.

During his appearance on the programme, Watabe was asked about how they got together and revealed that they got to know each other through common friends and hung out together as a group at first. Gradually, they started going out together slightly before rumours of them dating came out in the media. He was the one who declared his feelings to her first and they call each other by nicknames "Wakkun" and "Non-chan".

Following this, there was a call made to Sasaki live during the programme where she was asked about what she likes about her husband. Sasaki commented that Watabe is a gentle person and she feels at ease with him. As Watabe is known to be a gourmet, Sasaki was asked about the type of food she makes for him. She said humbly that she only does simple fare which made Watabe comment that she is very good at cooking and makes more than simple dishes for him. When asked if they squabble, the couple said that they can't remember when was the last time it happened. As for how Watabe proposed, Sasaki said that he was very direct. Watabe said that he promised to live long (as he was 15 years older than Sasaki) and asked her to marry him. However, he hasn't had the time to tell his Un-jash partner Kojima Kazuya yet about his marriage while Sasaki said that they have always been quite open about dating in public.

Watabe and Sasaki were first romantically linked in April 2015 and later reported to be cohabiting according to a female's magazine in January this year. When Watabe appeared on the TBS variety programme "All-Stars Kanshasai" a day earlier, he was asked about the marriage rumour by the host Imada Koji and said that the latter was being too direct but didn't deny it.

After the programme, Sasaki followed up with her announcement on her Instagram account where she posted a picture of herself with her husband. The couple also released a joint statement through their agencies on the same night where they pledged to work together to form a happy family.

Sources: Nikkansports 1 / Nikkansports / Oricon 1 / Oricon 2

i'm now not a happy camper

who's next? Kanjiya Shihori? then i will stop watch dramas if she do

Kyoko Koizumi wins 33rd Kodansha Essay Award

Koizumi Kyoko won the 33rd Kodansha Essay Award with her book titled "Kiiroi Mansion Kuroi Neko" (Yellow Mansion Black Cat) as reported on 20 July. The book is not the first book written by Koizumi but is her first which had won a literary award. The content of the book is like an autobiography which contains 34 essays talking about the days she spent in Harujuku where she lived for a long time since her teens and after making her debut in 1982 and her thoughts about the town and her life as she strolled through the streets there again after all these years. She will be presented with the award during a ceremony held on 14 September which comes with a prize money of one million yen.

Koizumi has always been known as an avid reader and mentioned before that when she was a teen idol, she would use books as an excuse for not talking to people as she didn't like to be disturbed when she was busy. Unexpectedly, this led to her gradually developing an interest in books.

Sources: Sanspo / Yomiuri Hochi / Sponichi

There's been a recent scandal involving Yoshimoto Entertainment and the yakuza. Typical Japanese understatement, they refer to the yakuza as "an anti-social group":https://japantoday.com/category/entertainment/talent-agency-suspends-11-comedians-for-underground-business

gaijinmark wrote:

they refer to the yakuza as "an anti-social group"

That's kind of like saying Michael Jordan played basketball.
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"They're real and they're spectacular"

So, went to the Japanese news channel expecting to see something about 45 going to North Korea and instead, there's Arashi talking about Johnny Kitagawa going to the hospital: https://www.msn.com/en-sg/news/other/japan-music-mogul-johnny-kitagawa-hospitalized-after-stroke-agency/ar-AADGlme

(At least they got their priorities straight as to which is more important, Johnny or 45.)

Safe to say his career is finished: https://japantoday.com/category/crime/actor-hirofumi-arai-sentenced-to-5-years-in-jail-for-sexual-assault

Eita won't be just "Eita" anymore.

Eita to go by his full name starting in 2020

Eita will carry out his activities under his real name Nagayama Eita beginning with the TBS drama 'Ashita no Kazoku' premiering in May.

Eita commented, "I've been thinking about a name change from before. I am still inexperienced as an actor, but I decided on the first year of Reiwa, a milestone year, to carry out my activities using my real name. I will do my best everyday as an actor."

Source: Cinema Today

Today's shocker: https://twitter.com/cloverblossoms_/status/1219870663877386240

"Anne (33) and Higashide Masahiro (31) rumored to divorce, reported by Shukan Bunshun. Agency acknowledged that they are currently living separately. Both costarred in 2013 asadora Gochisousan & got married in 2015. They were blessed with twins & baby boy."

Apparently Higashide had been cheating on Anne with an underage actress (at the time it happened she was underage). Netizens think it is Karata Erika, who starred with Higashide in Netemo Sametemo (Asako 1&2). Karata was 19 at the time of filming in 2017.

Anne was pregnant at the time of the affair (son was born November 2017).

Higashide has moved out of the family home and is living alone in the city.
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