Akanishi working on US album

Akanishi Jin (26) kicked off his Japan tour on Friday with the first of three concerts at the Saitama Super Arena. On the same day, it was revealed at a press conference that he is releasing a solo single in Japan this March, and he plans to release his debut U.S. album this summer. 

Akanishi's single "Eternal," scheduled for March 2, will be his first release since signing a global contract with Warner Music Japan. The single's B-side will be his song "Murasaki." 

Currently, the singer is working on his debut U.S. album. He is reportedly aiming to release it on July 4, which is his birthday and is Independence Day in the United States. It is said that he is mainly self-producing the album, but he plans to get participation from some big-name artists in the American R&B and hip-hop scene. It is also said that Akanishi may release a single in the U.S. before the album. 

Akanishi was in the U.S. from January 2 to January 10 of this year to do some production on the album. 

Currently, his artist name is expected to remain as "Jin Akanishi," but there is a possibility that it may be modified for the American market. 

There are plans for a U.S. tour after the album's release, followed by a tour in various Asian countries. (Tokyograph)


I was going to go out and it started raining. What is this.

Arrested - manager of club Akanishi Troop visits

The manager of a bar Akanishi Troop frequents has been arrested for blackmail. Akanishi Jin, Yamashita Tomohisa, Nishikido Ryo and some of their other friends often drink at a popular club called "alife", which is situated at the Nishi-Azabu district. However, reports by Nikkan Gendai claim that the manager of that bar, along with a few other employees, have been arrested. And in case you're wondering how this is really related to Jin, Yamapi and Ryo, it's not.

The club is known to be popular with celebrities. The supposed "blackmail" involves some female university students and reportedly took place in September last year. (Azashi)

This rumour is 1. weird, 2. completely unrelated to Akanishi Troop and 3. doesn't seem true at all.

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HI .
hi.

So Akanishi Jin did left KATTUN ?
Yes, he did! He's held quite a few concerts in the US since then, and they seem pretty successful.
On my blog: http://andwewonder.blogspot.com/2010/07/akanishi-jin-to-leave-kat-tun.html and on Tokyograph: http://www.tokyograph.com/news/id-6357

I'm now pretty confident that the second and third "questions" were "asked" by the same person because of the space before the punctuation. (you can't really call 'hi' a question, can you)

Don't let my attention to such petty details get the better of you, ask me a question! (or two!)

KAT-TUN doing well without Akanishi Jin

When Akanishi Jin (26) left KAT-TUN earlier this year, some fans voiced concerns about whether the band would be able to do as well without him. It now seems that their fears are unfounded as KAT-TUN has landed a new CM contract with Suzuki.

KAT-TUN will be promoting the new Suzuki Solio, a compact 5-seater car. It will be released on 24 December 2010. Apparently, the advertisers were looking for a "popular idol group that has character".

From year 2002 to 2007, KAT-TUN appeared in many CMs. The companies they advertised for included NTT Sky DoCoMo and Lotte. However, Akanishi then left to study English in America, so their CM activities became rather limited.

Well, this is a good step for KAT-TUN, and since Jin seems to be doing well in America, it seems that the dcision for Jin to leave KT was the right one after all.

The article also mentions that Tanaka Koki (25) held a rather early year-end party at a shabu-shabu restaurant? (Azashi)

Akanishi and Warner Music Group, video

Akanishi Jin (26) returned to Japan from the US on the 9th of December. On the same day, it was announced that he had signed a recording deal with Warner Music Group, one of the four biggest recording companies in the world.

In a recent interview by カミカミ(?), Akanishi said that he aims on doing his best regardless of what country he performs in. He also talked about how he hopes to do well in America and expand his career.

He is the first solo Japanese artist to be signed on to Warner Group on a global basis.

Skip to 2:18 and 3:27 to hear his English!

(Entame)

Kame and Koda Kumi enter Best Jeanist's hall of fame

The 27th annual Best Jeanist awards ceremony was held on Tuesday. This year the awards, which help promote the jeans industry by highlighting celebrities who look good wearing jeans, were given to singer Koda Kumi (27) and KAT-TUN member Kamenashi Kazuya Kamenashi (24) for the fifth consecutive year.

72,153 votes were submitted, and both Koda and Kamenashi won by wide margins. Kamenashi took 29,000 votes in the men's category, nearly triple the tally for Arashi's Aiba Masaki. Koda, on the other hand, received close to 13,000 votes.

Public Selection Category - Male

1. Kamenashi Kazuya - 29,118
2. Aiba Masaki - 10,696
3. Jejung - 3,932
4. Yamshita Tomohisa - 1,872
5. Iwasawa Koji (Yuzu) - 1,696
6. Hikawa Kiyoshi - 1,458
7. Matsumoto Jun - 1,186
8. Ohno Satoshi - 973
9. Akanishi Jin - 908
10. Uchi Hiroki - 672

Public Selection Category - Female

1. Koda Kumi - 12,961
2. aiko - 5,456
3. Amuro Namie - 5,219
4. Kuroki Meisa - 4,935
5. Becky - 3,580
6. Kitagawa Keiko* - 3,056
7. Karina - 2,066
8. Kimura Kaela - 1,905
9. Nakama Yukie - 1,796
10. Tsuchiya Anna - 1,321

With five wins, both Koda and Kamenashi are being placed into the "hall of fame," making them ineligible for future awards. This is the first time that both the male and female winners have entered the "hall of fame" in the same year. Only three other people have achieved that milestone: Kimura Takuya, Kusanagi Tsuyoshi, and Hamasaki Ayumi.

In addition to the Public Selection category awards, committee selection awards were given to actor Kiritani Kenta (30), AKB48 member Itano Tomomi (19), and talento Haruna Ai (38). The newly established "global" award went to professional soccer star Honda Keisuke (24), who currently plays for CSKA Moscow and accepted the award through a video message. (Tokyograph)

*I do have a label for her, but I took her name out because there's a character limit and her name was the longest!

Simultaneous release in US and Japan for Akanishi?

On Sunday, Akanishi Jin (26) held a fan club event at Zepp Tokyo, his first public appearance in Japan since leaving KAT-TUN in July. During the event, he talked about his U.S. tour this coming November, as well as his plans for next year. At the moment, he is looking to release his next single simultaneously in the U.S. and Japan.

Akanishi performed a total of 8 songs including "Eternal," which is the leading candidate for the upcoming single. He plans to release that single in Japan in early 2011. Johnny's Entertainment is currently in talks with multiple record labels in the U.S. to negotiate a simultaneous release.

Akanishi is also planning a solo album and a Japan tour, though details have not yet been determined.

During the event, Akanishi did not touch on the subject of his departure from KAT-TUN. At the press conference after the event, he explained that he already made his announcement on his blog, so he felt there was no need to talk about it. However, he acknowledged that his withdrawal from the group was very sudden, so he apologized to the other members for the trouble it caused. At the same time, he said he would like to see both KAT-TUN and himself rise up to a higher level as artists together.

Akanishi stated that he hopes to have Japan as his base for his international activities, and he would like to spread out to Europe and other parts of Asia, in addition to the U.S. (Tokyograph)

Hmmm, "other parts of Asia". Come to Singapore, Jin? :D

Ueda on his solo concert, toe injury and Akanishi Jin

KAT-TUN’s Ueda Tatsuya has his solo live concert at The First Gymnasium in Yoyogi on September 26. It was reported last month that during KAT-TUN’s concert in Taipei, Ueda broke his left big toe. However, he still continued to perform at the next concert, which was on the next day.
Ueda’s solo concert tour started early last month in which he will have 8 performances in 5 cities. Although his injury is not yet completely healed and it was said that he’s still in pain, he acted like a professional and even ran around the stage, completely focused on the stage director’s instructions.
“SCOOP! Shougeki Shasin” gave a detailed report about Ueda’s accident in Taiwan and had photos showing the sequence of Ueda’s 3 meter jump. “After I jumped, I just thought ‘This is bad’,” he said in a joke.
About his first solo live tour, Ueda expressed that he’s so happy about it and it was his dream to have one. When asked about Akanishi Jin, who have left the group and will perform in 5 cities in the US, all Ueda said is “He is my friend. So I’ll be supporting him in his activities”. (tokyohive)

Picture flash: Kame's designer clothes, Yamapi's friends, some HSJ boys, and the usual "Akanishi with a woman"

A compilation of Kame wearing designer clothing... Which doesn't look good on him, most of the time.

Akanishi Jin with Miss Vietnam at an event premier (identiy of woman was contributed by Anonymous). Well, she's really tall. :O

Yamashita Tomohisa with hs friends, who all look surprisingly good despite having their eyes covered. In fact, Yamapi looks kind of washed out compared to them.

Yamada Ryosuke with Nakajima Yuto. (Yuto used to be so cute in Nobuta wo Produce~)

Yamada Ryosuke and Chinen Yuri.

Sources: Kame designer - choko44; Jin with woman - choko44; Yamapi and friends - Janimoe; Yamada and Nakajima - Janimoe; Yamda and Chinen - choko44

Hi! if Jin holds a concert in Singapore will you attend?

Well, it depends, but I think I'd rather go to the airport to see him and scream for him! Since I'm quite a new fan, I don't know much of his songs so it'd be kind of weird. Maybe if he comes in about 1 year's time, I'd have learnt most of his songs and can go to his concert! But I have no one to go with, and I'd much rather it be Arashi who comes! ^_^

Fellow Singaporean! :D Now there's this Kpop wave going on in S'pore (T-T) Jpop needs some love~~ You like Kpop? :D

Hi there! Good to know there's someone in Singapore who likes J-pop too! No, I'm definitely not a K-pop fan. The nicest thing I can say about K-pop is that they have a few catchy songs. Otherwise... I don't like it. Maybe it's because I didn't give it much of a chance (other than watching some Boys Over Flowers which sparked the whole Korean wave anyway)... But J-pop and JE is so much better! :DD

Found this about Jin's friend joey that everybody is following on twitter. What do you think about it? http://encyclopediadramatica.com/User:Campus101/TokyoJosh

I checked out his twitter http://twitter.com/tokyojosh, but I didn't find it very interesting. Most of his tweets seem to be replies and he has a lot of #jinakanishi but they don't seem to make much sense to me...

However he does have one tweet http://twitter.com/tokyojosh/status/12502683056 that says "kat tun not going!" It doesn't sound like he's putting KT down or anything. But I did hear about some of Jin's friends removing their tweets so maybe he did?
Though I don't see why Akanishi Jin fans would follow his twitter (it looks quite boring to me!), I guess his YouTube vids are quite interesting if you want to know more about Japan. I watched a few, haha!

Ask me something on Formspring!

Jin's US concert schedule

The official U.S. website of former KAT-TUN member Jin Akanishi Jin (26) has revealed some information about his upcoming U.S. tour, titled "Yellow Gold Tour 3010." The site lists five concert dates in November.


Akanishi performed his first solo concerts in the U.S. this past June. At that time, he stated that he was aiming to perform in seven U.S. cities in September and October, but those plans apparently did not turn out as hoped. His tour will take him to five of the seven cities:

11/7 - Chicago
11/10 - San Francisco
11/13 - Houston
11/16 - Los Angeles
11/21 - New York

Tickets are scheduled to go on sale on October 8. (Tokyograph)
 
Hope these are a sucess too! :D Though I doubt that he will be super famous in the US, I'm still holding onto the hope that he will.

Kame and Akanishi not getting along a major cause of Jin's going solo? [Akame according to Bubka]

According to Bubka, a rather infamous gossip mag in Japan, the reason why Akanishi Jin left KAT-TUN is because of another member, Kamenashi Kazuya, with whom his relationship was describe as irreparable.

According to someone in the know, the oppostion between Akanishi and the other five members of KAT-TUN has "been getting worse over the years, especially with Kamenashi Kazuya, it is as if their relationship is so broken that it cannot be fixed".

Some time back, Akanishi had left a message on the internet, stating that he and the rest of KAT-TUN "were heading in different directions of development". He also emphasised that he does not dislike the other members and does not have any personal problems with them. However, there has been recent news of Akanishi, who was at a bar in Korea at that time, voicing out his true thoughts. He said "When I'm in the same space as that guy (Kamenashi Kazuya), things will become very unnatural and fustrating." and "I've thought of quitting KAT-TUN since a long time ago."

On the other hand, Kamenashi has also been angered by the "irresponsible" Akanishi. "If he hears Akanishi's name being mentioned at filming or recording studios, he will look very upset and criticise Jin openly, saying things like, 'The day he suceeds is the day America ends.' (Kantsuu)

The reason why I decided to post this is because I saw it on another site. To me, the story about Jin getting drunk and "unveiling his deepest secrets" sounds a bit too dramatic. And even if Kame hates Akanishi's guts, I'm sure he wouldn't be announcing it to everyone he works with. True, I always felt that the relationships in KT were never as natural as Arashi's, but surely they couldn't be that strained?

S/N: Bubka is well-known as a gossip rag. Please keep this in mind~

**added on September 17, 2010, FRIDAY**
Hello everyone, as you can see there have been some very long and emotional comments about this article, and I've seen quite a few posts on Tumblr regarding this article as well. And I know I usually say that I love comments, but after reading all the comments (14 as of now, but I'm going to delete some), I will be removing some off them either because they are too vulgar or just too distasteful. And please do not post stuff like "this article is full of bulls***" because I am going to delete it now! Besides the use of rude words, I really dislike it! I know this is really petty and I hate it when I see this type of thing on other sites but you are the one that chose to read the article. I translated the article from a Chinese entertainment site, which got it off Bubka. How many times do I have to say that Bubka is an "infamous gossip rag"?

CHINESE GOSSIP SITE + BUBKA = 2 X UNRELIABILITY

Some might think that, "If you knew that this might be trash, why bother translating and spreading this rubbish around?". To be honest, I don't really know why I translated this article, it's just for my (and your) entertainment. If you don't want to read, don't read it! And if you really have such a big problem with me translating it, instead of slamming me down anonymously on the internet, send me an email with your point. I will read it and reply unless it's really full of rubbish.

There might be some truth about the article, but it could be grearly exaggerated. Do you have to become so emotional that you have to cuss and write down all sorts of crackpot conspiracy theories about the other party? I am okay with you voicing your views in a restrained manner and maybe providing some extra things about the matter (eg. who attended who's concert) but I get annoyed and distressed when people start hating on someone else, like Kame, Jin, Jin's friends, T-TUN and me! Don't worry though, hating on Johnny Kitagawa and Bubka is fine. :p

I was contemplating disabling comments or deleting the entire post, but then I'd be depriving fans who know how to not take things to seriously of their gossip and the chance for them to air their views/share knowledge. So, please keep your comments clean and relatively objective or I'll delete them!

Also, could we have more comments with names! It's so dull to keep on seeing "Anonymous". And it makes replying to comments hard too. =.= Just give yourself a dumb name there's no need to add your email or website.

Ah, feels so good to let that all out! ~(^0.0^)~ I've just deleted 3 comments. All had vulgarities. This is supposed to be a deterrent, but of course, those who know how to comment without using too many expletives and with respect towards others are always welcome to air their views! :D

Pictures - KAT-TUN purikura, Yamada Ryosuke and his sis as kids, etc.

A KAT-TUN purikura from happier days. From top to bottom, Taguchi Junnosuke, Akanishi Jin, Nakamaru Yuichi.

Yamada Ryosuke and his sister as kids.

Akanishi Jin as a kid, though I think this photo looks too well taken to be true.

Nino, looking cool. NOT.

Sources: KAT-TUN purikura - Janimoe; kawaii Yamada Ryosuke and sis - Janimoe; Akanishi as a kid - Janimoe; Nino sunglasses - Janimoe

For those who might be wondering, different photos come from different posts, hence the need to list down the links separately when they are from the same site.

Akanishi Jin appearing in Pirates of the Carribean?

Gossip magazine Shukan Josei reported on September 7 that ex-KAT-TUN member, Akanishi Jin, will debut in Pirates of the Caribbean 4, which is scheduled for release sometime in 2011.
Shukan Josei contacted Walt Disney Japan for confirmation on the rumor, but they said that they have not been informed about it yet.
If this is true, it would be a great chance for Jin, because according to Shukan Josei, Jin has been saying that his goal is Hollywood. (tokyohive)

Well, I'd definitely watch it in the cinemas if he's in it! *o*

Kame under threat from yarakashi again?

On August 31, Akanashi Jin's name was removed from KAT-TUN's member listing on Johnny's official website and listed separately as a solo artist. Fans all over the world were upset about it, but it seems that some annoying fans (read yarakashi) are getting all furious about it (again!) and have started maliciously harassing someone pretty much unconnected with the matter: Kamenashi Kazuya, the other half of Akame. Again!

East Sports reported that there fans online are plotting to bring lasers into the concerts and shine them in Kame's eyes. (This can cause blindness)

This comes just after KAT-TUN had sucessfully wrapped up their world tour in Taiwan. The only hiccup was that Ueda Tatsuya injured himself.

This is the fault of no one but these twisted fans, as Akanishi Jin himself had ever, at a concert ages ago when he was still with KAT-TUN, tell the yarakashi to stop harassing Kame. (Azashi)

I really don't understand what these people are trying to achieve by hurting Kame. It's not like he told Akanishi to leave KAT-TUN or anything. If they are looking for someone to blame, it could be Kitagawa Johnny, but even he doesn't deserve this sort of treatment~ And for ceying out loud, it's Akanishi's dream to suceed overseas as a solo artist!

Highlight of this picture post: Mizushima Hiro in his student days!

KAT-TUN arriving in Taiwan. Highlights of this video: 1. A fan holding a Tamamori Yuta uchiwa?!, 2. Kame picking up a uchiwa that a fan dropped and throwing it back to her (0:43), and 3. A fan waving a turtle toy around! This video makes me feel like screaming along with the other fans so so much. And Maru looks like a teenage boy who just happened to follow KAT-TUN off the plane~ How adorkable!

Akanishi Jin with his younger brother, Akanishi Fuuta. The younger bro's name used to be Akanishi Reio, but he changed it Akanishi Fuuta.

Jin with Kusano Hironori (some ex-member of NEWS who is no longer with JE)

Sakurai Sho's sister, Sakurai Mai.

Mizushima Hiro from his school days! His real name is Saito Tomohiro, hence the different kanji. Like the site which I got it from said, finding leaked photos of Hiro is a treasure. I'm glad about that, though!

Kitagawa Keiko as a student.

She seems to have gotten a tattoo, though.

Aiba Masaki as a kiddy.

The Akanishi brothers - choko44; Jin w Akira Hironori - choko44; Sakurai Mai - Auragazou; Mizushima Hiro student - Auragazou; Kitagawa Keiko student - Auragazou; Kitagawa Keiko tattoo - Auragzou; Aiba Masaki child - choko44

Yamapi and Jin still good friends (photo proof!)

Yamashita Tomohisa and Akanishi Jin at the Azabu Juban Festival (around 20-22Aug). So it seems that the gossip about the two of them not getting along was just some cheap trick to up circulation. Though I can recognise Yamapi, Jin sure doesn't look like, well, Jin. (I'm assuming he's the man in the white shirt) (Azashi)

Everyone, thanks for your input on the "Should I continue adding the label 'KAT-TUN' to news related to Jin" matter. I will continue to label any news involving Jin with the tag "KAT-TUN", since the majority of you have voted that way. Personally, that was my preference too, since I learnt about KAT-TUN and Jin together.

*updated*

This should be the photos you are talking about, right? (Agazou)

Photo post: KAT-TUN/Akanishi special!

Ooh, a surprise kiss for Koki!

KAT-TUN in Taiwan, wearing their own clothes. MARU'S SHIRT LOL!

Akanishi Jin being alone during some interview event for KAT-TUN. :/

Nishikido Ryo and Akanishi Jin out at night.

Sources: Tanka Koki's kiss - Janimoe; KAT-TUN in Taiwan - choko44; Jin and KAT-TUN - Janimoe; Ryo and Jin - Janimoe

Just a minor announcement: In the future, all posts like this and other posts with a lot of photos will have the label 'pictorial'. This way, it'll be easier for those who are more interested in seeing pictures. The label 'Japan' will also be removed, I feel that it's kind of unnecessary and just adds to the long list of labels in each post. For some stupid reason, I really can't bear to remove it, so posts will just stay with the label 'Japan' for now.

Listening to: Monster by Arashi

Pictures: Ninomiya, Akanishi, Tanaka Koki

Ninomiya in primary school. Looks somewhat the same, doesn't he? :p

Tanaka Koki's bare back, described as "fat" by the source. Well, I guess if you've become used to all the Johnnys who are all ribs...

I've been wondering for quite a while if I should continue to place posts related to Jin under the label "KAT-TUN", since he has left the group. :X Please tell me your opinion through the poll on top. I will follow the result with the most number of votes.

Nino in gradeschool - Janimoe; Akanishi - unknown; Tanaka Koki - Azagou