Picture flash: Arashi blokes, Ikuta Toma w glasses, KimuTaku and his wife etc.

Matsumoto Jun resting during filming (possibly for Natsuniji?)

 And Matsumoto Jun on a train? While I do think that he might take the train sometimes, this guy doesn't really look a lot like him...

Ninomiya in his own clothes.

Ohno (Arashi) and Ryo (Kanjani8) looking pretty chummy. Ohno is so cute!

Ikuta Toma hard at work(?). He looks just as good with glasses~



Kimura Takuya (SMAP) and his wife, Shizuka Kudo.

Sources: Matsumoto Jun filming - Janimoe; Matsujun train - choko44; Nino - choko44; Ohno and Ryo - Janimoe; Ikuta Toma glasses - Janimoe; KimuTaku and Shizuka Kuda - Auragazou

Kimura Takuya kicks guest, enraging some. Kitagawa Keiko injured, filming of Paradise Kiss postponed.

Yesterday, the latest episode of long-running variety show "SMAP X SMAP" was aired. Kimura Takuya, when ended up kicking a comedian who made fun of him for the poor ratings of his drama that was aired earlier this year.

Kimura Takuya has starred in numerous Japanese dramas, the most recent being the previous season's Monday 9PM drama, "Moon Lovers". Despite all the hype surrounding the drama, its ratings were mediocre. There were many complaints about the weak plot

During last night's episode of "SMAP X SMAP", the guest was a comedian named Ariyoshi Hiroiki, who is well-known for being sharp-tongued. He was inventing new names for the SMAP members, and decided to call Kimura Takuya a "getsu9 idiot" (I'm thinking that he said "getsu kyu baka"). After he said it, Kimura glared at him for a while, asked for the filming to be cut, then proceeded to kick Ariyoshi's back. Later, Ariyoshi Hiroiki once again called Kimura a "dorama idiot". Kimura brought Ariyoshi off the set and messed up his hair.

Many netizens have expressed their views on this matter. Some feel that this was already arranged between Kimura and Ariyoshi before the filming, while others are upset that Kimura kicked Ariyoshi when it was just in good fun.

Kitagawa Keiko injured
Kitagawa Keiko, the main star of upcoming movie "Paradise Kiss" suffered a minor injury during filming. Apparently, her fingernail had gotten caught in a jade chain. Although she has said that she is fine, the accident left an obvious scar on her finger. Since it is hard to conceal the scar, filming has been postponed. (Yule)

Kudo Shizuka celebrates art prize win with hubby KimuTaku and their daughter(s)

Daily Sports reported that Kimura Takuya’s (37) wife Kudo Shizuka (40), spoke about how she and her family had celebrated her art prize win at a press conference for blue ribbon winners at the National Art Center in Tokyo yesterday.

It is the first time Kudo has won a blue ribbon prize for her art, which is being shown in the 95th Nika Exhibition.
The singer said she was overwhelmed she had been awarded a prize that had only been given to 25 art pieces out of the total 3007 which had been sent in for the exhibition. “It is a prize that has come after 15 years of working slowly so I’m very happy,” she said.
Kudo said her husband and their daughter were equally excited about the win. “They both said ‘That’s amazing!’. They said it was a big occasion so we went out to eat yakiniku,” she said.
Kudo’s piece, titled “瞳の奥 (Hitomi no Oku)” portrays a girl and butterflies intertwined together in color. She said it had taken one year to finish. “I wanted to make the face more exotic, but as I went into doing the finishing touches it turned into a younger girl."
“She looks like (my) daughter I guess,” she commented.
It is the 15th time Kudo has had her art accepted into the exhibition since her first in 1990.
The 95th Nika Exhibition runs from September 1 – 13 at the National Art Center in Roppongi, Tokyo. (MomoEdgewood's Mediawatch)

BECK promotional event in Osaka

Another private showing of the upcoming movie “BECK” was held at Zepp Osaka on August 19th, and Mizushima Hiro, Mukai Osamu, Sato Takeru and many other cast members showed up.

Since Osaka is the hometown of Hiro’s wife, he said that he was happy to come back to Osaka. He also told a previously unknown story about how the guitar he used to practice with was actually borrowed from Kimura Takuya (SMAP).

“BECK” will be released on September 4th. (tokyohive)

Aww... Hiro's so sweet and I really love him but I just can't stand his hairstyle for this movie!

SMAP in Chinese newspaper - Shanghai concert, Kusanagi mocks himself

SMAP in 联合早报, 4 August 2010

I saw this article in the Chinese newspaper last week and wanted to translate it, but kept on procrastinating. :X Anyway, here goes.

The Japanese media has reported that during idol group SMAP's concert in Sapporo the previous day (this article was published on 4th August so do the maths yourself), the group announced that they will be holding concerts in Shanghai, China on the 9th and 10th of October. These concerts are to make up for the cancelled Shanghai Expo concert, which was to be held in June this year (contradicts with earlier report). This will be the first overseas performance for SMAP in its 23 years.

The concert at the Shanghai Expo had been cancelled due to worries from the organiser regarding crowd control. According to the report, the Chinese government had approved of SMAP's upcoming concert on the 29th of July.

Recently, SMAP has been busy with their "We are SMAP! 2010 SMAP CONCERT TOUR". During their performace in the Sapporo Dome the other day, SMAP member Kimura Takuya suddenly announced "We will be having a concert in Shanghai!", causing the 50 000 strong audience to burst out in cheers.

The upcoming concert is to be held at the Shanghai Staduim, where famous singer Celine Dion has performed before. SMAP will be the first Japanese artist to perform there. They are expecting 80 000 fans over the two days of the concert. The concert will be similar to those they perform in Japan. As for whether SMAP will be singing any Chinese songs, they are still thinking about it.

SMAP has expressed their views on the upcoming concert, "We are looking forward to it! If everyone works hard together, we are sure it can become the best live concert!" Ingaki Goro even said that they must first learn how to greet their fans in Chinese.

SMAP also said that if the Shanghai concert goes well, they are planning to hold more overseas concerts. Kusanagi Tsuyoshi, who is fluent in Korean, said that he wants to hold a SMAP concert in Korea.

In April this year, Kimura Takuya starred across Chinese actress Lin Chi-ling in Fuji TV drama "Moon Lovers". This has increased SMAP's popularity in China. (the article didn't mention that the drama was a flop). SMAP's most recent album, "We are SMAP!", is selling well in China.

Dueing the concert in Sapporo the previous day, Kusanagi Tsuyoshi sang the song 归来的醉汉, which means "The drunkard which returns late". I don't listen to SMAP songs, so I have no idea what the actual title of the song is. This song has been widely-known as Kusanagi's "real-life song" after he was caught running around naked in a park n Japan last year after dring heavily. When arrested by the police, he confronted them, saying "What's wrong with being naked?". Before singing the song, Kusanagi made fun of himself, "This is a song that really suirs me, it will probably raise an interesting reaction."

As the song began to play, Kusanagi kneeled on the floor, moving his body slowly in time to the music, as if he was very drunk. The other four members of SMAP, who were at one side, could not help but laugh at hm. Kimura Takuya, after watching Kusanagi's performance twice, not only almost had a complete change in expression, he also gave a "red card" to Kusangagi, causing the audience to burst out in laughter.

Most ideal husband - A tie between Kimura Takuya and Fukuyama Masaharu

500 women in their thirties have voted SMAP’s Takuya Kimura (37) and actor/singer Fukuyama Masaharu (41) as the man they would want to marry the most, reports Mainichi Shinbun Digital. The survey revealed that both stars tied at first place for the ideal husband.
The majority of people chose both stars because they had thought Kimura or Fukuyama would look after their family the best.
In the “most ideal lover” catergory, however, Fukuyama took first place, with three times as many votes as second-placed Kimura.
The women who had voted for a different person in the best husband and best lover categories were then asked why they had a change in heart. The most common answer had been that a lover was someone you had fun with, but a husband was someone who would bring safety and balance into your life.

Most Ideal Husband
1. Kimura Takuya
1. Fukuyama Masaharu
2. George Tokoro
3. Tsuruno Takeshi

Most Ideal Lover
1. Fukuyama Masaharu
2. Kimura Takuya
3. Mukai Osamu
(MomoEdgewood)
And because I had no idea who the heck George Tokoro is, I did a quick Google search and found this:

George Tokoro (55) was rushed to hospital after apparently suffering from heatstroke earlier this week, his talent agency said.
At around 7 p.m. on Aug. 3, Tokoro complained that he felt ill when he was working in a garden on the premises of his office in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, and was rushed to a hospital, according to the agency. He is believed to have suffered from heatstroke.
Tokoro recovered shortly afterwards, and returned to work the following day. (Mainichi)

He doesn't look that good, though.

Top 10 influential people in Japan (and the Johnny's boys)

Around mid-June, eight prominent Japanese sites (Ameba, Infoseek Rakuten, getnews.jp, Niconico Douga, Hatena, @peps! Chips, Mobage Town, MSN Sankei news) conducted the same online poll and gathered all the votes received together - a total of around 265,000 votes - into one comprehensive ranking. The question asked was which Japanese person they considered most influential, and here are the top ten along with Arashi's rankings:

01. Kitano Takeshi (filmmaker)

02. Ichiro (baseball player)
02. Naoto Kan (Prime Minister)
04. Ozawa Ichiro (House of Representatives member)
05. Koizumi Junichiro (former Prime Minister)
06. Shimada Shinsuke (Talent)
07. Hatoyama Yukio (former Prime Minister)
08. Renho (Minister for Administrative Reforms)
09. Higashikokubaru Hideo (governor of Miyazaki)
10. Honda Keisuke (soccer player)
17. Kimura Takuya (talent)
24. Arashi (idol group)
38. Sakurai Sho (talent)
42. Matsumoto Jun (talent)
48. Ohno Satoshi (talent)
49. Ninomiya Kazunari (talent)
51. Aiba Masaki (talent)
89. SMAP (idol group)
No other JE groups or artists made it to the top 100. (arashi_on)

Drop in ratings for MatsuJuns getsu9 dorama. :O

The ratings for Matsumoto Jun's currently airing drama "Natsu no koi ha nijiiro ni kagayaku" has dropped drastically, from 15.7% for the first episode on 19th July to 10.9% for the second episode, which just aired on 26th July. In the drama, MatsuJun co-stars with Takeuchi Yuko.

The drama airs on 9pm every Monday night, and is considered one of the most sought after time slots that constantly turns in the highest ratings.

This is bad news for Jun, who a popular member of Johnny's Entertainment group Arashi, as he has not been doing very well in his dramas since the extremely popular Hana Yori Dango series. It is also likely that the dorama ratings will drop further on.

The dorama on the same slot before this, Kimura Takuya's (SMAP) "Moon Lovers", also suffered from unspectacular ratings. (Entame)

Oricon: 'Who has the most ideal body?' survey

Oricon Style took a survey on “Who has the ideal body?” and GACKT was chosen as the guy who had the most ideal body. GACKT gave a comment after the results, “Isn’t it natural for guys to work out to protect women?”
Below are the top 10:
1. GACKT
2. Fukuyama Masaharu
3. Yamashita Tomohisa (NEWS)
4. Kimura Takuya (SMAP)
5. Tamaki Hiroshi
6. Takahashi Katsunori
7. Inaba Koshi
8. Matsuda Shota
9. Higashiyama Noriyuki
10. Domoto Kouichi (KinKi Kids)
(tokyohive)

Who is the ideal father?

1. Tsuruno Takeshi

2. Tachi Hiroshi

3. Ohno Satoshi

4. Sakurai Sho

5. EXILE

6. Fukuyama Masaharu

7. Sorimachi Takashi

8. Sugiura Taiyo

9. Aiba Masaki

10. Aikawa Sho

11. Tokoro Jouji (George)

12. Kimura Takuya

13. Akanishi Jin

14. Sato Ryuta

15. Ichihara Hayato

(aramatheydidnt)

Lin Chi-Ling to take acting classes after dismal performance in "Moon Lovers"

Taiwanese model-actress Lin Chiling expressed her disappointment over the dismal ratings of her Japanese drama serial "Moon Lovers" and revealed that she hopes to take some acting classes next year, reported Chinese media.
Speaking to reporters while attending the high-profile Royal Ascot horse races in the UK, Lin was evasive and said, "Could we not talk about the ratings (of "Moon Lovers")? Frankly, I am a little depressed at the moment."
"I want to take this chance to take in as much air as I can. This can be considered a short break!" Lin added.
"Moon Lovers", despite starring Japanese superstar Kimura Takuya and other well-known actresses like Kitagawa Keiko and Shinohara Ryoko, managing only 13.4% in ratings. Its average ratings also lost out to other J-dramas this season.
The drama's producer, Fuji RV, was reportedly so disappointed that it intends to cut short the show's run to eight episodes instead of the usual ten for a drama in the 9pm time slot, with its finale scheduled to air on July 5 in Japan.
Many netizens had blamed the drama's poor ratings on a bad script and Lin's acting. Despite this setback, Lin said she "will improve in the areas I am weak in and satisfy everyone".
The 35-year-old went on to reveal that she hopes to make time for acting classes at the beginning of next year. (CNA)

The viewership ratings for "Moon Lovers" has been decreasing steadily, as shown below:

Episode 01: 22.4%

Episode 02: 19.2%
Episode 03: 15.6%
Episode 04: 15.5%
Episode 05: 17.4%
Episode 06: 13.4%

Average: 17.3%, and the ratings look set to drop further.

Kimura Takuya in "REDLINE" voice cast

The voice cast for the Madhouse-animated film "REDLINE" was revealed on Friday. SMAP's Kimura Takuya (37) is the biggest name on the list, but the cast also includes Aoi Yuu (24) and Asano Tadanobu (36).
Directed by Koike Takeshi, "REDLINE" is a car racing story set in the near future. JP (voiced by Kimura) is a daredevil racer chasing after his first love (Aoi). Along with his partner (Asano), JP competes in the greatest race of all.
This is Kimura's second movie voice acting role, after the 2004 Studio Ghibli film "Howl's Moving Castle." For Asano, this will be his first time as a voice actor.
"REDLINE" has reportedly been in development for the past seven years. The film is scheduled for theatrical release in Japan this October. (Tokyograph)

Conflict between Masahiro Nakai and the other members of SMAP?

There has been talk of a widening rift between the members of popular band SMAP. The disagreement seems to be majorly between leader Nakai Masahiro (37) and the rest of the band. Apparently, the bandmates had never really been the "best of friends", but the situation is now worsening. It seems that well-known Kimura Takuya (37), has the most issues with Masahiro, and the rest of the band sides with KimuTaku.

Masahiro's words are now frequently ignored by his bandmates. A Fuji TV staff has said that while Masahiro generally accepts that KimuTaku will not listen to him, the other three members of SMAP have started ignoring Masahiro too, and he thought Nakai would "give up completely on the other three bandmates".

On SMAPxSMAP, SMAP's variety show, ot has been observed that while Nakai Masahiro is very talkative when it comes to the guests, he talks much less when it comes to his fellow bandmates.

It seems that Nakai is letting this isolation get to him and is losing his determination to work hard as a result. A staff at Fuji TV was quoted as saying that he feels sorry for Nakai. (Entame)

Matsumoto Jun and Arashi - the next Kimura Takuya and SMAP?

Matsumoto Jun (26) may be stepping out of the shadow of Kimura Takuya (37). Both are members of Johnny' Entertainment idol groups, of which KimuTaku's SMAP are the still hugely popular veterans, while MatsuJun and Arashi are being carefully groomed as the next dominant force. One indication of this is the announcement that Matsumoto has landed the lead role in a Monday night drama series on Fuji TV, making him the first Arashi member to do so.

The Monday 9pm time slot is considered the most prestigious of all, and it was in that time slot that Kimura achieved audience ratings among the highest of modern times with shows like "Beautiful Life" (TBS, 2000) and "Hero" (Fuji, 2001). This spring, Fuji put Kimura in the spotlight with "Tsuki no Koibito" but as with his other recent dramas, ratings have been good rather than spectacular. So, attention will shift to how Matsumoto does in the romantic "Natsu no Koi ha Nijiiro ni Kagayaku." His love interest will be provided by always solid Takeuchi Yuko (30). This drama is a significant step in the path to becoming the next KimuTaku.
Matsumoto said, "I've been watching Monday night dramas on Fuji TV since I was a kid. So it's a great honor but also a lot of pressure. I will do my best to live up to it." The story is an original from Ohmori Mika (38), who wrote last year's basketball drama "Buzzer Beat." Matsumoto will play a struggling actor trying to get out of the shadow of his famous actor father. (Asianbite)

I wonder if Matsujun will age as well as Kimutaku though...

Kimura Takuya Gatsby CM

I noticed this commercial on Singapore television the other day, it's hilarious!


HAHAHA every time I watch it I laugh, and I've watched it 4times on youtube in the last 10 minutes! Especially at 0:26 when he grins. AWESOMEZZZ.

Came across this too while searching for the above CM.

Matsumoto Jun tops Oricon's "Beautiful Lips" rankings~

Males:
1. Matsumoto Jun
2. Fukuyama Masaharu
3. Sakurai Sho  Arashi owns!
4. Tamaki Hiroshi
5. Kimura Takuya
Females:
1. Ueto Aya
2. Kitagawa Keiko
3. Inoue Waka
4. Ayase Haruka
5. Ishihara Satomi
(Oricon, credits to aramatheydidnt for picture)

Side note: YES! My Tokyo DOGS ep7 torrents have finished downloading, my life is now complete! Till I have to wait for episode8, that is.

Big drop in Moon Lovers' viewership ratings!

Viewership for Moon Lovers has dropped from 22.4% to 19.2% and 20.2% to 13.5% in Kanto and Kansai district! Looks like bad news for FujiTV and KimuTaku...

Kitagawa Keiko unhappy with her role in "Moon Lovers"?

Remember this post here? I've found more gossip about the dorama! Lin is going to make her first appearance in a Japanese dorama and also help Kimura to raise his popularity in Asia outside of Japan. Shinohara is making her big comeback to the dorama world and what would be better than a dorama with Kimura.

Now what about Kitagawa? There doesn't seem to be any particular reason for her to be in this dorama, especially not just as the third actress. The tabloid Shukan Bunshun, however, claims that her casting might be the aftermath of Sawajiri Erika's sudden discharge from her agency last year.
A media insider explained the situation: "Kitagawa has been in the talks for a starring role in a Fuji TV dorama this spring, but suddenly it was decided for her to appear in a supporting role next to Kimutaku. Her popularity is already high enough and she doesn't have to rely on someone like him to get good ratings, yet she has been casted as just the third actress in line for this dorama. She is said to be very dissatisfied with this decision."
Kimura and his staff usually are able to choose their favorite cast for his projects, but this time there might have been more bargaining going on than usual.
"It isn't just Kimutaku who does the casting, the relationship between his and other agencies have a big influence on the decisions as well. Johnny's are known for being very close with Stardust Promotions, that's why he already had actresses like Takeuchi Yuuko or Shibasaki Kou acting at his side. Kitagawa is from the same agency, but that's no reason to miss out a starring role for her just to get her in a Kimutaku dorama…," an industry official told the tabloid.
It might have all started with the casting for Kimura's "Space Battleship Yamato" last year. His side only made an unofficial offer, but it was obvious that they wanted Stardust's Sawajiri for the female lead. Unfortunately they decided to terminate her contract for all the trouble she has caused them and so he hurriedly had to choose Kuroki Meisa as her substitute.
"Everything would have worked out for Kimura Takuya with Sawajiri Erika at his side. The fact that her agency made a one-sided decision without caring about his project, they've allowed to become indebted to him. The two agencies might be close with each other, but it's an unwritten rule in the industry that you have to clear your debts. The result is that they had to pay it back by having their most popular young actress, Kitagawa Keiko perform in his new dorama no matter what big of a role," another industry official explained. (Kawaii Joyuu)

The co-stars of Kimura Takuya in "Moon Lovers" revealed

More details about Kimura Takuya's upcoming drama series were revealed on Tuesday. Titled "Tsuki no Koibito ~Moon Lovers~," the drama will air in Fuji TV's Monday 9:00pm time slot this spring, though the starting broadcast date has not yet been determined.
As reported earlier this month, the drama has Kimura (37) playing the president of an interior design company. It is described as his first real romance series since "Beautiful Life" in 2000, but he will have not one, but THREE female co-stars!
Leading the list of actresses is Shinohara Ryoko (36), cast as a capable interior designer who works with Kimura. The complicated relationship between the two characters goes back to their days as students together. Kimura and Shinohara previously acted together in the 1997 series "Gift."
Next is Taiwanese star Lin Chi-ling (35), who appeared in the "Red Cliff" movies. This will be her first time in a Japanese drama. She plays a Chinese woman whom Kimura encounters.
The third love interest is played by Kitagawa Keiko(23), portraying a popular model who comes from a wealthy family.
Another key member of the cast is actor Matsuda Shota (24). He plays one of Kimura's subordinates who seems to be obedient, but secretly has his own ambitions. However, he also becomes entangled in the five-way romance. His role reportedly has him speaking fluently in Chinese. (Tokyograph)

Mr Brain NG

I found this on youtube and it's really funny! Even if you don't understand Japanese, you can get the gist of it. Basically they show the OK scene first, then the NG.


My favourite part is the one where Mizushima Hiro trips and falls, it must really hurt to fall flat like that! Can see that even the camermen are laughing so hard. And Kimura Takuya didn't get any NG scenes at all! Which shows that he's either a true professional or they didn't show any... I wonder which one it is?

You can watch the video on youtube here.