Japanese pop singer Chihiro Onitsuka was assaulted by her boyfriend Komiya Yusuke. The incident took place in their shared apartment. The case finally made it to court and the trial began on December 16th.
Onitsuka was left with some broken ribs, a left orbital floor fracture, as well as other injuries which took about a month to heal. The defendant explained that he only slapped her once, and that her injuries could have been from when she fell down. Komiya has 5 criminal records.
You should check it out. Kimutaku is great as usual. Kuroki Meisa is his "pair" in this movie and they make a great couple on screen. In a recent variety show, Kimutaku said that he knows now where Meisa`s nipples are !!;-)) u gotta love that guy!
Miyazaki's 'Mr. Dough and the Egg Princess' at Tokyo's Ghibli Museum
2010/12/08;
A scene from "Mr. Dough and the Egg Princess" ((c)2010 Nibariki G)
What would happen if a blob of dough suddenly came to life and tried to run away from a crafty old witch? How would it run? Would its movements be all gooey and squishy?Such were the musings of acclaimed anime creator Hayao Miyazaki as he pondered how to make "Mr. Dough and the Egg Princess," the fully baked result of which can be seen at the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo's Mitaka city through March 14 at the museum's Saturn Theater.
In conjunction with the screening, an exhibition about the making of the film runs through May.
The short was the brainchild of Miyazaki, who happened across an old European folk tale about a runaway loaf of bread. It reminded him of the Japanese folk tale "Omusubi Kororin" (tumbling rice balls). A man drops his rice balls, which are eaten by hungry mice. They give the man treasures in return for his generosity.
Miyazaki stretched his imagination. "What if the runaway was a chunk of dough, how could it get away? Are its movements all gooey and squishy?"
In Miyazaki's story, an old witch named Baba Yaga lives at a water mill deep in a forest. There she keeps the Egg Princess as her servant. One day, a batch of kneaded bread dough lying in a trough suddenly comes to life from a careless spell cast by the witch. Mr. Dough is born. He and the Egg Princess run away, but Baba Yaga discovers they have deserted her and chases after them.
The creepy, but lovable Baba Yaga, along with the stretchy, bendy way that Mr. Dough moves, make the scenes hilarious. The music was produced by Ghibli regular Joe Hisaishi.
Panels illustrated by and with comments from Miyazaki explain how bread is made, from the milling of wheat through baking. A wheat field scene is recreated in a diorama. Another display explains the process of stone grinding flour. Visitors can learn the processes of both filmmaking and bread making from this entertaining exhibition.
Yamashita Tomohisa will be holding his solo live tour which will span across the continent of Asia starting on January 29th to May 10th. He will make have stops in 5 cities in Japan, and the tour also includes 5 cities outside of Japan in Asia including Hongkong, Taipei, Busan, Seoul, and Bangkok. For the entire tour, there will be 27 total stages. It was also announced that he will also be releasing his first solo album right before the tour.
Although he has performed in Taiwan in 2007 as a member of NEWS, this will be his first time holding a solo tour overseas. Yamashita commented, “It will give me a huge responsibility, but it’s also a great chance. I hope it will make people in other Asian countries get to know more about Japanese idols.” Yamashita also gave comment to fans, “I will participate in NEWS activities as well, so you don’t have to worry!”
An award-winning novel written by actor Hiro Mizushima hit bookstores across Japan on Wednesday, luring book lovers and Mizushima fans. ‘‘Kagerou,’’ the first work the actor wrote under his real name Tomohiro Saito, sheds light on the meaning of life by depicting a suicidal man who has lost his job and money.
A 28-year-old woman who purchased a copy at a bookstore in Tokyo’s Yurakucho district on her way to work said, ‘‘I bought it because it was introduced on TV programs and much talked about.’’ Poplar Publishing Co in Tokyo has already printed over 430,000 copies, which it says is an unusually high number before the release, after giving Mizushima this year’s grand prize in its annual novel competition.
We sure wish him goodluck:-) Gambatte ne Hiro-kun !!!
Aya Ueto is Japan’s TV commercial queen for the second straight year, according to media research company Nihon Monitor. Ueto, 25, topped the chart by advertising for 13 companies this year.
Ueto has been involved in a number of campaigns that have run for more than a year, including those for Softbank’s famous Shirato family series in which the paternal figure is played by a white dog, and suit company Aoki. The data suggested that Ueto’s high visibility in commercials has made her a familiar face to most of the nation.
Actresses held all three of the top positions in the ranking with Saki Aibu, 25, second with appearances in ads for 12 companies this year, and Aoi Miyazaki, 25, coming in third with 11. Riding the wave of success that followed the release of their album “Beginner” in November, eight members of pop group AKB48 also ranked highly, including Yuko Oshima, 22, and Atsuko Maeda, 19.
An event for the upcoming movie “Ashita no Joe“, which is a live-action adaptation of the legendary boxing manga, was held on December 17th, and Yamashita Tomohisa (NEWS), who plays the main character, Yabuki Joe, and the director of the movie, Sori Fumihiko, showed up at the event.
Yamashita lost 8.5 kg for the role, and reduced his body fat percentage to 5% in order to give his body a more realistic look. At the event, Yamashita’s life-sized figure was introduced, and Yamashita talked about those hard training days, “It was hard to make a boxer’s body in limited time. I was only eating vegetables and protein, so I was always hungry, and it made me realize the importance of food.” He also said that he went to eat yakiniku after finishing shooting for the film, “I forgot how meat tasted like, so when I ate it I was like ‘Was this how meat tasted?’, but it was really delicious.”
